Have you ever been told that natural Afro kinky hair is way easier to maintain than relaxed hair? Well, if you have, today is the day that you put an end to that saying.
For a long time, there has been this misconception between Afro and relaxed hair.
A person once said you can’t comb your relaxed hair a lot for fear of breakage, but it is allowed for your natural hair. Mind you, hair is hair. Be it relaxed or natural, it still needs equal attention.
So if you are someone that wants to transition from relaxed to natural or you are already rocking that natural hair but you want to know how best to take care of it, here are a few tips to note:
1. Combs
All combs are useful, but not all combs are advisable. As much as possible, avoid using tail combs for your hair. All you are doing is tearing your hair, which makes you lose a huge amount of hair without even realizing it. Use an Afro comb or a detangling brush. These two are highly recommended.
2. Detangling dry hair
This is a major no. If you are seeking to keep your length, avoid detangling it when your hair is dry. Dry hair equals lots of knots and frizzes, and the moment you put a comb in that hair, you are going to have a hair funeral. So you grab your spray bottle, you can add a leave-in conditioner into the water if you like and spray. Makes for easy detangling and the amount of hair that will break off will be less.
3. Detangling with your fingers
There are knots and ties in your hair that if you use a comb to detangle, you will pull out your hair. Let’s give a scenario. When taking out your box braids, do you often see a build-up of dirt at the base of your hair? Oftentimes, this dirt holds the hair together. Putting a comb through that will only pull your hair. So, once again, you get your spray bottle, dampen the hair, and use your hand to separate the hair.
4. Detangling from tip to base
If you detangle from base to tip, all you’re doing is creating a knot at the tip of your hair. And you already know what that implies. So the best way is from tip to base. To make the detangling process easy, you can section your hair into parts and comb it.
Now that we are done with this, let’s move on to the other things you need to know when it comes to dealing with natural hair:
5. Heat
As much as possible, avoid adding heat to your hair. By that, I mean excessive stretching and blow drying. All you are doing is putting your hair under pressure, which will weaken it. Notice the use of the word excessive. It means you can use it, but don’t make it a habit.
6. Tight hairstyle
Yea, we got that black girl magic, so we believe our hair can withstand anything. No. The whole point of your protective hairstyle is to “protect” your hair, not damage it. The tighter it gets, the more it is likely it is for your hair to fall out. As much as possible, avoid braiding or putting pressure on your edges or you might just end up being bald.
7. Dirty hair
Dirt doesn’t grow your hair. One more time for those at the back, dirt doesn’t grow your hair. All it does is clog up your scalp pores. Clean scalp equals healthy hair.
