Hair Care Tips

Hey Readers!

Now that you have an idea of what to do before you begin the natural process, you're probably wondering what to do now that you're natural. How do you care for your hair and ensure that it grows?

Coconut oil is a great product for
moisture!

Products!?!

When it comes to finding the right products for your hair, the most that I can say is "to each her own." However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind before you begin your quest for the right products. There are five good products that you are going to want:
1. A detangler (pretty self explanatory). I'm childish, so I use Suave Kids Detangler (:
2. A good conditioner (to properly clean your hair with) I use Garnier Fructis, Suave humectant, and Cantu Shea Butter Conditioner.

3. A good deep conditioner. I use Motions deep penetrating conditioner or V05 Hot Oil treatment. I deep condition once a month. Make sure to wash out your deep conditioner with regular conditioner. It helps the deep conditioner to penetrate your hair follicles better.

4. A good leave in conditioner or moisturizer. This product should have water listed as the first ingredient. If not, spray your hair with water first and then apply the product. I use Spectrum natural brand refined coconut oil. You can find it in the baking section of the grocery store.

5. Something that you want to seal your hair with (to protect your ends from splitting up to the roots. I use unrefined shea butter or cantu shea butter leave in conditioner.) Apply this on top of your leave in.
6. A good gel (for when you wanna throw your hair up into a bun.) I use eco-styler gel.

There are plenty of natural hair care websites which lists a great deal of information on finding products. I would suggest using curlmart.com (part of the naturallycurly.com website). They have a ton of AMAZING natural hair products and great reviews. This will help you to find the best products. In addition, target.com has a wonderful selection of what they call "multicultural hair products" with great reviews. Once you have read a couple of reviews on a product which you are interested in buying, I would suggest getting onto youtube and typing in "product name review on type __ hair". Ex: "Miss Jessie's Curly Pudding review on type 3c/4a hair". This way you can actually watch someone use it on their hair & have an idea of how the product may turn out on your hair.

Washing & Detangling

 I'm not even gonna lie...this part sucks It takes forever to wash my hair and even longer to detangle it. As a natural, you don't need to wash your hair everyday. Some girls wash their hair daily, others once or twice a week, and some once a month. Depending on how much product you use in your hair, how often you wash your hair is completely up to you. Since natural hair dries out quickly when water is used often, you technically don't have to wash your hair often. During the summer I wash my hair once a week, but since school has started I've switched to once every other week. Here are some washing/detangling tips:

• Only detangle your hair when it's completely wet or saturated with detangler. Natural hair is very fragile and tends to snap easily when you are trying to comb through it dry.
• Don't brush your hair to detangle it, use a wide tooth comb! Brushing your hair only damages it and makes the ends brittle. Your ends are your old lady hairs so you want to respect them just as you do your elders. 
• Gently comb your fingers through the ends of your hair before you begin detangling (you can even do this while your hair is dry). This will get rid of shed hairs. Sometimes shed hairs tangle into your normal hair, causing your hair to snap off. When you feel a shed hair beginning to wrap around a normal hair strand, try to gently work the shed hair away. If that doesn't work, use manicure scissors to cut away the shed hair. Do NOT snap your hair off.
• After you've removed shed hairs, hop into the shower. Section your hair into 4-6 sections and shampoo/condition each. 
• Use a lot, a lot, a lot of condition while detangling. It makes it much easier.
• Comb from the bottom up. If you start from the top, this can also cause breakage to your old lady ends. 
• Finally rinse out your conditioner. 
• Watch the video above for more hints!

Note: Many naturals choose to wash their hair using conditioner only. This process known as a  "co-wash" is far less damaging than using shampoo (which contain ingredients like sulfate & paraben which dry out curly hair). It may seem as if conditioner alone may not do the job for your hair. However, you will be surprised that conditioner cleans just as well. I use garnier fructis conditioner. It smells great and it's cheap. Condition your hair and leave the conditioner in for three minutes. This helps to moisten your hair. If you still don't seem to be hitched onto the idea of washing with conditioner only, try using a sulfate free shampoo. For my days when i've used lots of product in my hair, I use Organix nourishing coconut milk shampoo. You can find it at any target or publix.

Moisturizing

One important step that most naturals completely forget about is moisturizing. Moisturizing the hair can prevent your hair from snapping off and ensures hair growth. You should moisturize natural hair everyday. Moisturizing is quick and easy. After you've washed your hair and your hair is still damp, separate your hair into four to six sections. Take a small amount of your moisturizer (in my case I use coconut oil) and apply it from root to tip in each section. Next, use your sealant (I use shea butter) to cover the moisturizer. This will lock the moisturize into your hair follicles. For the following days, I usually just repeat this process to my ends only and I apply it to the rest of my hair as needed. The rest of my hair tends to stay moisturized, while my ends are the first to dry out. Keeping your ends moisturized will ensure hair growth & maintain healthy hair! Here's a great video that demonstrates how to moisturize. 

Remember to keep reading up on new styles & although caring for natural hair may seem daunting at first don't give up.

Keep it natural!

Jackie