3 years natural….OMG I can’t believe it’s been 3 years since I’ve gone natural! Seriously though, what a difference the time makes! Just to preface this post, you can check this post and this post to learn more about my natural hair journey. The road has been long but well worth it. Let’s dive in.
For those that may not know (read here) I went natural aka stopped using chemicals and heat on my hair 3 years ago in 2016. That was the year I broke my foot and was unable to finish that dance season with the Sixers. Dancing for the Sixers was one of the main things that caused the most damage to my hair. I got it colored, had extensions, clip ins plus all of the straightening and curling I did to it. At most, we would have 4 games in one week. That’s 4 days putting heat on my hair, teasing it or whatever.
The damage was done and I had enough. I took my time off from dancing to focus on my hair health. Three years later here we are. As a kind of second part to this post, I will be sharing my updated natural hair care routine sometime next week. Below I have some frequently asked questions (FAQs) about my hair and natural hair care. I plan on doing more natural hair posts including what products I use plus answering more questions I get about my hair. Stay tuned!
How often do you wash your hair?
Right now, I aim to wash my hair once a week
What shampoo & conditioner do you use?
As far as shampoo, I use Hask Keratin Protein shampoo and Cantu shampoo. I also use Cantu’s co-wash. Co wash means skipping shampoo and relying solely on conditioner, whether you’re a daily or a weekly washer. The result is something between squeaky-clean and second-day hair—that is, smoother, softer, and easier to manage. I co-wash my hair every other week
What products do you use to grow your hair?
I swear by this Jamaican Black Castor Oil. Also Hask Keratin Protein deep conditionerworks wonders.
Tips for growing out your hair.
I will give you all the tips that worked for me:
- Leave your hair alone. Less manipulation means less chances of your hair breaking.
- Wash your hair less. By less I mean once a week.
- Don’t apply heat or use as minimal as possible. Even when I diffuse, I diffuse on cool
- Make sure your products are alcohol and sulfate free. They dry out your hair which leads to breakage aka not retaining length
- DEEP CONDITION! OMG y’all I can’t tell you how important deep conditioning your hair is. It helps prevent damage from heat and styling tools as well as help your hair retain moisture and vital proteins to the hair shaft.
- Hot oil treatments. For extra moisture and these work hand-in-hand with deep conditioning. When I first went natural, I would do a hot oil treatment before my deep condition. When in doubt, heat up your olive, coconut and black castor in a bowl and put that bowl in a pot of bowling water until it heats up.
- Apple cider vinegar. It helps stimulate your scalp to promote hair growth and it cleanses hair without stripping it. It has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties to help with the flaky and itchy scalp and helps remove build up from the use of products.
- IF you have to comb your hair, only use a wide tooth comb!
How do you stretch your hair?
Once again, what works for me may not work for you. Most people put their hair in a pineapple at night. That does not work for me. I actually put my hair up in a super high bun. After than I put my satin bonnet on and go to bed. Another way, one that I used to do, is to do a twist or braid out on your wash days. This works best.
What do you do about dryness regarding your hair and scalp?
I have a “how to moisturize natural hair” post coming very soon with all the details! For me, it’s all about oils for my scalp and creams for my hair. I swear by hot oil treatment and weekly deep conditions. Also, always keep a spray bottle with water in it on hand. Since you use so much product in your hair on wash day, you should have more than enough for the week. Usually by day 3, you can just spray your hair with water to bring the product to surface and rework it in your hair.
How do you get volume?
I feel like I have not mastered this yet. At this point I just have a lot of hair. The longer I go with my wash and go, the bigger it gets lol. A quick and easy way to get some volume is to pick your hair out from the root after you dry/diffuse it.
How do you get your curls to stay?
Thank you dad lol. No seriously, I attribute this to good genes. I used to have to do a braid out to get my hair to maintain curls. Once my hair became “trained” I just curls nicely. Tip: Use apple cider vinegar to help your curls bounce back after washing. Make sure you do the apple cider vinegar prior to washing your hair so it doesn’t smell lol.
Thanks for reading!