Searching for the perfect natural hair care regimen takes a lot of work. You have to be patient and willing to take the time to try out different methods and products that will make your hair flourish.
What works for one person will not necessarily work for the next person, so you need to pay attention to what your hair is telling you. Before you can even begin to come up with the best natural hair care regime for your hair, you have to determine what type of hair you have.
From density level to strand type, becoming one with your hair is essential to piecing together the best natural hair care regimen. Beginning with porosity level, you need to perform a test to see what kind of strands you have.
Porosity Level
Porosity level refers to how well your hair retains water or moisture in general’ the term is called low porosity or high porosity. You cannot make this determination by simply looking at it; it gets a little deeper than that.
There are three different levels of porosity: low, normal, and high. Low porosity hair means that your hair does not take water well.
To get more technical, the cuticles are super tight or don’t lift easily. In turn, the product usually just sits on top of the hair and will take forever to dry.
Normal porosity hair has the least amount of excess maintenance because the cuticle layers are raised just enough to allow moisture to enter into the hair. High porosity hair is usually damaged hair that has holes and a limited amount of protein.
To test your porosity level, all you need is a clear glass of room temperature water.
Take a strand or two of your freshly washed hair and place it into the water. After 5 minutes, take a look at the strands.
If the hair floats, then you have low porosity hair because water is not coming in. If it floats for a little bit then starts to sink, then you have normal porosity hair.
If it sinks right away, then you have high porosity hair. It is just that simple!
Knowing your hair porosity level is essential for putting together a natural hair care regimen because you have to know what kind of products that you will need to buy. Keep reading for more detailed information about how to put together your perfect natural hair care regimen.
Natural Hair Care Regimen for Short Hair
Natural haired women with short hair probably have it the hardest in regards to finding a natural hair care regimen. After a big chop, you may feel like you are in way over your head.
Luckily, since you are new to the game, you have a lot of different products that you can choose from. It is recommended to use only one line of goods at a time so that you can see which items work for you and which ones do not.
Since your hair that is shorter, there is an assumption that you want to have longer hair at some point. Therefore, your goal needs to be in length retention.
Length retention involves keeping your ends nice and healthy by way of moisturizing and keeping them clipped. Going back to hair porosity levels, those with high porosities may have a hard time keeping their hair moisturized.
Therefore, protein treatments must be used to rebuild those cuticle layers that are damaged or missing. It is recommended only to do these once a month so that you do not cause the hair to become brittle.
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Natural Hair Care Regimen for Dry Hair
Recall the LOC and LCO methods of keeping moisture in the hair. These two processes are crucial for naturals that suffer from dry hair.
The name of the game is to keep moisture in your strands, and your hair type may make it harder for you to do it but, don’t be worried it is all doable. If you have high porosity hair, then you should do the LCO method.
LCO or liquid, cream, and oil work best for high and low porosity because it allows you to put a heavy oil into your hair to help keep the moisture from escaping. Your liquid can be anything from leave-in conditioner to just good old fashioned water.
Your cream should be a lightweight moisturizer or butter, and your oil should be medium to heavy like Butta Butta Cream. Normal porosity naturals can use either method since their hair holds moisture well.
If the hair is dry, there is a chance that you just need a deep conditioning treatment and a bit more TLC. There’s no reason to buy one of those little packets that they have at the local beauty supply store– any natural deep conditioner that is for dry damaged hair will do the trick.
I like the
or . Not only do these products smell wonderful, but they leave the hair feeling like butter.
So, for women who suffer from dry hair, your natural hair care regime should look something like this:
- Use bentonite clay mixed with apple cider vinegar to eliminate product build-up.
- Wash hair with a moisturizing shampoo.
- Deep condition hair with your favorite hair mask.
- Apply your favorite conditioner.
- Towel dry with a 100% cotton T-shirt.
- Perform your LOC or LCO method.
- Style hair or set your hair as usual.
One option for a style after the hair has gone through the deep conditioning process is to add a moisturizer such as Butta Butta Cream, and then two strands twist your hair. This helps you keep the hair stretched out while also keeping the moisture locked into your hair.
In between washes, completes steps 4-6, so your hair will not dry out. Also, get a spray bottle and fill half with water, half with a leave-in conditioner, and 2 tablespoons of jojoba oil.
Spray a little on your hair as a daily routine to help keep your hair from getting dry. If you have low porosity hair, keep reading on specific info regarding your hair type.
Natural Hair Care Regimen for Growth
If you are looking for a natural hair care regimen for growth, then you would benefit from the above section related to short hair. Even if your hair is long, you still should always think about length retention.
Keeping your hair moisturized and taking care of your ends is the only way to do that. Get a trim every 6-8 weeks so that you do not have split ends ruining the hair that you spent so much time trying to grow.
As with the natural hair regimen for short hair and dry hair, the basic wash, condition, deep condition, and dry steps should remain the same. It will make a difference when your hair is in between washes.
If you want growth, you have to keep your hands out of your hair. Therefore, low maintenance protective styles should be your best friend.
Pick a style at the beginning of the week and keep it. Don’t change your hair every day and don’t do a style that will require you to comb your hair daily.
Perm rods, flat twists, crochet braids, or even sew-ins are all healthy choices. You can even braid your hair down and wear different wigs each day for a new look. I love wigs, you have endless possibilities with styles, colors, and textures. This is what I personally do when I get the itch to wear my hair straight.
Just be sure that you have on a wig cap and you moisturize your scalp at least every other day to stimulate the follicles and to keep your hair moisturized. To sum it up, your hair care regimen for hair growth needs to include a protective style, a good trim, and moisture retention.
Natural Hair Care Regimen for Low Porosity Hair
Low porosity hair is arguably the most difficult to deal with regarding finding a natural hair care regimen because the shaft is so difficult to penetrate. Luckily, there is a way to get around that.
For starters, make sure that you clarify your hair with bentonite clay to get rid of any product buildup that may be on your hair or scalp. Although this can be done for any hair type, it is essential for low porosity naturals because products have a hard time getting through the hair.
In other words, it has a bad habit of just sitting on top of the hair. The next big thing you should do is make sure you deep condition with indirect heat.
Heat allows the cuticle to lift up which is exactly what you need it to do for moisture to get in. Heat can be a simple as using a steamer of a hooded dryer.
Next, you need to get familiar with the term humectant. Humectants take moisture from the air and put it into your hair—exactly what you need to battle the dryness associated with low porosity hair.
Other products you want to be sure to use are lightweight oils and moisturizers to prevent any excess product buildup. The last thing you want to do is to make sure that you always take care of your natural hair when it is damp.
If your hair is dry, there’s no point in even attempting to fool with your tresses. Dry hair is a dead end for low porosity naturals, so keep it damp or soaking wet when you start trying to work with it.
Natural Hair Care Regimen for Different Hair Types
Your hair type has an enormous impact on building the best natural hair care regimen. The most common hair types for black hair (3c hair, 4a hair, 4b hair, and 4c hair) will require different techniques since the tightness of the coils are different.
Most naturals have Type 4 or kinky hair. By nature, kinky hair is typically fragile, tightly coiled, and easily broken.
As a result, it is crucial that those with type 4 hair keep their hair as moisturized as possible. Natural hair care maintenance can be cumbersome, but the rewards of having healthy natural hair make everything worth it.
Being conscious of your hair daily will make it easier to deal with over time. A natural hair care regime can be a nightmare, but a bit of trial and error will get your hair where you want it to be in no time and will be less difficult to manage over time.
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By: Patrina Haupt
Hey Curl Friend, I’m Patrina Haupt the creator and author of Natural Hair Queen. I hope you find my healthy hair care tips helpful in your hair journey. Healthy hair care practices are definitely, what helped me to achieve waist length hair.
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I just found out that I have a high porous hair and I was wondering if it Is good to use a mixture of egg, mayonnaise and honey as a deep conditioner
I have been natural for 5 months, however, it’s becoming frustrating because my hair is extremely dry, so dry that it looks matted sometimes, looks great when wet, but as it dries the whole style goes away, its getting expensive trying these products, please help!
Ready to put a perm in it…
It sounds like you are in need of more moisture. Try using the LOC method and for every wash day use a deep conditioner. Butta Butta Cream is a great moisturizer.
I understand your plight because I’m transitioning also from heat damage and cut most of it off.just like you I been damaging it for years so it might take just as long to get back to it healthy state so and doesn’t have to be expensive if you know where to look but plus putting a perm in ur hair will waste all that time and money on your hair. like they say Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will the health of your curls, coils and kinks in only 5 months if you want them to be beautiful.the perm is more harm than good so please hang in there and don’t give up u can do it
You are absolutely right Kaiy!
To do the porous test does my hair need to be dry or can it still be wet?
You hair should be clean and dry.
Have been a natural for more than 10 years now but it has not pass shoulder length. Please what the problem and what can I do
It sounds like your hair is breaking off at a faster rate than it grows. To have a solid natural hair care regimen you need to make sure you are looking at the ingredients in all of your hair care products to make sure you for instance don’t have protein overload or are using a lot of silicone. It’s also best to use the LOC method to layer your moisture.
Just big chopped, I have type 4 low porosity hair.
I’m currently using the LCO method.
When should I apply gel and curl creams? Should it be after the LCO — or should I apply creams (moisturizers, hair milk, hair butter etc.) before applying the Oil in the LCO method?
That kind of stuff gets confusing. Thanks in advance.
I totally understand that it’s confusing at times. When I use the LOC method I apply my curl cream last. However, it doesn’t make a difference if your using the LOC or LCO method you can apply the curl cream last.
Hi I am a woman in my fifties and stopped using perm at fortyeight,I have noticed a little improvement of my hair journey, but I thought my hair would be much longer.do you believe that as you age your hair stops growing?
Hello Odetta,
The hair does change when we get older but doesn’t stop growing. However, It does take a bit more TLC to get the hair to stay moisturized and behaving in the way you want.
can I still apply the LCO method even when my hair is in braids?
It would be very difficult to apply certain products to all of the strands of your hair when it is in a braided protective style. You would need to coat your hair from the ends to your roots.