Sometimes life gets in the way of hair care. This week, hair care has been the last thing on my mind and when this happens I tend to reach for scarves. Not the type that are decorative but the type that you use to cover your hair when you’re having a bad hair day or are disguising your deep conditioning, plastic covered, wash day shenanigans.

I decided to show 5 styles because my protective styles are meant to last from Friday to Monday with a break at the weekend to create a new look. My hair is co washed and plaited into cornrows to keep it nice and flat under the scarves.

Whenever I wear cotton scarves I wear a satin scarf underneath to protect my hair from being sapped of moisture.

Aunt Jemima

I call this one the Aunt Jemima after the famous image on the similarly named pancake mix. It’s basically a square silk, satin or polyester scarf fold diagonally in half and tied at the front with the ends and tip tucked in.

African Turban

I think this one creates a sort of turban shape. I fold a very big rectangular scarf in half, twist the ends around each other and tuck the tip in at the back. I used an old Khanga (East African Fabric) that I had cut into a square to achieve this look.

Rolled Uptop

This is a very simple style and probably the one that I wear the most. I get a rectangular shaped scarf and tie the ends at the back of my head; I then twist the ends of the scarf and wrap the rolled piece from the back all the way across to the other side to create a sort of band. This scarf is from a piece of sari material.

Ms Ambrose

This scarf is a signature look for celebrity stylist June Ambrose. I wrap the scarf around the back of my head and roll the ends up together. I don’t like a very put together look so I make a very loose roll. I then wrap the ends in a circular motion almost the way you would do a Bantu knot. I tuck the end under the knot to secure it.

Side Bun

This is pretty much the Ms Ambrose on the side.

Next week I may go back into a long term protective style until the end of the month but then again this week was unexpected so I’ll probably just play it by ear.