As a natural hair newbie, transitioning natural or everyone with hair on their head, you ought to know about these three hair care tips. These tips will save you a lot hassle and pain, give you structure and smooth sailing in your hair care journey.
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I know natural hair care can be daunting and a struggle when starting for many reasons from figuring out how to care for it, which products are the best, questioning if growth products actually works and if your hair will ever look like your favourite natural hair queen.
With these tips, you won’t have to question or trynna figure everything out because they will give you structure, an easy and quick start to your hair care journey. Two things to keep in mind while going through this post and hair care journey: patience and comparison.
Don’t and never compare your hair to anyone else, your hair is different and unique and secondly, practice some patience, growth and length retention isn’t an overnight thing. Yes, I know there are a thousand and one products and DIY products promising inches overnight or in a few days. Imagine if those products worked, we all would have our hair sweeping the floor, but do we?
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Table of Contents
3 Must Know Hair Care Tips
1. Hair Care Regimen/ Routine
This is the foundation for healthy hair. One thing most naturals with long and healthy hair have in common is a healthy and consistent hair care routine. What does a hair care routine comprise of? All hair care processes from cleansing, deep conditioning, moisturizing, styling, which products you’ll use and how often. Let’s discuss the major processes that ought to be part of your routine.
Detangling and pre-pooing
These may go hand in hand depending on the products you’re using. Detangling is basically the processes of getting rid of tangles and knots. Our hair coils and hugs on itself forming tangles and knots. To detangle, use a detangling product with a good slip either a detangler, conditioner or a pre- poo product and use your fingers or a wide tooth comb to remove the tangles.
Related post: best detanglers for matted hair
Pre-pooing/ pre- shampooing is a hair care treatment process done before cleansing or shampooing your hair. Some shampoos do strip your hair of its natural oils leaving it feeling dry and brittle. To fix that, apply a pre-poo product either a penetrating oil, conditioner, DIY Pre-poo or on the shelf Pre-poo product.
Related post: Everything you need to know about pre-shampoo treatment.
Cleansing.
You’ve got to get rid of all the dirt and product build up by cleansing your hair. Use either a moisturizing or clarifying shampoo and apply it on your scalp and along your hair length. Massage the scalp with your fingers or a scalp massager to break down the dirt, product and dead skin. Rinse thoroughly to get rid of all the foam, dirt and product.
Deep Conditioning.
After rinsing off the shampoo, this is the next go to step. Deep conditioners restore moisture to your hair, strengthen it, repair damage and restore elasticity. We have two types of deep conditioners: moisturizing deep conditioner and protein treatment or protein based deep conditioners. Apply the deep conditioner, let it sit on your for a few minutes before rinsing it out.
Related post: everything you need to know about deep conditioning hair.
Moisturizing.
Once you have rinsed off the deep conditioner, don’t let your hair air dry before moisturizing. Moisturizing damp or wet hair will help retain moisture for a longer period. Start off with damp or wet hair, apply a leave-in conditioner along the length of your hair then follow up with a moisture sealant (a butter or an oil).
Related posts:
- LOC/ LCO Moisturizing methods
- Best time and way to moisturize
- Different ways to add moisture to your hair
- How to keep your hair moisturized for long
- Best Moisturizing products.
- Natural Hair Moisturizing Mistakes to Avoid.
Styling/ Protective Styling.
Protective styling will save you from the daily manipulation, brushing, combing and breakage. When it comes to natural hair, wear protective or low manipulation styles that will help retain as much length as possible. You can wear styles like two strand twists, flat twists, braids, passion twists and so on.
Related post:
- How to care for protective styles for maximum growth and length retention.
- Best products for protective styles.
- 5 Reasons Protective Styles are Causing Hair Breakage
- 5 Steps to prep your Natural hair for Protective Style
2. Growth Vs Length Retention.
We are always focused on growth to a point where we forget that retaining the growth will give us the length we want. Growth is a natural process that we have little to no control over while length retention is all on us.
Length retention means retaining the length from our growth by minimizing breakage and hair damage. You can stimulate growth by massaging your hair with growth stimulating oils but you it’s almost impossible to alter your hair’s growth rate. Focus more on retaining length than growth.
Related post: how to retain as much length as possible.
3. Hair Care Products.
First, you ought to know how your hair benefits from each and every product. You don’t go looking for a product that promises growth. Know what your hair needs and purchase just that. Don’t be a product junkie and keep in mind that expensive product doesn’t mean high in quality, sometimes expensive is just expensive.
Essential products that each of us must have are; shampoo, deep conditioner (both moisturizing and protein), moisturizer/ leave-in conditioner and moisture sealants. There are other products too that you can add to your hair routine like curl creams, edge control gel, styling gels, curl refreshers/hair mists, mousse etc.
When picking hair care products, pay attention to the hair ingredients, check product reviews and buy products within your budget. We have hair care products that are affordable and work as much or even better than the expensive ones, keep it affordable and essential.
Posts on Essential hair products
- Best sulphate free/ Moisturizing hair shampoos.
- Clarifying shampoos to get rid of dirt and product build-up
- Moisturizing deep conditioners for dry hair
- Protein treatments/ Protein based deep conditioner for weak and damaged hair
- Best leave-in conditioners for moisturized and soft hair
- Best butters to lock in the moisture
- Curl creams for bomb and defined curls
- Best edge control gels for your edges
- Curl refreshers to keep your curls popping
Bonus Tip: Know Your Hair’s Porosity.
As you focus and learn about the above tips, hair porosities and how to care for each is something you should know. Knowing your hair’s porosity type helps with picking the right products, how to moisturize and care for your hair type. Each porosity type is special and deserves its special tender, love and care.
- Learn all about hair porosity types
- High Porosity vs Low Porosity Hair: Which Type is Better?
- How to care for low porosity hair type
- How to care for high porosity hair type
There you have it curlfriends, I hope you found this post useful. Share it with your colleagues, friends, family and everyone who may need it.
