I have had my natural hair for about 6 weeks now and I’m loving it even more now than before. I mean it doesn’t look like the salon look I had but I love it. I’m even starting to notice that more and more women are natural. Why wasn’t I paying attention? Just today I noticed 4 women of color who were natural. I complimented them all on their beautiful hair.

The first major lesson I’ve had to learn was how to take care of my hair. It is not as easy as it looks. It takes some work, believe me, but to me its way less work than relaxed hair. Natural hair > Relaxed hair all day.

I’ll be the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about hair. I mean nothing. So now that I’m natural, I think its high time I learn. The first book I purchased was the The Black Woman’s Hair Bible: Everything You Have Always Wanted to Know About Your Hair but Didn’t Know Who to Ask. This book was enlightening to say the least. To start there are 6 steps to maintaining healthy hair 1) Detangle 2) Wash 3) Condition 4) Sealing 5) Protective Styling 6) Daily Moisturizing.

Apparently its best to detangle your hair before doing anything else. I never knew this. I always detangled during the conditioning phase and with a wide tooth comb and from root to bottom. The book recommends wetting the hair or putting a conditioner/cowash on your hair and then finger detangle from end to root. If its needed, use a wide tooth comb after finger detangling. It snags less hair and is less harsh.

Shampooing is self-explanatory and step 2. There are a few things that must be mentioned, however. First off, you’ll want to avoid shampoos that use sulfates, particularly Sodium lauryl sulfate (the harshest there is) Ammonium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate, and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES). You’ll also want to avoid shampoos that contain mainly alcohol or Propylene Glycol. By that I mean avoid if these are listed in the top 5 on the ingredient list. All they do is strip the hair of its natural oils and dries out the hair. Who has time for that? Also when drying your hair, use a microfiber towel or even better use an old t-shirt. Don’t use a towel unless its necessary or you don’t have an old t-shirt.

Check out this Finesse Restore & Strengthen Shampoo. The bottle looks bright and will likely draw your eyes right to it. Its even used by the Kardashian family, if you can believe that.

Now check out the ingredients. The first one listed is Aqua (Water). You always want water to be the first ingredient. If it isn’t, run or at least rush to find another shampoo! The second and third ones listed are Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate. This shampoo is a big fat no. One sulfate is bad, two is worse. All in all, when cleansing your hair, you want a sulfate free, paraben free shampoo. Depending on where you live, you may or may not want silicones in your shampoo.

Recently I found out that quite a few of my friends don’t wash their hair. Yes I said that. DON’T WASH! They use a cowash or just water to “gently” agitate their scalp and cleanse it. Some use a botanical conditioner. Always start from the end and work your way up to the root. The ends need the most moisture since they are the farthest away from the scalp. I personally need to wash my hair. After not washing, my scalp starts to itch and won’t stop until its relieved. I’m going to stick to my double shampoo routine. (Read the previous blog about why I use two shampoos)

Step 3 on the mane-tenance (see what I did there) check list is conditioning. Conditioning is a highly debatable topic. There are two types, Leave-in and Rinse out. Which do you use? Since I was young, I have always used a rinse out conditioner. I didn’t know they even made a leave-in until college. Even after finding out, I still use a rinse out. This is all about preference and hydration of hair. If you have dry hair, try a leave-in.

Moving on to step 4, Sealing. Sealing is very important for natural hair since it is natural dry. This is the step that keeps the hair hydration from the previous step “sealed” in. It keeps the hair fresher and the style longer. Sealing hair isn’t that hard. You will need a good oil, such as jojoba, argan, castor, or shea butter. All are really good, its just based on your preference and what you would like to accomplish. They are broken down into penetrating oils ad coating oils. To apply, you just section off your hair, pour oil in your hands, then gently rub on your hair, making sure to focus on the ends since they are the least hydrated.

Step 5 is Protective styling. These are styles that protect your hair from breakage. This is usually accomplished by either lifting the hair off your shoulders/clothing or tucking the ends under or away. Again its all about your preference. I hate having hair in my face and on the back of my neck so tucking the ends away makes sense for me.

The last step of the healthy hair circle is daily moisturizing. Sealing does help tremendously with dry hair, but hair needs daily moisture as well. Some sites and YouTube videos suppose spritzing your hair twice daily with a mixture. Some recommend glycerin and water in the warmer months and aloe vera and water in the colder months. Others recommend lavender water. There are many choices. Try them out and see what you like. I hope this helped you as much as it has helped me.

Stay Natural my friends.