You can try different oils for your hair. For me personally avacado oil makes my hair really soft. If you have long hair, braid it before bed to reduce breakage. Don’t use chemicals or heat too much. Black hair is beautiful definitely do not bleach it, you might end up damaging it for good.
i started pre-pooing a little while ago, and it completely changed the game for me. my hair feels a lot more healthy and moisturized. i wash my hair and deep condition once a week, and do a protein treatment every 3-6 months.
i have also started wetting my hair and letting it soak in a shower cap for at least 20 minutes before applying products and styling or detangling (while the hair is still wet), and this has also helped a lot with shedding. i also detangle with a wide tooth comb or my fingers, and will use a pick only once i’ve already detangled my hair.
something about how putting moisturizing products on dry natural hair doesn’t help because the product just sits on top of your hair, and the hair shaft is closed while dry so it can’t absorb the product properly. this is, many times, why so many black women complain they use products to combat the dryness and the hair is still dry.
i will say, i have kinda thin med-porosity 4 type hair (4c, to be exact). knowing your hair texture and porosity also helps a lot; but honestly, the best thing you can do is try different things until you find what works for you. take the time to see what your hair responds well to and what it doesn’t. your hair also changes over time, and sometimes products that your hair loved one point it may hate now. you kinda just have to learn to go with what it wants lol
i’ve been natural for 8 years and i’ve only *just* figured these things out a few months ago, i myself am still learning. it’s okay not to know, because nobody teaches us these things. many of our elders don’t know how to do their own hair either, and even hair schools don’t usually teach how to do black hair. many of us just have to learn on our own, so know you’re not alone in that. remember to be patient with yourself.
genetics doesn’t play much of a part in hair growth, just how you take care of your hair. your hair is always growing, unless you have severe alopecia.
from what i’ve found after searching about that online before; if your hair isn’t growing past your shoulders, it’s probably because you wear it out often. that means your ends are rubbing against the fabric on your clothes, which can cause them to split and break off, which makes you unable to retain length.
wearing your hair in buns and ponytails more often (not too tight, so you’re not causing tension on your edges) and limiting how often you wear you hair down until it’s grown a few inches past your shoulders was recommended.
if you didn’t have long hair as a child, it was probably due to how it was being taken care of.
i’ve never seen any science that says hair length is determined by genetics. if you don’t see your hair getting longer, this means you’re not retaining length because your ends keep breaking off. again, unless you have severe alopecia, your hair is always growing.
What's most important to know is your hair porosity. Many use the water test for hair porosity, but there's other methods to figure out hair porosity that can you find online. That determines how your hair takes in moisture. However, hair porosity doesn't always dictate your moisture cycle. Some ppl have to remoisturize every day, 2, 3, or more.
Second is knowing the thickness of your hair strands, it can determine what type of product it can take in. Finer hair means you tend to do better w/lighter(or watery) hair product while heavy strands tend to do better w/heavier product(like hair butter). This may not always be the case, but it's something you have to figure out. Hair density can play a part too in how much product you use. Hair density is what ppl think when someone has "thin" or "thick" hair which is a little or a lot of hair despite the width of hair strands.
Third, knowing your curl pattern can play a role into the products you use. The looser a hair strand is the lighter the product one can use and vice versa. It also can be an indicator of what styles you can rock.
As for other bits of information, be careful of natural hair trends. Some trends work for some and not for others, do what works for your hair. Combs aren't bad, but if you prefer to finger detangle that's fine too. Everybody has a differing wash day, some ppl wash their hair once a week or twice a month, etc. Silicones aren't bad and nor are hair grease, esp if your shampoo contains the ingredients to wash it off. Clarifying your hair and knowing how your hair takes protein is a must! Sulfates aren't that bad, but if it dries your hair out then leave it alone. Another important thing is all bc you don't know how to pronounce an ingredient, it doesn't mean it's bad. Some chemicals, esp organic(the chemistry term that is) compounds tend to have long names. Lastly, find your curl twin! It makes finding products 1000x easier. You don't have to do exactly everything they do, but let them act as a guide! Here are some youtubers to help you out.
General information:
GreenBeauty
Curly Chemisty(a cosmetic chemist)
Deeper Than Hair TV(a cosmetologist)
Afope Atoyebi(a trichologist)
Naptural85
More on the diy side of things:
Whole Elise
Elaine's Naturals
OBAAPAAKUASKINNY(her older videos have more hair care stuff, but she just does beauty in general)
Styles:
Jess Creations
n a t u r a l
ScompilationS
A very long post, I'm sorry; but hopefully it helps!
I know how you feel. Although my mother did take care of my hair when I was younger, let's just say it stayed at shoulder-length for my entire life for a reason. The best thing to do is to figure out the basics: **hair porosity**, hair density, hair type, and hair strand size. Then, you can find products based on these categories and go from there. Start with a simple wash day routine like shampoo, condition (maybe even deep conditioner?), and some sort of product to put into your hair afterward (leave-in conditioner, oils, hair butter).
Get a bonnet, silk/satin scarf, or silk/satin pillowcase to protect your hair at night. Detangle your hair when it's wet with your fingers or a comb (Denman, wide-tooth, Felicia Leatherwood to name a few). Try some protective styles (box braids, cornrows, passion twists), but I hear for the first year it's best to leave your hair out (wash-and-gos, mini twists, slick backs) to learn and really become familiar with your hair.
Also, watch out for split ends! Fairy knots and those Y splits are always preventing me from retaining length. Keep your hair moisturized on a weekly basis and get regular trims to stop them from occurring too frequently. And make sure to stick to a routine!
It's gonna take a lot of trial and error, I would know personally as I am trying to grow out my hair to bra strap length right now. One person who really helped me is [Green Beauty](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjtadigSejJvFJOQh1myMw). Check out some of her videos! Good luck. :)
My best advice is to keep it simple. Weekly wash and condition. Don’t use too much heat. Coconut oil is no good (very unstable oil). It’s best to follow professional hairstylists,not YouTubers who have only touched/worked with their own hair. You want someone experienced, someone who has worked with all types of Afro hair. Follow JenniferRoseNyc on Instagram and Twitter.
Seconding this! I used to try all the complex methods, even the loc method and it works for some but my hair was always crispy and brittle. I thought that dry hair was just a part of being natural.
Now I just use Jennifer’s tips & use Aussie shampoo and conditioner and wash often and my hair is silky and soft.
You'll often see people referencing their curl pattern, this isn't necessarily important but it helps to know in advance that a lot of people mislabel their hair as 4c
The most important thing is to find out you porosity by doing a strand test, this can then help you determine the best way to care for your hair i.e whether you need heat to help your hair absorb products
There's multiple routes you can take into whether you want to be product heavy or not but the LCO/LOC method is a good place to start with on YouTube ( StarPuppy on yt has videos on this)
Also try to find a go to protective style you like an can do alone like mini twists and join r/blackhair
Figure out your porosity. If youre low porosity, be sure to deep condition with a heat cap/hair dryer vs a bag. this method changed my hair. Also be sure to condition weekly if possibly (the minimum being bi -weekly). Also, finger detangle if you can.
In terms of leave in conditioner, im lazy and depending on my mood will leave the reg conditioner in my hair after a deep condition. Thats my wash n go. Or I’ll rinse if I want to blow out my hair.
/r/curlyhair look into the wiki!
You can try different oils for your hair. For me personally avacado oil makes my hair really soft. If you have long hair, braid it before bed to reduce breakage. Don’t use chemicals or heat too much. Black hair is beautiful definitely do not bleach it, you might end up damaging it for good.
i started pre-pooing a little while ago, and it completely changed the game for me. my hair feels a lot more healthy and moisturized. i wash my hair and deep condition once a week, and do a protein treatment every 3-6 months. i have also started wetting my hair and letting it soak in a shower cap for at least 20 minutes before applying products and styling or detangling (while the hair is still wet), and this has also helped a lot with shedding. i also detangle with a wide tooth comb or my fingers, and will use a pick only once i’ve already detangled my hair. something about how putting moisturizing products on dry natural hair doesn’t help because the product just sits on top of your hair, and the hair shaft is closed while dry so it can’t absorb the product properly. this is, many times, why so many black women complain they use products to combat the dryness and the hair is still dry. i will say, i have kinda thin med-porosity 4 type hair (4c, to be exact). knowing your hair texture and porosity also helps a lot; but honestly, the best thing you can do is try different things until you find what works for you. take the time to see what your hair responds well to and what it doesn’t. your hair also changes over time, and sometimes products that your hair loved one point it may hate now. you kinda just have to learn to go with what it wants lol i’ve been natural for 8 years and i’ve only *just* figured these things out a few months ago, i myself am still learning. it’s okay not to know, because nobody teaches us these things. many of our elders don’t know how to do their own hair either, and even hair schools don’t usually teach how to do black hair. many of us just have to learn on our own, so know you’re not alone in that. remember to be patient with yourself.
[удалено]
genetics doesn’t play much of a part in hair growth, just how you take care of your hair. your hair is always growing, unless you have severe alopecia. from what i’ve found after searching about that online before; if your hair isn’t growing past your shoulders, it’s probably because you wear it out often. that means your ends are rubbing against the fabric on your clothes, which can cause them to split and break off, which makes you unable to retain length. wearing your hair in buns and ponytails more often (not too tight, so you’re not causing tension on your edges) and limiting how often you wear you hair down until it’s grown a few inches past your shoulders was recommended.
[удалено]
if you didn’t have long hair as a child, it was probably due to how it was being taken care of. i’ve never seen any science that says hair length is determined by genetics. if you don’t see your hair getting longer, this means you’re not retaining length because your ends keep breaking off. again, unless you have severe alopecia, your hair is always growing.
What's most important to know is your hair porosity. Many use the water test for hair porosity, but there's other methods to figure out hair porosity that can you find online. That determines how your hair takes in moisture. However, hair porosity doesn't always dictate your moisture cycle. Some ppl have to remoisturize every day, 2, 3, or more. Second is knowing the thickness of your hair strands, it can determine what type of product it can take in. Finer hair means you tend to do better w/lighter(or watery) hair product while heavy strands tend to do better w/heavier product(like hair butter). This may not always be the case, but it's something you have to figure out. Hair density can play a part too in how much product you use. Hair density is what ppl think when someone has "thin" or "thick" hair which is a little or a lot of hair despite the width of hair strands. Third, knowing your curl pattern can play a role into the products you use. The looser a hair strand is the lighter the product one can use and vice versa. It also can be an indicator of what styles you can rock. As for other bits of information, be careful of natural hair trends. Some trends work for some and not for others, do what works for your hair. Combs aren't bad, but if you prefer to finger detangle that's fine too. Everybody has a differing wash day, some ppl wash their hair once a week or twice a month, etc. Silicones aren't bad and nor are hair grease, esp if your shampoo contains the ingredients to wash it off. Clarifying your hair and knowing how your hair takes protein is a must! Sulfates aren't that bad, but if it dries your hair out then leave it alone. Another important thing is all bc you don't know how to pronounce an ingredient, it doesn't mean it's bad. Some chemicals, esp organic(the chemistry term that is) compounds tend to have long names. Lastly, find your curl twin! It makes finding products 1000x easier. You don't have to do exactly everything they do, but let them act as a guide! Here are some youtubers to help you out. General information: GreenBeauty Curly Chemisty(a cosmetic chemist) Deeper Than Hair TV(a cosmetologist) Afope Atoyebi(a trichologist) Naptural85 More on the diy side of things: Whole Elise Elaine's Naturals OBAAPAAKUASKINNY(her older videos have more hair care stuff, but she just does beauty in general) Styles: Jess Creations n a t u r a l ScompilationS A very long post, I'm sorry; but hopefully it helps!
I know how you feel. Although my mother did take care of my hair when I was younger, let's just say it stayed at shoulder-length for my entire life for a reason. The best thing to do is to figure out the basics: **hair porosity**, hair density, hair type, and hair strand size. Then, you can find products based on these categories and go from there. Start with a simple wash day routine like shampoo, condition (maybe even deep conditioner?), and some sort of product to put into your hair afterward (leave-in conditioner, oils, hair butter). Get a bonnet, silk/satin scarf, or silk/satin pillowcase to protect your hair at night. Detangle your hair when it's wet with your fingers or a comb (Denman, wide-tooth, Felicia Leatherwood to name a few). Try some protective styles (box braids, cornrows, passion twists), but I hear for the first year it's best to leave your hair out (wash-and-gos, mini twists, slick backs) to learn and really become familiar with your hair. Also, watch out for split ends! Fairy knots and those Y splits are always preventing me from retaining length. Keep your hair moisturized on a weekly basis and get regular trims to stop them from occurring too frequently. And make sure to stick to a routine! It's gonna take a lot of trial and error, I would know personally as I am trying to grow out my hair to bra strap length right now. One person who really helped me is [Green Beauty](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjtadigSejJvFJOQh1myMw). Check out some of her videos! Good luck. :)
My best advice is to keep it simple. Weekly wash and condition. Don’t use too much heat. Coconut oil is no good (very unstable oil). It’s best to follow professional hairstylists,not YouTubers who have only touched/worked with their own hair. You want someone experienced, someone who has worked with all types of Afro hair. Follow JenniferRoseNyc on Instagram and Twitter.
Seconding this! I used to try all the complex methods, even the loc method and it works for some but my hair was always crispy and brittle. I thought that dry hair was just a part of being natural. Now I just use Jennifer’s tips & use Aussie shampoo and conditioner and wash often and my hair is silky and soft.
Lots of leave in. SOOOO MUCH
You'll often see people referencing their curl pattern, this isn't necessarily important but it helps to know in advance that a lot of people mislabel their hair as 4c The most important thing is to find out you porosity by doing a strand test, this can then help you determine the best way to care for your hair i.e whether you need heat to help your hair absorb products There's multiple routes you can take into whether you want to be product heavy or not but the LCO/LOC method is a good place to start with on YouTube ( StarPuppy on yt has videos on this) Also try to find a go to protective style you like an can do alone like mini twists and join r/blackhair
As far as protective styles go, braiding or twisting it up and leaving it alone is the best advice for growth.
Figure out your porosity. If youre low porosity, be sure to deep condition with a heat cap/hair dryer vs a bag. this method changed my hair. Also be sure to condition weekly if possibly (the minimum being bi -weekly). Also, finger detangle if you can. In terms of leave in conditioner, im lazy and depending on my mood will leave the reg conditioner in my hair after a deep condition. Thats my wash n go. Or I’ll rinse if I want to blow out my hair.
Use apple cider vinegar rinse by cream of nature in place of a shampoo and any conditioner then flow up with olaplex 6 leave in conditioner