Newbie natural! This one is especially for you:
Many of us have been there. You just chopped off your hair and are now 100% natural…now what? Firstly, don’t panic! Here’s a round up of my top three habits to adopt once you go natural:
1. Moisturise: Our hair is naturally dry. It’s bendy, curly and coily so the oils our scalp naturally produces doesn’t reach the entire hair shaft. So when our hair is dry, it’s brittle and that’s when it’s most likely to break and breakage doesn’t allow you to retain length. To help you along, you can try the LOC method. Many naturals (including myself) swear by it.
Liquid – apply water. It’s the best form of moisture your hair will ever get. A water based leave-in conditioner is also good.
Oil – apply your favourite oils to help seal the water moisture. Natural oils are king; coconut, avocado & olive are good and easily available from your local supermarket.
Cream – apply your cream or butter of choice. It’s usually something heavier than the oil. Shea butter is great to use at this point.
2. Change: Don’t treat your natural hair the same way you did your relaxed hair – relaxed hair is not the same as natural hair. You need to do a 180. Don’t practice the same techniques you did when relaxed and expect them to work on a completely different texture of hair. From the products to the tools, you need to do research and re-learn how to care for your natural hair. The quicker you’re able to do this, the easier your natural hair journey will be.
3. Wrap: I always say this. Make prepping and wrapping your hair at night with a silk or satin headscarf or bonnet a habit you have to do just like brushing your teeth. Cotton scarves soak up moisture so they’ll dry your hair out. Braid, twist or cornrow your hair to prevent it from matting during the night. If you want to look super cute and don’t want to wear the scarf look to bed, sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase. Your hair will love you tomorrow.
Most importantly, listen to your hair. I know, this sounds a bit…cryptic but it’s most honest thing I can tell you about my hair journey. At first, I didn’t get it but it’s this simple: if your hair is dry, moisturise it. If it doesn’t react well to a certain product, stop using that product. Before long, you’ll be a master of your new fro 😉
For more newbie natural blog posts, be sure to search for the ‘newbie’ keyword in the search bar for more tips and tricks.
