My cousin and her best friend recently did the big chop. Cyrstal has been natural all her life did a mini chop and is well on her way to a healthy head of natural 3C curls. Tammy, our family member by association, on the other hand, is now also sporting a beautiful head of 4C curls.
Both girls have had very different hair experiences and textures but their regimen’s, now are pretty much the same because their goals are the same.
The question is, can two women with different curl patterns and different hair experiences have the same regimen and still be successful with their hair journies?
My answer to that question is yes for the most part, and here is why! Even though we have different curl patterns and needs there are some core things we all have to do to maintain healthy growing hair. Here are 5 things women with different curl patterns and experiences need to do to retain length and keep their hair healthy
1. Deep condition
I sound like a broken record every time I mention those two words, and that’s ok. Deep conditioning is the single most effective way of getting rid of dryness, and strengthening curly stands. If you are a lazy natural my suggestion is to have a plastic cap hanging up in your shower, add your conditioner to your hair before you take a bath and cover your hair while you shower.
Wash out the conditioner last before exiting the shower, that way you would have given your hair some time to steam under the cap with your conditioner as you shave your legs. Or you can condition your hair as you sleep and just wash out the conditioner in the morning!
Deep conditioning gives you the opportunity to add healthy oils, water, and other great ingredients to your hair which will maintain its vitality.
2. Get regular trims
One thing Crystal shared with me that she valued the most about her chop was the relief she had after getting rid of all the damaged ends. Damaged ends weigh your healthy hair down cause tangles, ruin your styles and do more harm than good.
When you trim your ends your hair will tangle less, your styles will look a hundred times better and your whole life will be renewed. Trust me! Get a trim and watch your life change!
3. Protective styles and low manipulation styles
In my experience, protective styles and low manipulation styles are the best styles for retaining length for all hair types. If you have 4C hair you might prefer to put your hair away for 5 days at a time with braids or twists to retain the maximum amount of length you can.
If you have a looser hair texture you may prefer to do the same thing or practice low manipulation styling like wash and go’s or twist outs that do not have to be tampered with on a nightly basis. It all depends on your hair and preferences when deciding on what scale of the protective styling spectrum you need to fall in order to keep your hair healthy.
4. A consistent regimen that works
Consistency is the key to curly hair success! Curly hair can be trained so when you find a regimen that works for you try to stick with it.
It is important to note though that you have to make sure good sense prevails even with being consistent. If your hair is no longer responding to your regimen in a positive way you might have to change some things. There are other factors that can change your hair, your overall health, your environment and any lifestyle changes, so be very mindful of how these things affect your hair’s health.
5. Avoid things that damage your hair
Heat, color, relaxers are all things that erode the hair strand regardless of your curl pattern. Heat or chemical processes do not affect one pattern more than it does the other, and if you have heat or chemical damage the recommendations for fixing the problem is the same.
- Trim
- Use protein
- Avoid unhealthy hair practices
The point of this post is to prove that we can all learn from each other despite the made up boxes and categories we find ourselves in. Our differences are what make each of our experiences special, but our similarities are what will bring us closer together.
