They Told Me It Was Easy – DOs & DONTs of Natural Hair

“They told me it was easy,” you scream in the mirror as you look at your hair.

It’s 7:30 AM – you wake up in a panic as your alarm blares the latest top 100 songs on the radio.  You check your phone for the time and hop out of bed. You are officially late. You run through your morning regimen at lightning speed but are hit with a major speed bump as you look in the mirror at your hair.  

For everyone saying that being natural is easy, think again.   Maintaining your natural hair can cost just as much if not more than the upkeep of relaxed hair or weave.  There are numerous things to remember when caring for your natural hair. Think of it as a child that grows from your scalp.  You must feed it, nurture it and properly maintain it in order for it to grow strong and healthy.

Maintaining Your Natural Hair

Use this list of natural hair do’s and don’ts in order to keep the curl forever in your favor.

DOs

1. Learn Your Hair:  Learning your hair is essential to maintaining it.  Everyone’s hair acts and reacts differently to products, weather, stress and other personal circumstances.  Learning how your hair reacts to water and various products is also important for overall retention. This learning process is simply trial and error.   In spite of this, it can be fun to try new products and styles to see what works for your hair. Stores like Target and Walmart offer various natural products in trial sizes or in multi-product kits.  Natural products are not cheap but items like the ones below can help you succeed in your natural transition.

2. Maintain Healthy Diet & Exercise Practices: Like everything else pertaining to our bodies, diet and exercise are just as important for your hair as having the right regimen.  Drinking enough water is also essential in keeping your skin and hair healthy and moisturized.There are a number of foods that aid in keeping your hair healthy.  These foods include: Fish – Fish is a great source of protein.  Certain fish, which are rich in Omega 3s, aid in providing your body with oil for your hair and scalp. Nuts – Various nuts and seed not only leave your hair shiny and luscious, they can prevent hair loss. If you are someone who is prone to long hours in the sun, which lead to heat damage for your hair, walnuts would be a great snack.  They are also rich in biotin, which many people often buy as supplement for hair retention and growth. Leafy Veggies – Green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and others are also very good for your body and your hair.  They contain an abundance of iron, which prevents your hair from becoming brittle resulting in breakage. Carrots – Carrots are a great source of Vitamin A.  Consuming large quantities of Vitamin A or carrots will keep your scalp from drying and prevent dandruff. Other foods with this effect include pumpkins, mangoes, yams, potatoes and apricots. Eggs – Zinc, iron, Sulphur and selenium are 4 items needed to have happy, healthy hair.  Eggs are rich in all of these items. Lack of these will result in hair loss and a dry scalp. Shrimp – Shrimp are also a large source of protein, which contain b12, iron, and zinc.  All of these items aid in preventing breakage.

3. Get on a Trim Schedule – Trimming your ends every 4-6 weeks allows for length retention and aids in avoiding breakage.  Maintaining your split ends not only looks unhealthy but it gives your hair time to split up the shaft resulting in a larger amount needing to be cut in the end.

4. Limit Direct Heat – Direct heat is normally used when straightening or blow-drying your hair.  It is when heat directly touches your hair for the intent of straightening out your natural curl pattern.   Tools that provide direct heat to your hair include flat irons, curling wands, blow dryers and hot combs.   These tools can provide heat damage to your hair and if overused. They can also cause your curl pattern to permanently lose its form.

5. Protective and low Maintenance Hair Styles – Protective styles are low to no maintenance styles that keep your ends safe from damage.  They promote hair growth due to the amount of strain that is not being placed on your hair.  These styles reduce the amount of strain and pulling that is done on your when you twists, stretch or utilize tight headbands.

6. Embrace the Natural Community – From my experience, the natural community is very open and honest when addressing natural hair tips or providing help.  Many of the natural women within these forums are extremely relatable having been in your shoes at one point or another.   Sites like Black Girl Long Hair aid in providing a venue for women to talk through styles, techniques and methods that work for them.  

DON’Ts

1. Unnecessary Roughness – In learning your hair, you learn the methods and ways in which it is easy to detangle.  Depending on your hair texture, detangling or combing out natural styles can put major strain on your hair.  Constant combing or brushing while your hair is dry can cause the ends to snap and break. Roughly combing through hair may also result in pulling hair from the follicle and creating bald spots.

2. Avoid Texturizers and Naturalaxers – Texturizers, although not full-blown relaxers are designed to loosen the natural curl pattern in hair.  They do not completely straighten your hair. Texturizers are by no means natural products. They contain just as much chemicals as your standard relaxer.  Unlike relaxers, which are left on the hair for a longer amount of time, texturizers are only to be used for roughly ten-minute intervals. Naturalaxers, much like texturizers, have been marketed as being completely natural – don’t believe the hype.  These products are simply using the word “natural” in their name in order to gain foothold in a growing market.   They are indeed a disguised version of texturizers and relaxers.

3. Product Overuse – Although testing products can help you determine which items work best for your hair, overusing products is not healthy. You may think using more product is better, however, your hair can indeed have an adverse reaction causing breakage and damage to your hair and scalp.  

4. Detangle while Dry – Once you have completely transitioned into the natural lifestyle you will learn that your spray bottle is your best friend. Wetting your hair before attempting to brush or comb through it allows your hair to be more easily managed.  

Many people like to believe that going natural is an easy process but it is not.  Whether you choose to transition or big chop you must get used to you hair’s new texture and new maintenance regimen.  You have probably heard the phrase, “Natural hair isn’t for everyone”. Although there are varying opinions on how to interpret this statement, you should always do what’s best for you.

Heat Training

Wanting to continue to wear your hair straight does not mean that you need a relaxer.  Natural hair can essentially be “trained” straight. Many women wear their natural locks straight on a regular basis however you would never know.  

Heat training, is the procedure of continuously straightening your hair in order to loosen the natural texture.  Heat training however is not immediate. Loosening the natural texture is usually done over time. You are essentially controlling the damage done to your hair.  

Many curl enthusiasts refrain from excessive straightening of their hair in order to avoid loosing their hair’s natural texture.  This is a permanent process. Once many decide to embrace the curl after excessive heat training, big chopping is the easiest option.

Even heat training comes with upkeep and maintenance.  Regular conditioning and alternate straightening methods are recommended in order to keep your hair healthy.

You stare in the mirror as you run through a list of things you could do to your hair in order to make it manageable.  Being that time is not your friend you plunge your hair into the sink, co wash and quickly but gently detangle your locks.  

Lasting Curls

You want your curls to be defined and lasting.  Therefore, you utilize the L.O.C method as you opt for a simple wash and go.

1. Leave In Conditioner – The L can stand for leave in conditioner or liquid depending on your hair type or whom you talk to. This step involves applying a water based leave in conditioner to the hair.  

2. Oil – In order to lock in the moisture from step 1, a thin layer of oil should be applied to the hair.  The amount of oil depends strictly on your hair.

3. Cream – The last step is to apply a cream based product to your hair.  This can be a curl defining cream or moisturizer.

After performing the L.O.C method on your hair you quickly dress and rush out the door. Although your hair is still damp, your curls are bouncy, defined and healthy looking.

They told you having natural hair would be easy however, that clearly was a lie.  Yet still, the extra time spent was well worth the effort.