New to this natural hair journey and finding everything overwhelming? Or maybe you’ve been on this natural hair journey for some time but you still can’t grow your hair past shoulder length. Whatever the case, having a consistent healthy natural hair routine will give you the best results when it comes to achieving long shiny healthy hair. Oh.. and notice I said consistent! Yes, that’s right! In order for you to see any results, you will need to have a consistent hair regimen.
Ok…so how do I create a Natural hair regimen that will grow my hair?
Before we go buying products and following every random youtube tutorial in hopes of achieving that twist out we know we are never going to achieve! Let’s break things down into simple steps. By the end of this blog post, you will learn how to create a healthy hair regimen from scratch for daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly routines.
How to create a realistic Natural hair routine.
Before we dive any further it’s important that you understand the key to being consistent and staying motivated to stick to any routine is ensuring that you tailor it to your lifestyle. For example – if you are a busy mom, spending hours on a Sunday doing DIY treatments followed by a hairstyle that you know will take hours may not be the best use of your time sis! Instead, you may want to keep things simple and save the complicated styles for a later date.
Likewise, if you are very active, you may find co-washing your hair once or twice a week more suited to your lifestyle. Whichever the case, make sure your hair regimen realistic to your lifestyle.
Step 1. Get to know your hair!
Understanding your hair is not just about hair type e.g 3c 4c hair. You also need to know your hair porosity, texture, and density.
For example, I have low porosity, medium density fine texture hair. My hair texture is a mix of 3c/4a curls
This information is essential to understanding why your hair likes and dislikes, and it will help you understand why you’re not seeing results.
Understanding your hair porosity
Porosity is a measurement of your hair’s ability to absorb and hold moisture. You can also think of it as indicating how easily moisture can penetrate your hair. I would suggest trying the test at home if you haven’t already and perhaps watch a few tutorials on youtube to help you understand more.
Understanding your Hair Density
The density of your hair refers to how tightly individual strands of hair are packed together — about 2,200 strands of hair per square inch for the average person. To determine your curl density, look at your dry hair hung loose in its natural shape, from different angles, and up close. If your scalp is easily visible, you have low curl density. If your scalp is somewhat visible, you have medium curl density. And if your scalp is barely visible, you have high hair density. (Credit Ouidad.com) Read more here
Step 2. Natural Hair Products & Hair tools
Ok, so now that you know your hair type, it’s time to get hair products and tools. Check out my blog post on 15 Essential tools for natural hair. Now that you have a better understanding of what your hair likes and dislikes, shopping for hair products should feel less overwhelming. When you look online for product reviews, make sure to narrow your focus by searching for products tailored to your hair type. e.g best products for low porosity thick hair buy. Also, you can watch other people with similar hair types and then decide on the products. Remember Trial and error is your friend so don’t be afraid to experiment and find out what products work best for your hair.
Products you will need
- Shampoo
- Clarifying shampoo
- Protein treatment
- Deep conditioner
- Moisturizer
- Leave-in conditioner
- Oils & butters
Watch the video below for more information.
Step 3 – building my natural hair routine from scratch
OK, so now that you know your hair type and your goals, it’s time to nail down your perfect daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly hair routine. Keep in mind that a hair care routine for dry hair is not going to look the same as a hair care routine for curly hair. Sometimes you might need to mix and match. again, tailor it to your lifestyle and your hair goals.
Daily Hair routine
If you’re rocking a wash n go then your daily routine may involve misting your hair in the evening. Similarly, if you’re a twist-out type of girl then re-twisting your hair at night will be apart of your routine.
At the moment, buns are life for me right now! If you’re like me and you are all about that bun life, all you need is to do slap on a silk scarf/ bonnet at night.
Midweek Natural Hair routine
Moisturise Moisturise Moisturise! Yup, you heard it right! Midweek is when we mist our hair again, apply our butter/moisturizers. Be sure to give yourself a nice scalp massage to help stimulate blood flow, if your hair is in a protective style, make sure to oil your scalp or mist your hair depending on style!
LCO VS LOC
LCO – Liquid, Cream, Oil VS LOC – Liquid, Oil, Cream
Both of these methods are designed to lock in moisture due to the layering process. Water is the ultimate moisturizer, cream provides a thicker layer that when mixed with the water further aids hydration, adds softness, and ensures no moisture is lost. Oil creates a thin layer over the hair increasing lubrication and preventing moisture loss. which method is better? Neither to be honest!
This is why getting to know your hair is important as it will give a better understanding of the order to apply your products that best suits your hair type. e.g The LOC method will work best for high porosity hair. Many Type 4 coils use it as our coils and kinks are typically very thirsty. I personally use the LCO method, I believe this works better for my low porosity type hair. The most important thing here is to remember to moisturize your hair mid-week as part of your routine.
Weekly Natural hair routine
Having a solid wash day routine for natural hair is essential to promote a healthy moisture balance, ensure length retention, and minimize breakage and shedding. Once a week we Pree-poo (not everyone does this but it’s a great way to add moisture to your hair and detangle) take this time to pamper your self, shampoo, deep condition and detangle. I always suggest adding heat when deep conditioning to get the most out of your product. From there, apply your’re leave-in and moisturise then pop your hair into your favourite low manipulation style or protective style.
Related posts – 10 low manipulation styles for natural hair
Monthly Natural hair routine
Once a month, I tend to do a protein treatment or a full clarify treatment. It’s important that we have that moisture/protein balance for our hair to retain length and flourish. Protein will help to strengthen your hair strands especially if your hair is feeling really dry and brittle.
My monthly natural hair regimen also involves a full clarifying treatment or scalp detox. This helps to get rid of any product build-up and gives my scalp a chance to breathe again. It’s very easy to get into that habit of layering products on top of each other without taking the time to properly remove them. if you are experiencing dry scalp, itchiness, dandruff, and pain on the scalp it’s time for a scalp detox! Use this as an opportunity to reset your scalp for the month.
Quarterly Natural hair routine (Twice a Year)
So now that we know what we do daily, mid-week, weekly and monthly. Let’s focus on quarterly or twice a year. Every 3 to 6 months we need to be dusting our ends! If you go on YouTube or Instagram, you’ll see a lot of videos about how to cut your natural hair. Some people do it after their hair has been flat-ironed or blow-dried, while others do it without adding heat. Hair naturally begins to split around 3 months. To prevent any permanent damage from these naturally occurring split ends, you should trim your ends by going to a stylist or doing it yourself. Check out my tutorial on How to trim natural hair at home
Ok curl friends, so that’s how you build a successful hair regimen that will grow your hair. You can always add treatments to this routine or swap things around to suit your lifestyle. Either way, I guarantee you will see results after following this routine.
I would love to know what your hair routine is like? also if you found this post helpful, be sure to save this with your friends and family.
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