Ok, we know this is off topic, but both of us have natural hair and have learned a lot during our hair journeys so we decided to share some tips!
Bri’s Favorite Natural Hair Bloggers
- HeyFranHey – Great for all around health, skincare tips
- Kim Love (luvnaturals) – Great for hair style ideas and pH balance tips
- Naptural85 – Many natural products and recipes
- The natural haven – Many science oriented posts. There’s even an ‘academy’
- Black girl long hair – Love their Style Icons that feature different hair types
- Dephne Madyara – Faith based naturalista
Local Support (many events listed)
- Coily Divas
- Tampa Area Naturally You Meetup Group
- Central Florida Curls & Conversation Natural Hair Meetup Group
- LEI Curlfriends
- Florida Natural Hair Care Connection
- Orlando Natural Hair Care Meetup Group
Yearly Events
Central FL Natural Hair/Braiding Salons
High Level Outline for Natural Hair Care
- Overall Health – Your health plays a factor into your hair’s growth rate and health such as:
- What you were born with
- Genetics – Determines many things like growth phases
- What you can control
- Exercise – How Natural Hair Benefits From Exercising, Sweat It Out for Healthy Hair
- Diet – 10 Foods for Healthy Hair
- Vitamins – The most known vitamins for hair health are Biotin and Niacin. There are also many supplement brands such as Hairfinity and Manetabolism. I’ve used Manetabolism before (it’s half off on Black Friday). If you know you have a deficiency of a certain vitamin (such as me with iron), taking it should also improve your hair health.
- What you were born with
- Get to Know Your Hair – Your hair is as unique as you are! You might even find that you have parts of your hair with different curl patterns. Your hair will react to products differently than other people’s, and will probably come out different than a Youtube tutorial if the person doing it has a different hair type than you.
- Hair Types – This is a good article with pictures describing hair types. Also there are other typing methods such as porosity, texture, and the LOIS system.
- Products/Tools
- Store Bought – Learn what ingredients to look for /avoid. To not become a product junkie, I try to buy trial sizes if possible. Your hair might not like certain ingredients and it can take time to learn what your hair likes. Use a favorite to find other products with similar ingredients you might like. If you hair doesn’t like a product note the ingredients in it as well and try to avoid
- Homemade – Try to use a preservative like tea tree oil to make your own products last longer, however there is some debate if these actually work. Please do your own research. Naptural85 has many homemade recipes.
- Natural – Honey, avocados, aloe vera juice are just some natural products you can put in you hair. I will add natural products to store bought deep conditioners to get the best of both worlds. My current favorite drugstore brand is As I Am Naturally.
- pH Balance – The pH balance of products determines whether they are going to open or close your hair follicle. Kim Love talks about this extensively and has her own products that are pH balanced.
- Tools – Wide tooth combs, and limit heat usage (always use a heat protectant) .
- Develop a Regimen – Your hair care ‘maintenance schedule’
- Most basic regimens include weekly cleansing, detangling, deep conditioning, and stretching to prep for a style. Kim Love has 3 maintenance paths here
- LOC Method of layering products (Liquid, Oil, Cream) – This is what has worked best for me
- Trimming – There are many different opinions on trimming. Some say trim on a routine schedule because you can’t see the damage at eye level. Some say trim when you notice your ends are rough and harder to detangle.
- Styling Your Hair
- “Out” Styles – TWAs, Twistouts, Twist and Curl, Flexi Rods, Braidouts, etc. Try to find a Youtube tutorial with someone that has your hair type, length, etc.
- Protective Styles – Styles where your ends are hidden, with or with extensions (buns, tuck and go’s, braids, etc.)
- Taking it to the Next Level
- Henna – Indian hair dye that has many benefits. Curly Nikki is the henna queen.
- Protein/Moisture Balance – You can make homemade protein treatments with mayo or buy them.
- Clays – They clean, detox, and condition hair. I have used bentonite clay to cleanse my hair. You can also rinse with very diluted apple cider vinegar.
- Finding a Salon
- Finding a salon can be challenging. I have some listed on this site. Ask stylists how they avoid heat damage and what state should you come in with your hair (wet, blown out, etc)
- Additional Resources
- There are many books available such as Science of Black Hair Care (https://www.blackhairscience.com/). I might create a amazon book list.
- My natural hair pinterest board
- Forums such as http://www.longhaircareforum.com
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