Click bait! I know, but forgive me because moisturizing our thirsty strands with the wrong technique is actually a thing for some of us naturals.
Many of us are still trying to navigate and nail down a great natural hair regimen and things can get a bit confusing especially when you are experiencing very dry hair.
Here are some of the ways you can moisturize your hair that can be considered counter-productive:
1. Using oil
Back in the day, our moms would wash our hair and then use a little grease to keep the hair nice and soft and ‘moisturized’. These days we say ditch the grease and go for a natural oil to achieve the same goal. The thing is while pure oils are healthier than traditional grease, it isn’t about the product but rather how you use it.
What mom would do was use the grease right after conditioning our hair so the oil acted as a barrier to the moisture she just added.
So our pigtails would be plump, shiny and best of all soft. You have to use the same technique now, water or liquid conditioner first and then oil. Oil used on bone dry hair will lead to bone dry hair times 100!
2. Adding moisture based products to dirty hair
This is like putting lotion on when you haven’t taken a bath in days! Yes, thats gross but it’s the same thing. Your moisturizer will have no effect on your strands if your hair has build up and debris already on it. Cleanse the hair and then moisturize.
3. Just using water and neglecting the oil
The most effective way to moisturize your hair is liquid and then the oil as I mentioned in point one. However spraying water on your hair and then going about your business will not work! Ensure that when you use your moisturizer you actually do move to the second step of sealing the hair with an all natural oil.
Water and some leave in’s can evaporate fast and unless you want to spray your hair all day long to avoid dryness, using an oil on top will allow the moisture to last longer.
4. Stylers are not moisturizers
Gel or any sort of holding product only help your strand to keep the shape for your desired style, they are not designed to moisturize your hair.
This is why they are the very last thing you add to your hair after your oil. Some formulas might be sophisticated enough to give you a bit of moisture but you should not depend on your styler to add moisture to your hair.
5. Skipping the conditioning process after you shampoo
It might be tempting to move from shampoo straight to leave in conditioner because really whats the point of adding conditioner and then a leave in? I get it, it seems as if you are over conditioning but trust me
I get it, it seems as if you are over conditioning but trust me you aren’t. Conditioning your hair after you shampoo brings balance to your strands and gets your hair ready for styling. Shampoo strips the strand so much that you need a conditioner to lay your cuticles down and get your hair nice and soft.
6. Deep conditioning for hours
Conditioning happens within the first 30 minutes or less unless you are doing a treatment like henna that requires a few hours to set. I will say this, for some of us with busy lives we tend to deep condition on the go, maybe while we run and errand or while cleaning the house, thats ok. Your hair will survive, just as long as there is balance and you are not doing too much of one thing.
7. Moisturizing the roots and neglecting your ends
If you are not focusing on the oldest parts of your hair when you moisturize you will do more damage than good. At the roots of your hair you will have more natural moisture for your scalp so your focus should be the areas that do not get a lot of natural moisture which would be your ends.
Have I covered everything? what are some of the ways you have been moisturizing “wrong”? Comment below!
Featured image: @curlbellaa
