Rocking your natural hair is beautiful and something you should be proud of. But keeping those locks soft and healthy, you need to know the right way to care for it. In this post, I will share some tips and advice on how to treat and take care of your natural hair and also keep your natural curls glowing.
Types of Hair Curls?
While it’s difficult to put curl types into categories as different people have different hair, There are number of ways that guides or give a clue on the types.
1. Straight hair
2. Wavy hair
This type is broken down into three types – a, b and c depending on the intensity of the wave – a being least reminiscent of the letter S, and c the most.
3. Curly Hair
This type of hair is also broken down into three – a, b and c. a being the loosest curl and c the tightest, sometimes also called a corkscrew shape.
4. Tight curls
Again, this hair type is broken down into three – a, b and c. a curls look like a tight S shapes, while b are often defined as tight looking Z shapes, and finally c is even more tightly coiled and generally does not have a defined curl pattern.
Then again, it’s very common to have a mix of hair types. This means, you might spot that your hair looks like type 4a at the roots, but goes into 4b or 4c at the ends. There can be a variety of types, so don’t feel that your hair needs to be in a certain category. Use the number and letter system only as a guide.
How to Take Care of Your Natural Hair
1. Having the Right Shampoo And Conditioner
When washing your hair, make sure you have both a shampoo and a conditioner. Don’t be quick to wash your hair too often as this makes them to dry out. Another thing to put in mind is the temperature. If it’s too hot, you might notice your hair becoming frizzy, dry and hard to manage. Firstly, go for warm water and follow up with a cold rinse. Doing this will make your hair glow and be more healthier.
When choosing your shampoo and conditioner, go for a light formula, preferably packed with oils such as argan, grape seed or jojoba. After applying shampoo your hair, condition only the lengths and ends leaving out the roots. After washing your hair, add a small bit of hair oil to the tails while they are still damp. If possible, avoid using heat stylers, or use them on low temperature with heat protecting spray.
2. Using the Right Pillowcase is key
Pillowcases made with cotton are known to draw out the moisture, so if you rock a natural hair, go for a silk or satin pillow case. Another advantage of going for a silk or satin pillow case is that it is also much tender to your skin. If you can’t swap your collection of cotton pillowcases, opt in for a silk scarf to wrap your hair before you go to bed.
3. Moisturise Please
Moisturise and condition your hair no matter your hair type, natural hair is the most liable to dryness, so it requires extra care. Opt in for a moisturising serum, leave-in conditioner, hair masks, hair oils like coconut oil, almond oil or olive oil. Keeping your ends well moisturised will prevent them from splitting in the future.
4. Trim The Split Ends
Split ends can be masked temporarily but can’t be mended. That is why it’s important for you to trim your hair whenever you feel you have split ends to prevent them from causing more damage to hair lengths.
Extra Tip: When brushing your hair, always go for a wide toothed comb and a gently brush from the base going up to prevent damaged to you hair.
5. Cold Oils, Hot Oils
If you want to take care of your natural hair, going for a hot oil treatment once or twice a month might be a great way of adding moisture and shine to your hair as well as improving elasticity. Doing a hot oil treatment is pretty simple, simply warm up one of your favourite hair oils (argan, avocado, coconut, olive or almond among others) in a jar dipped into hot water. Once warm, section hair and apply to the scalp and base, gently massaging it in. Leave for 30 minutes and wrap a silk scarf around your head to keep the moisture in and then wash off with shampoo.
While hot oil treatments should be performed less frequently, cold oils can be done daily especially on hair ends. Add a tiny amount of oil to your hands, rub and apply to the ends. This will help add shine and ease well.
