I speak to a lot of people, both in the ‘Natural Hair community’ and out on natural hair and the views are still the same: it’s difficult to manage. Some even go the extra length of congratulating me for keeping it for so long (5th year this year!) but why is that? A few things I am going to talk about would have also been covered in my Debunking Natural Hair Myths series so please check that out
Debunking Natural Hair Myths 1
Debunking Natural Hair myths 2
Debunking Natural Hair Myths 3: Ignorant hair dresser!
I decided to think about my own journey and how far I have come and what I have learnt so far. Two main things have helped me along the way: YouTube, Blogs/websites not so much magazines. There is a ton of information out there that can help you with everything: from styling, washing to trimming and colouring your hair! With a lot info can come information overload and it can feel overwhelming to shift through all of that for what you are looking for. You will probably come across a million techniques and countless amounts of products lol.
Natural hair, the easy way
There’s an easy way to natural hair. No matter what you read or watch or see on social media, TEXTURE does not equal MANAGEABILITY. EDUCATION = MANAGEABILITY. After doing your research, trial and error will be a great way of cutting out steps you do not need or do not work for you. For instance, I found a few people like to condition, rinse then deep condition in one wash day, I started to do this too but after a while I found it time consuming and quite frankly unnecessary! Do not just stick to whatever you see/read, find out what works best for you and stick to that!
Products & Routines
This is the part where things get confusing, do you need every single product? No. and that’s coming from a product junkie like myself lol. Obviously you will have to find which products work best for you but there are staple products everyone needs in their arsenal:
- A good cleanser; shampoos/cowashes etc read through my cleansing series for a good introduction and product recommendations. Cleansing Series: Shampoos, Cleansing Series: Cowashing, Cleansing Series: Clays
- Conditioners: I have a whole series dedicated to explaining the different types of conditioners, what is the difference between a conditioner and a deep conditioner? Conditioner Series: Rinse out conditioners, Conditioner Series: Leave in conditioners, Conditioner Series: Deep Conditioners
- Styling products: depending on how you will eventually wear your hair. Are you more of a protective styling girl or a twist out girl?
You can also check my Natural Hair starter kit for more product recommendations
No natural hair guide will be complete without a mention of detangling! This is a very important step on your wash day. I wrote a detailed article on detangling including products and tools you will need, this can be read on British Curlies
I understand starting out as a natural can be pretty expensive especially if you are trying out a lot of products, you can always read/watch reviews but everyone hair reacts differently to products so what works for the majority may not work for you (you know the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie? It makes my hair dry and I simply do NOT like it. Some naturals swear by it!) My top 10 under 10 post features the best budget friendly priced products that actually work! Read it here
Natural hair is not as bad as it seems. Yes it takes some work but once you get to grips with what you have to do, it’s so much easier. I think it’s important you give yourself time to learn about your hair without becoming frustrated, remember if you transitioned, you have probably had relaxed hair your whole life and didn’t have to learn how to take care of it per say because it’s what you have been used to, all of a sudden you cut all that of and have to learn how to take care of this ‘new texture’ which requires different techniques to what you had previously. It takes time, but blogs ( Browse through my Everyday Inspiration Series( under the Natural hair tab) for stories from everyday women on how they handle thier hair!) like mine and a ton of YouTube channels are there to help you through it!
Love
Sarah
Photo Credit – Keturah Ariel
Share your natural hair advice and tips with me!
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