Wednesday, July 24, 2013

How to Stop Fighting with Dry, Unruly Hair: The Coily Hair Edition

(Left) Fresh Washed, Conditioned, Oil Added. (Right) Oil Only Braidout
Naturally Coily Hair (while dry) With Castor Oil/Aloe Vera Gel Mixture

Naturally Coily hair (while wet) without any product

....just add water, your favorite moisturizer/oil combo, and your hair will speak to you.

For a while now, my hair's been "going naked".

 When I first went natural, and even throughout my transition, products ruled me. There are too many dag blasted products on those shelves! 

Now, I like the fact that I'm in control of my product purchasing and usage. 
Right off the bat, I love water as my main source of moisture. But you can be sure that the water will be dried out in a matter of 45 minutes if my hair is left loose with only water. At that point, my hair will dry hard and matte together. So I learned that along with the water, I NEED a leave in conditioning product

The thing is, I like to keep my conditioning/moisturizing product to 1 or 2 simple ingredients. One of my favorite moisturizing and sealing combo's are aloe Vera gel and Castor oil mix during the summer. I love oils! I seal with oil, pre-cleanse treat with oil, add oil to my deep conditioner. My hair can not get enough oils!

Mostly, I feel like my hair regimen and products are so simple, and that tactic has paid off. 

Keeping Products Simple will Show on the Strands. Lightweight, Easy Styling
 No Shampoo (only Amla Cleanse, Apple Cider Vinegar Cleanse, or wash with conditioner) = No coily tangled mess/dry hair.
No synthetic products (only natural products with minimal ingredients) = No layers of moisture-blocking plastics. This means I won't have to strip my hair clean with shampoos and be stuck with dry hair all week.

 I need an award from K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Sister)! If you haven't tried to go naked (with your hair, silly) yet.....give it a try! Of course you will want to stick with your products if they aren't causing you any problems. But if you are often fighting with dry, unruly hair, maybe the answer isn't the "next best product". Maybe the answer is right in your kitchen. Throw some olive oil into your conditioner. Get rid of silicone with a bit of Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water (1 to 3 parts). Review your stash of products. Do you REALLY love that leave in? I hear people say this all the time "I love such and such product, but later my hair felt dry". That's my first clue to stop using that product or ingredient...the after effects.

 I learned that my hair with only water will dry to a hard matted bush of tangles--by just letting it dry "naked". LESSON: Simply lubricating it with a moisturizer heads off that problem. Then from there...what I put into my hair really depends on the style that I plan to do (straight, braidout/twistout, roller set, etc). 

What's the least amount of product you can put in your hair for a style this Summer?

11 comments:

  1. I just use amla or my sulfate-free shampoo to cleanse, condition with my BeeMine BeeLovely conditioner mixed with oil, lightly spray my hair daily with water, ACV and coconut oil (100:1:2) and seal with coconut oil and that's it. Nothing else goes on my hair.

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    1. Hey Sam! Your regimen sounds like mine (when I'm being good LOL)! Love it, thanks for sharing

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  2. I also like to keep it simple and I don't have any problems with dryness (currently). However, you're right, those shelves of products are so tempting. I feel like they've been calling my name lately. Lol!

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    1. All those pretty colors on the shelves...so tempting LOL! I often walk slowly down the aisle (leaving empty handed or with tresemme naturals).

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  3. Hi!!! I'm having a serious issue with terrible itchy scalp since going natural,the only relief I have is WASH DAY the next day its right back to being very itchy and I don't know whats causing it. I do see lots of flakes when scratching but I don't know if that's build up or dandruff. I've tried just cowashing my hair and then adding just ois to my hair to reduce build up but it was still itchy. Any suggestions would be helpful
    Thank you

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    1. Hi Sahirah, I haven't had a scalp problem in a while (thankfully), so I had to take a minute to recall all of the things that I think caused scalp itchies in the past. Sometimes, my scalp would itch as a result of a product that caused irritation. So try to isolate a product that may be the culprit. Another thing that cause scalp itchies is when I wore 2 strand twists and didn't wet them for over 1 week. How many days do you go in between getting your scalp wet? Product build-up is evident on the hair strands (does your hair look dull, weighed down, no curl definition (if you are a coily girl). IF you've got product build up, that can cause the scalp to itch. Try clarifying with a shampoo that specifically clarifies (I like to use a spray bottle with 1`tablespoon apple cidar vinegar and 1 ounce of water). Spray that onto the scalp and hair, leave for 10 mins then rinse). There are a lot of other causes for scalp itch (some may require a visit to a dermatologist). Try to eliminate the easy possibilities and then consider getting a bit of help from the professional if all else fails! Hope this helps!

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    2. I do not wet my scalp when I have hairstyles in for a week, maybe that's the problem. I usually wear a perm rod set, I'm 11 months into transitioning. Wouldn't wetting my hair disturb my rod set? I have 4 children and there's no way I have time to wet and redo my hair everyday lol.

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    3. True to that (last sentenced) LOL! Yeah, I think that might be the cause of your flakes then. If I go 1 week without wetting my scalp, I get lots of flakes. I have a video on transitioning hair and perm rod rollers (the low manipulation/low fuss version). I actually thought of the idea b/c of a heavy workout schedule at the time. So I was doing it daily. Just google "transitioning hair and exercise" and you should see the video (don't laugh at the picture) LOL!

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  4. You and your daughter are just beautiful! And you seem to have a great mother daughter relationship.

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