Happy New Year everyone!
I want to make sure that we start off our new years right with our kinky natural hair, so i am going to go over the basics.
Create a consistent regimen:
Creating a consistent kinky hair care regimen is key getting and keepinghealthy type 4c natural kinky hair. A regimen will consist of how often you wash your hair, if you will uwe shampoo and how often to condition your hair and deep condition. So when creating a hair care regimen, feel your hair after you wash it and then feel it a couple of days later to see how it feels.Your hair will tell you what it needs by the way that it feels.
Some wash their hair with shampoo only once per month and co-wash in between every three to four days. Try co-washing only for a month to see if your hair likes it. Stay away from conditioners with alcohols in them, it really tends to dry up our hair type.
If you use a lot of product or gel, then you want to shampoo your hair often to remove the build up so that your hair and scalp can be healthy and receive the sebum. Stay away from shampoos with alcohol and sulfate in them, that will strip your hair of all of its natural oils.
The conditioning session should immediately follow the wash session. A deep conditioning treatment is recommended every two weeks for our kinky hair texture and more often if your hair is constantly dry. Find a good conditioner, it can be a rinse out conditioner or it can be a rinse out/ leave-in conditioner. Make sure that when you find the one that works for you, you stick with it , this will make the difference in your hair’s health
Detangling:
Always detangle your hair while it is wet and loaded with conditioner. Even though our hair texture is the most fragile, dry and prone to breakage we must detanlge when we have the needed moisture in our hair to reduce breakage. Gently detangle the hair starting from the ends and working your way up to the root. Be gentle and take your time.Some great detangling tools are the tangle teezer, denman brush and the wide tooth comb. Try them out and find out what works best for you.
After you have detangled a section of the hair, two strand twist the hair and moveon to another section. This will help reduce future tangling a
Moisturizing:
Directly after conditioning the hair, you must replenish the moisture into it. You con never over moisturize the kinky afro textured hair. Apply your leave-in conditioner starting from the ends and working your way up to your root, slightly detangle with fingers if needed. Once you have completed this step, you will need to seal in the moisture with a natural oil
Sealing the ends:
A lot of people skip this part and that is why there hair is dry after washing it. We must find a natural oil, that will not sit on your hair, apply it to the starting with the ends of the hair and working your way up. Focus on the ends because it is the oldest part of our hair. If you skip this step, your hair will be very dry. Kinky textured hair needs as much moistures as it can take. Good sealing oils, coconut oil, Jamaican Black Castor oil, Grapeseed oil, Olive oil. I would say to start with Coconut oil, because it is light and it obsorbs into the hair and gives it shine. Grapeseed oil is another good one if your hair likes light oils. My favorite is the Jamaican Black Castor oil because it is heavy and that is what my hair likes. Feel your hair after a few hours to see if the oil of your choice is doing what you need it to do for your hair. Your hair will tell you exactly what it needs.
Styling:
Our kinky Afro textured hair is prone to breakage and damage no matter what we do. The less manipulation the better. I would recommend to put the hair up into protective styles for about 3-5 of the 7 days of the week to protect your ends and retain length.
The best way to style the hair is directly after your wash and moisturize and sealing regimen. Styling on soaking wet hair gives more definition. Some prefer to wait about 30 minutes for the hair to dry and style on damp hair. To each his own, so stand in the mirror and work with what you have. Your hairstyle will never look the same on anyone else and vice versa.
Learn to love and embrace your hair texture. Stand in the mirror and look at your natur4al self, the way that God made you. Twist and braid and pin up your hair to learn styles that compliment your face and/ or body structure.
Keeping the hair moisturized:
When in any style you must keep your hair moisturized. Create a moisturizing spritz to apply to your hair in between your washes. Use distilled water to keep out germs longer and add in your favorite leave in conditioner and some jojoba oil and coconut oi (Jamaican black Castor if your hair likes heavy oil) in a spray bottle and spritz as needed . Whenyou feel that your hair is dry and crunchy, then you have waited to long to moisturize but it is alright. Try to replenish moisture daily or every two days when needed. This will keep your hair happy and healthy.
If you are wearing a protective styles, then make sure that you moisturize the hair underneath the style. (Individuals, weaves, kinky twists) Make sure that you wash your scalp in these protective styles to keep your scalp healthy and so that the sebum can effectively work.
Protecting the hair:
Always protect your hair at night. You can use a satin pillowcase or a satin bonnet or a satin scarf. Silk works just as good, just make sure that whatever you use, your hair slides smoothly accross it to prevent snagging and breakage.
Kinky hair tips:
If you use spray bottles, make sure that you clean them often. Germs can have a lot of fun in there if you don’t.
Try bagging the ends of your hair or all of it to restore moisture into the hair.
Pre-pooing with olive oil, coconut oil and honey leave the hair feeling really smooth while and after washing.
For a more effective deep conditioning treatment, try using a thermal heat wrap cap. They help the conditioning mix to penetrate the hair and deeply rejuvenate your kinky hair.
Whipped Shea butter, melt the Shea butter in hot water over the stove, fold in coconut oil then take off the pot.Sit to the side and allow to cool. Begin whipping, using a regular hand mixer. This usually takes 10-20 minutes depending on how much Shea butter is used.
Co-washing works like a charm! I tried it last night and could immediately see the results. I’m going to do as suggested and try it out for the rest of month. Considering that I have alot of buildup and dandruff, I think I’ma do the ACV wash every two weeks and co-washes twice a week. Thanks. My thermal cap is enroute
Yes it does and you can co-wash as often as you would like to without stripping your hair. Let me know how your scalp liked the ACV wash.
I also agree with layering and continuing to moisturize. I use Taliah Waajid’s detangler as a leave in, then shea moisture smoothie, and then my own shea butter whip (olive oil instead of cocunut oil). Until recently there was no pure cocunut oil in my city lol. I noticed that Walmart carries it now in the food aisle. Do you prefer cocunut oil over olive oil?
For me, I prefer Jamaican Black Castor oil because my type 4c Kinky Afro textured hair sucks the coconut and olive oils up. I prefer coconut oil for my pre-poo’s and making products. But that is me. Olive oil works great for others. Wow Wal Mart carries Coconut oil now, thanks for letting me know girl.
I am so glad I came across this website I have been natural for a year and I have been searching and searching for help with my type 4c hair and I am so ready for the stores to open because I have my list ready thanks!!!!!
Could you please tell me everything you use on your hair from top to bottom. I also have 4b/4c hair type. I have no clue what to use or where to begin. I’ve been seeing a hairstylist but would like to do my hair myself because I feel that my hair is not reaching it’s potential length and that because it’s not her hair I would do better at taking care of it. Because if it was on her head I feel that she would be more gentler. So anyways, what hair care regimen do you use? When do you pre poo? How do you pre poo? I need to know everything PLEASE
Yes I will, I will add another page so that everyone can see my routine.
I’ve been natural for about 2 years or so and I know my hair has grown but I cant seem to retain any real length. I will be honest and say that I never really created a regimen for myself and I’ve tried numerous products but never stuck with one in particular. I just read all of your advice and this new upcoming year I plan to really buckle down and work on my hair! Do you suggest any shampoos, conditioners, deep conditioners, or moisturizers? I have tried Garnier and Herbal Essences before because I read that they are sulfate free and such but both times, after I shampooed my hair felt dry and brittle.
Fist create your regimen and stick to it for at least three months and see how much happier your hair is. The only hair care line that I recommend to people is the Shea Moisture line, it has thick creamy hair care products for us. The moisture retention shampoo (for when you shampoo) and then the Restorative conditioner (rinse out and leave in). The Garnier and Herbal Essence dried my kinky Afro textured hair out too, so I do not ever go back to that. Try pre-pooing your hair before every wash until your hair gets its moisture back up then do it maybe once every two washes. Warm your oil(s) then apply to your ends, work your way up and then leave on for at least an hour to overnight, then wash condition and apply leave in conditioner and then SEAL THE MOISTURE IN WITH YOUR OIL. Keep your ends tucked away as much as possible to retain the length. I normally wear a protective style during the week and then let it out on Friday or Sunday. Then wash and it goes right back up. Hope that you share your regimen with us. Have a great day and thank you for stopping by.