Author
loncani
Beauty Service Center
Published
20 Different ways To Care of Your Afro Hair
One thing about kinky Afro hair – it will shrink. While this is common knowledge to anyone with an afro crown, knowing how to care for this beautiful mane isn’t a simple task.
Knowing how to handle textured hair isn’t always a walk in the park, but finding the correct tools and techniques to care for your natural Black Afro Hair will put you on the right path to giving your Afro the love it deserves. We have illustrated 20 different ways to make caring for your afro a breeze, so you can have that healthy bounce, definition and embrace your crown proudly.
1. Water’s Your BFF!
When it comes to frizzy afro hair, water is an outright need. One of the keys to maintaining healthy afro hair is moisture. The recommended number of glasses you should take daily is eight, this is a guaranteed way to give your crown some much needed TLC and keep it healthy.
One of the places to intensely incorporate water treatment is when you’re detangling your hair. On account of your crown’s textured, kinky nature, 3B to 4C hair is more susceptible to getting tangled and matted. As a result, when you try to comb through it when it’s dry and tangled, the only thing you’ll succeed in is giving yourself a headache and getting a horrible breakage.
Always moisten your hair before you attempt to detangle it, or do yourself one better by detangling it in the shower to make it even easier. Additionally, always have a spray bottle at hand to give your hair a spritz if you don’t want it all the way wet. For soft, shiny hair, moisturize religiously!
2. Establish A Wash Day Routine
One of the benefits of rocking your natural hair out is that it doesn’t need you to wash it as often as other hair types. Nonetheless, you have to wash your hair at least every week or fortnightly as you feel necessary, to avoid getting your hair dry and frizzy. You can do this by embracing a wash day schedule.
For your wash day schedule, make sure you incorporate an intensely moisturizing cleansing shampoo and conditioner to revive your kinky curls. Remember not to use hot water when washing your hair as it dries it out and defeats the entire point of getting moisture into your hair. Opt for warm water instead to get the oils out and cleanse it thoroughly. Play around with various routines until you find what your hair likes best.
3. Always Keep It Hydrated
Your hair loves moisture, so never starve it of it! Kinky hair naturally tends to dry out faster and lose moisture, so to make sure it’s sufficiently moisturized, hydrate it often. Add some hydrating oils, creams or milk to it before you manipulate it. If you have protective styles like braid-ins, get yourself an intensely hydrating leave-in conditioner. Just because it’s under a wig or neatly tucked away in a braid doesn’t mean it needs less attention. Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize.
Another tip for caring for your fro and reviving your twists and curl pattern is to give your hair a hydrating hair mask regularly. For extra dry hair, reinforce your moisturizing regimen by applying a maximum hydration method. The maximum hydration technique is a popular and successful procedure for hydrating and locking in moisture to keep your hair healthier for longer.
4. Only Style It In Protective Hair-Dos
As the name suggests, protective styles help keep your hair from experiencing breakage, shedding, or getting damaged. Protective afro hairdos you can utilize incorporate wearing hairpieces, weaves, buns, bantu knots, cornrows, twists, or braiding. When plaiting, whether it’s twist, braids or cornrows, don’t hesitate to ask your stylist to back off on your edges and how tight they make the hair to decrease the strain on your scalp.
With protective styles, you diminish the odds of over-brushing, over-styling, or harming your hair with heat. This makes it a superb method of detangling your afro as well. Make sure not to let your hair sit in the accumulating oils and dirt for too long, also, grease your hair and scalp every day to keep your follicles as healthy as can be.
5. Use A Sulfate-Free Cleanser
Make sure you read the labels on any bottle your use before putting on your hair. Most shampoos contain high levels of harmful chemicals like ammonium lauryl sulphate or a similar version (ammonium Laureth sulphate, or sodium lauryl sulphate). These tend to increase dryness and breakage in natural hair.
Ideally, you’re advised against using these types, instead, go for sulphate-free options that add to the moisture of your hair. It’s suggested that you utilize a cleanser without sulphur (and conditioner) weekly to add more moisture to your hair, while also being more gentle to your scalp. One of the highly recommended products is the Jamaican Black Castor Oil shampoo with shea butter and ACV, which reinforces and restores your curl and kink pattern.
However, since sulphate-free shampoos are often pricier than ordinary drug-store ones, a more sensible choice is to wash your hair with black soap. Crowd favourites are usually the local brands available in markets. If you’re particularly creative, you could even make your own natural hair sulphate-free cleanser.
6. Regular Afro Hair Oiling
Normally, kinky hair needs frequent oiling. Incorporating oils should be essential in your daily hair care routine. Oils assume a critical part in keeping up and guaranteeing that your hair remains healthy. These oils can be utilized to saturate your hair or seal in previously existing dampness, this is exclusively subject to the kind of oil you use.
For oils that are retained into the hair shaft and hydrate the hair, you ought to put resources into the utilization of coconut oil, olive oil, or avocado oil. These oils are best applied after the application of a leave-in conditioner and for kinkier textures, in order to add dampness to your hair. A commonly used technique is the LOC (Liquid, Oil, Cream) or LCO (Liquid, Cream, Oil) method, where the oils used are important in locking in the moisture from the water.
Oils like Jamaican black castor oil, Grapeseed oil or Jojoba oil are excellent for locking in dampness into the hair and keeping it hydrated for an all-encompassing timeframe.
7. Healthy Eating Habits Equal Healthy Hair
They weren’t joking when they said: “you are what you eat” (whoever they were). As much as you need a healthy, nutritious, balanced diet for your body to be in good health, you need to nourish your hair as well. A balanced meal is rich in the good kind of proteins that are low in fat, dairy products, fruits and veggies and whole grains aid in the production of luscious, healthy hair. For a nourished scalp, consume nourishments rich in Omega-3 unsaturated fats, for example, salmon, pecans, and avocados.
To get stronger hair, step it up with your protein intake when eating by consuming foods like poultry and eggs. To keep your hair moisturized, you ought to eat foods rich in vitamin A and C, for example, leafy greens like spinach and asparagus. Take up meal-prepping and planning to make sure that you have all the nutrients you need in every meal.
8. Never Go To Sleep Without A Scarf Or Hood
Never neglect your nighttime routine by recklessly going to bed without covering your hair. Silk hair covers are the best since they don’t suck the moisture and oils from your hair. These could be scarves, or bonnets, or durags.
While you toss and turn in your sleep, you want to make sure that your hair doesn’t get tangled or break. Satin head covers help prevent that. In addition to these, consider investing in a good silk pillowcase, just for extra reinforcement in case the scarf slips off.
Laying down with free hair on a cotton pillowcase will bring about dry hair, hair breakage, and hair harm, on account of the grating with cotton. A silk or satin pillowcase is a lot gentler on the hair and assists with keeping up your hair’s moisture and oils.
9. Stay Off The Heat
Compared to other hair types, kinky-textured hair is a lot more fragile. There’s a higher risk of damaging it if you overuse heat on it in the form of blow dryers and straighteners. So the next time you need to dry your hair after a wash day, ditch the blow dryer. The heat and the pressure from the tugging hairbrush is a combination for disaster.
It is absolutely necessary that you stay away from as much heat and friction as reasonably possible to diminish damage and tangling. Air drying your hair is a more recommendable alternative and as it shields your hair from unreasonable hair breakage. Remember to never dry your hair with a towel! Towels roughen up the hair strands and cause frizz and breakage. Instead, try patting it dry with a delicate, old shirt.
10. Allow Your Hair To Breathe
With the ongoing rave of tucking your hair under a wig, you’re likely to forget to let your hair loose and allow it to breathe. If you have a protective hairstyle under your wig like cornrows, make sure you take them down after, at the most, three months. Subsequent to taking out a style, make a point to deep condition and seal moisture into your hair.
Don’t immediately go into the next protective style after taking one out, you can have a go at styling your natural hair in different ways, for example, bantu knots, flat twisting, or a simple puff. This allows your hair to air and you can rock your natural Afro hair for a few days.
11. Deep Conditioning Your Natural Hair
It’s crucial that you regularly deep condition your hair at least once per week, utilizing an oil-free mineral conditioner. The Argan Oil and Lavender Leave-In Smoothie Cream is a reliable option, or you can get some curling custard. Adding a deep conditioner to your hair routine will give your hair the necessary moisture-protein balance and improve the appearance and feel of your Afro hair.
Consistently deep conditioning your hair will make for healthier, bouncier, and softer, less harmed hair. For afro-textured hair, deep molding ordinarily works better after you have utilized a clarifying cleanser. If you need more protein balance in your hair, you can add honey nectar, olive oil, shea butter, or some other natural and essential oils to your conditioner.
12. Pre-Poo Your Hair
Pre-pooing is a process done prior to shampooing to help protect the hair against brutal SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) agents. Pre-pooing serves as a shield in guaranteeing that the cleanser you use doesn’t trip away from the dampness from your hair so your hair gets softer, shinier, and easier to manipulate.
When pre-pooing your hair, it is best that you utilize a conditioner, an oil, or a blend of the two. Pre-pooing adds additional dampness to your hair, makes detangling hair much simpler, prevents excess breakage, and aids in getting your scalp cleaner.
13. Try Textured (3B-4C) Clip-Ins
Clip-ins are an exciting way to step up your hair game, and a perfect option for “bad hair days” when you can’t be bothered to come up with anything super stylish. On days like that, you can make use of kinky add-ons. With kinky clip-ins, your hair is guaranteed to resist breakage and your follicles will be secured for extended time frames.
14. Plait Your Hair Before Going To Bed
Never, I repeat, never sleep without braiding your hair into a few neat lines or braids. Braiding before going to bed assists in fixing in dampness all as the night progresses. With braids, your hair strands will be securely held together and shielded from coming free and rubbing against the pillow or sheets. Braiding before bed should be a staple part of your bedtime routine.
15. Trim Your Hair Routinely
Don’t hold onto the mentality that you should retain all your length, even when the ends are screaming for help. Split ends are the enemy of progress, and even though you may need to properly psyche yourself up for the task, always make sure you trim off split ends at least once a year. An essential part of the natural hair regimen is managing your split ends. Split ends signify hair damage and whenever left unattended will keep expanding and ruin the rest of the hair on your head. Every so often, depending on the condition of your hair, make time to trim off the split ends, or get a professional to do it for you.
To check for breakage and splitting, run your fingers along the length of a couple of strands of your hair. This can let you know whether any breakage has happened along that strand. When trimming, cut a few centimetres above the point where the breakage is happening or else it’ll continue to break past that point. If you can’t detect split ends by just looking at the hair but it feels a little rough when you touch it, this may be a sign of damage.
16. Get Enough Hours of Sleep
This may come as a shock to most. I mean, what do a solid eight hours of sleep have to do with hair growth right? Just like your body needs sufficient rest to function well, your hair grows and flourishes better when you’re well-rested. Your body will generally recuperate its tissues while you rest, so guarantee that you get loads of rest daily.
It’s not uncommon for insomniacs or individuals who are sleep deprived to go bald as the hair and its follicles become more vulnerable and fragile as a result of bodily stress. Six to eight hours of rest a night is recommended by doctors all over the world. Your body and your hair will thank you for it by retaining a lovely lustre and shine. If you can’t manage a full eight hours of sleep in the night, you can even sneak in a short nap during the day.
17. Take Extra Care During Extreme Weather Conditions
If you live in the tropic region, then you’ll be familiar with the harsher weather conditions at certain times of the year. Take care to wear a scarf or head over your head to cover the hair. Extreme weather like the wind, heat waves or rainfall can badly damage natural hair.
These climatic conditions eliminate your hair’s moisture, making your hair frizzy and unmanageable. Ideally, have a protective style in such seasons and reinforce this with a head wrap, bandanna, or an umbrella in the event that you must be out in such weather.
18. Always Use A Wide Tooth Comb
Natural hair frequently gets knotted up and tangled, which makes combing it strenuously. To eliminate this, it is suggested that you use brushes that have more extensive, gentler teeth, similar to the wide-tooth comb. Wide-tooth combs have enough space between the comb teeth to permit your hair to move through smoothly without destroying the ends. They make detangling hair less harmful and painful.
Before you brush your hair, ensure that it’s sufficiently moistened and finger detangle it prior to combing it. Additionally, make sure you comb through in sections and don’t try and manipulate the entire mass at once. Section your head into four or eight sections and work slowly.
19. Wash Your Scalp
Because of all the oils and creams, you apply daily to keep your hair strands in good condition, there may be a build-up in your scalp. As this happens, your scalp may become itchy as the dirt and oils accumulate. To keep it clean, it’s important to cleanse your scalp routinely. Hair growth begins in the follicle, and new hairs develop through these small pores in the scalp. If these pores are blocked, it’ll be impossible for new hair to grow and you may get excruciating bumps and ingrown hairs. A grimy scalp can cause parasitic infections, dandruff, stunted growth, and unhealthy hair.
It is suggested that you wash your scalp each 7 – 10 days with a cleanser or non-lathering cleaners to thoroughly purify your scalp. Slowly massage the cleanser tenderly into your scalp with circular motions to eliminate dirt and facilitate the movement of blood to the scalp. A spotless and invigorated scalp ideally prompts fast hair growth.
20. Co-washing Your Hair
Co-washing includes washing your Afro hair with a conditioner or a purifying conditioner rather than shampoo to wash your hair. Co-washing serves to delicately eliminate dirt and better hydrate the hair. Co-washing is particularly useful for individuals with very dry hair that gets deprived of moisture when utilizing normal cleansers. With co-washing, you can keep up your characteristic oils, and your hair is more reasonable.
Dealing with your afro-textured hair can truly be a breeze if you follow these techniques and steps thoroughly. Before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to embracing a routine that works for you and encourages you to accomplish fuller-looking, healthier Afro hair.
