Natural hair is usually connotated with being hard to comb, take care of, or even grow.
Why?
Because we weren’t taught how to care for our hair when we were growing up.
Truth be told, it’s really easy.
Natural hair can be cared for in 10 easy hair care tips that will have your hair flourishing and looking in the best condition ever.
Avoid Shampoos With Sulfates
Store-bought manufacturers are made with sulfates, which are bad for our air. Sulfates are the ingredients that create the sud to feel like you’re getting more out of.
However, sulfates are being used by manufacturers as a cheap ingredient to keep production costs low and profit high. Sulfates are used in laundry detergents to remove all the oil and dirt from our clothes, so it does the same for our hair.
However, we need to maintain the natural oils in our scalp for our new growth to be nourished with the moisture and strength that it needs.
Use Conditioner with Cetearyl Alcohol
Conditioners are known to replenish our hair after the moisture has been lost from shampooing it.
Besides, it serves another purpose through its key ingredient, which is “Cetearyl Alcohol.” This a fatty acid chain that gives the conditioner mixture the slip that it needs. And by slip, we mean the thick and slippery consistency when applied to our hair.
As a naturalista, you need your conditioner to have “slip” as it makes it easier to detangle with your fingers of your comb – see the next point.
Try BIOLAGE’s Volumebloom Conditioner or Luseta’s Biotin & Collagen Conditioner.
Detangle with A Wide Tooth Comb
Detangling your natural hair should be a breeze with conditioner with the “slip” and a “wide-tooth comb.”
As the name suggests, the wide-tooth comb has the tooth very wide apart so that there is more room to cover when detangling a particular area. It also allows the teeth to gently glide through each area and remove any knots or tangles that it comes in contact with.
Once you section of your hair, ensure to detangle from the tips to the roots. Working your way upward will reduce the =possibility fo snagging your hair strands out from the root because of a knot towards the ends.
Deep Condition Every Week
There is no week that you should miss replenishing your hair with fortifying ingredients form your deep conditioner.
Your deep conditioner is an advanced version of your conditioner as it contains more ingredients to nourish what was lost. You could also make your own hair mask with organic products.
Hence, it provides it with the moisture and strength lost from the prior week of styling while topping it up for the upcoming week ahead. Many naturals shy away from it as it can take up to 60 minutes, depending on the chosen product.
If you’re reading this, don’t forget to deep condition on your next wash day.
Moisturize using the LOC/LCO method
The LOC method is the best moisturization technique for healthy natural hair.
In this technique, you would apply Liquid (Water), Oil (Any Oil), and a Butter (Usually butter or creams) to your hair in the order of the acronym chosen. The order allows moisture to be added from the best hydration source for your natural hair, water.
Then, it will be sealed in with the oils, creams, and butter.
We can’t say which acronym will work best for you. You have to experiment to see if your hair prefers oil, then cream or cream, then oil.
Use Organic Styling Products
There are many styling products on the market, which makes it hard to choose the best one.
We usually side with the overly advertised one that may be bad for our hair. You have to look for styling products that have natural gels, oils, and butter instead of alcohol, mineral oils, petrolatum, etc.
These harmful ingredients do provide your hair withhold and sheen but not moisture. If this is consistently put into practice your hair eventually, your hair will feel very dry to the touch, resulting in breakage, split ends, and even single strand knots.
Do A Protective Style At least Once A Year
After consistent styling – you’re hair needs to be protected every once in a while.
Protective styling offers your hair a break from the consistent manipulation from your hands, people’s hands, and the environment, which usually results in moisture loss, single-strand ends, split ends, etc.
Also, you can look great while doing so by doing your favorite protective style.
Sleep On Satin
One of the easiest ways to protect your hair is by sleeping on a satin pillowcase.
Satin, unlike cotton, aids in keeping the moisture locked into our hair. And after you worked so hard to moisturize using the LOC method – you need to keep it in.
You might have noticed after sleeping on cotton pillowcases and sheets that some residue builds up on them after a while. That is the moisture leaving your hair, thus leaving it susceptible to breakage once it rubs against the cotton material.
However, satin creates a barrier between the cotton sheets, the environment, and even people’s hands. It prevents any form of contact, which will damage the health of your hair.
Cut Off The Heat
Lay off the heat, would you?
Constant exposure to heat styling tools can damage the health of your hair strands. It can break down the protective layer of your hair strands and, therefore, make it more susceptible to heat damage.
Embracing your natural hair and reducing the use of heat styling tools can do wonders to your hair, However, if you do choose once in a while to use heat to style your hair, make sure to do it the right way.
Using a heat protectant and a high-quality flat iron that suits hair type can significantly reduce the damage caused to your hair during styling.
Don’t forget to cut it
Last but not least is to trim your natural hair.
Your natural will need to be cut now and then throughout your healthy natural hair care journey. Remember, you’re growing old and dead hair whose ends may not always look flawless. Your ends may be breaking, splitting, or have a series of knots.
So, now and then, you should trim them or dust your ends off.
Final Words
These 10 tips will transform your hair’s health if they’re implemented into your natural hair care regimen. You have to be consistent with doing all these steps (especially deep conditioning) to see the real results. Your hair will start growing and growing.
Author Bio
Helen is a hair care enthusiast and a proud owner of hairtipsntricks.com where she likes to share helpful advice on hair care and hairstyling tips. You can also check thehairpoint.com for more hair care tips.