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There are so many natural hair products and techniques that it can be overwhelming to attempt to process all of the information and determine how to best care for your natural hair on a daily basis. The good news is that the keys to strong, healthy, growing hair are simple: keep your hair moisturized and avoid things that cause breakage.
Here, we have outlined a very simple routine you can use to get started with caring for your natural hair or reboot an overly complicated routine. Remember, consistency counts!
Day 1
- Cleanse your hair
- Blot and apply rinse out conditioner (you can skip this step if cowashing)
- Detangle
- Rinse, blot, and apply moisturizer/sealer
- Braid or twist, and allow to air dry
- Style
Day 2
- Refresh style
Day 3
Assess if your hair needs to be remoisturized. If it is still soft and pliable and has a nice sheen, you may not need to remoisturize yet. If it is getting dull and stiff, follow these steps:
- Spritz lightly with water
- Apply moisturizer/sealer
- Detangle, braid or twist, and allow to air dry
- Style
Day 4
- Refresh style
Day 5
Assess if your hair needs to be remoisturized. If it is still soft and pliable and has a nice sheen, you may not need to remoisturize yet. If it is getting dull and stiff, follow these steps:
- Spritz lightly with water
- Apply moisturizer/sealer
- Detangle, braid or twist, and allow to air dry
- Style
Day 6
- Refresh style
Day 7
- Refresh style
Day 8
Assess if your hair needs to be remoisturized. If it is still soft and pliable and has a nice sheen, you may not need to remoisturize yet. If it is getting dull and stiff, follow these steps:
- Spritz lightly with water
- Apply moisturizer/sealer
- Detangle, braid or twist, and allow to air dry
- Style
Day 9
- Refresh style
Day 10
Assess if your hair needs to be remoisturized. If it is still soft and pliable and has a nice sheen, you may not need to remoisturize yet. If it is getting dull and stiff, follow these steps:
- Spritz lightly with water
- Apply moisturizer/sealer
- Detangle, braid or twist, and allow to air dry
- Style
Day 11
- Refresh style
Day 12
Assess if your hair needs to be remoisturized. If it is still soft and pliable and has a nice sheen, you may not need to remoisturize yet. If it is getting dull and stiff, follow these steps:
- Spritz lightly with water
- Apply moisturizer/sealer
- Detangle, braid or twist, and allow to air dry
- Style
Day 13
- Refresh style
Day 14
- Refresh style
Day 15
- Cleanse your hair
- Blot and condition with a deep conditioner
- Detangle
- Rinse, blot, and apply moisturizer/sealer
- Braid or twist, and allow to air dry
- Style
Depending on your style, refreshing it may include a light spritz of a water-based liquid moisturizer, adding some oil to your hands and fluffing a braid or twist out, simply removing your scarf if you’re wearing a protective style, or adding bobby pins, clips or a headband.
On your refresh days, you want to do the minimum to get your hair ready for the day, as low manipulation is one of the best things you can do to prevent breakage. The best time to change your style completely is on your remoisturizing or wash days.
Completely detangling your hair is important on wash days, but is not always necessary on your remoisturizing days. It may be best to detangle just enough to complete your style and leave your full detangling for wash day when your hair is saturated with water and conditioner. Your remoisturizing day is a good time to gently remove shed hairs, which will make detangling easier.
Repeat days 1 through 15 in perpetuity!
Every six to eight weeks assess the condition of your ends. If your ends look ragged and feel rough, you need a trim. To do this yourself, you can put your hair in small two strand twists and snip the split ends to prevent additional breakage.
Conclusion
That’s it! Maintaining healthy, growing natural hair is not difficult but it does require some discipline to keep up with a consistent routine. Keep your hair well moisturized and keep breakage at bay, and you will love the results.
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