Natural Hair Dos And Dont's

We are aware that we deal with both the rainy and harmattan seasons. However, treating natural hair in these seasons will vary depending on:

1. The products you use
2. Your regimen
3. How you style your hair

Even though there are a lot of naturals, most naturals assume that all you need to cater for the hair is water and sheabutter. These products are good for moisturizing but when it comes to other aspects of the hair care journey, most naturals are ignorant or too lazy to care. They complain and nag about not seeing any length as well as facing difficulties in caring for the hair in general. If you are reading this post, kindly note the following dos and don'ts to save you the headaches. The points provided are based on what I know and what I've read:

1. Never, ever,ever comb natural hair in its dry state: For 4b hair like mine, you can't even get the comb through it. Yet, ladies will attempt combing the hair and worse off, with small tooth comb. This causes major breakage as well as split ends.
2. Deep condition the hair: Do what hair dressers term "steaming" in order to add moisture to the hair. This prevents breakage.
3. Wash in sections: It helps to prevent tangles. Secondly, during detangling, working in sections will ensure that the hair is well detangled.
4. Use a wide tooth comb to detangle the hair so you can prevent breakage
5. Use a satin cap/bonnet/pillow case: I know our ladies are fond of hair nets but these do not provide protection against the cotton pillow cases(this is what we grew up to use). The hair rubs on the pillow case as we sleep and this causes friction leading to breakage
6. Avoid the sulfate based shampoo (read on it Selecting Shampoos Based On Ingredients) and don't shampoo too often. Instead, use a conditioner.
7. Avoid pink oils: These contain mineral oil and petroleum. For me, these weigh my hair down and leaves it sticky.
8. Trim the hair when you notice bad ends(I'll be trimming mine in December)
9. Use a heat protection serum when using blow dryers, flat irons or curling irons
10. Limit the use of heat to prevent dry, brittle hair
11. Moisturize your ends with a light oil before bed
12. Read product labels (I've learnt my lesson): This will guide you to know what each product contains and if these ingredients are damaging to your hair
13. Don't make your puffs and ponytails too tight. You put pressure on your edges which might cause you to loose your edges.
14. Rub some conditioner in your hair before swimming to protect the hair from the salt and chlorine in the water
15. Don't rub your hair with the towel; blot instead. Rubbing can lead to knots
16. Read about natural hair eg youtube, blogs, fotki
17. Expensive products do not necessarily mean it will work for you.

That's all for now Divas!

Emprezz


Sources:
http://thembess.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-thursday-blessed-people-okay.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/blackonyx77