Choosing the right hair products for natural hair has been a desperate debacle of mindless trial and error for many naturals. There are so many interesting products to choose from, all featuring different key ingredients claiming to do different miracles.
What many naturalistas don’t understand is that choosing hair products should be strategic. We should see hair products as tools that act on various factors such as the personal needs of our natural hair, our hair characteristics and our lifestyle and environment.
It is not simply buying the hair product that our favourite influencer or friend recommended. Instead we must get to know the features of our hair, such as its density and texture and research the kind of products and ingredients that will help us to do this.
This is what this blogpost is for; to give you a simplified rundown of the different kinds of hair products and their purpose.
This blogpost is the first part of a blogpost series to help you pick out hair products made for your hair type. Make sure to read the next part of this series ….. Which talks about ingredients you should be looking for in hair products to match your needs.
The basics
In your natural hair product arsenal there must be at least these five products: a clarifying shampoo, a moisturising shampoo, a regular conditioner, a deep conditioner and finally a leave-in conditioner or a moisturising styling product. These are the bare minimum that are necessary for the overall health of your hair. Other products aid with achieving other personal hair goals.
Shampoo
There has been a lot of misunderstanding within the natural hair community and the role of shampoo and how to correctly use it.
A common misconception is that the use of shampoo should be limited as it allegedly dries out natural hair and for this reason should only be applied on the scalp and not on the hair shaft. If you’ve read my other blog posts you know this sounds a bit… silly.
Let me tell you why…
So, when you add products on your hair such as conditioners, creams and oils, they leave a film around your hair shaft. Over time as you layer on more products the film continues to build up and it is further exasperated as you go on with your daily life and other particles from the environment also build up on your hair.
Without properly cleansing this layer of build up with shampoo, which is the only product that has the surfactants to properly do this, then you are drying out your hair as this barrier prevents water from entering your hair even if you try to replenish it.
This is why methods such as the water only method, exclusively co-washing and letting the lather from the shampoo on your scalp run down your hair are counterproductive. They don’t sufficiently remove build-up from around the hair strands to allow hydration into your hair shaft.
Let me use a metaphor to further clarify this (no pun intended)…
Helpful metaphor
Imagine you just finished deep-frying some chips in a frying pan. There are many ways you could “wash” the oily pan but only one will get it properly clean.
- You could simply rinse the pan with water, but you will see that the pan will still be covered in oil.
- You could rinse other soapy plates over your pan, but you will see that it will still be covered in oil.
- You could use other ingredients such as apple cider vinegar to wash the pan, but when you touch the pan, it is still greasy.
- You could use dishwashing soap. You will see that the pan is finally spotless and grease free. Hurray!
This everyday scenario that you probably perceive as common sense also applies to washing natural hair.
How shampoo works
How shampoo works is that it is formulated with surfactants that effectively remove this layer of build up. Once this layer of build up is removed, the hair cuticle is lifted to accept moisture into the hair due to shampoo increasing the pH of the hair.
Now that the cuticle is open and unobstructed by build-up, water (which is hydration) can enter the hair cuticle and is sealed with conditioner.
We’ll talk about this concept later, don’t worry 😉
Now that we understand how shampoos work,
their role and why they are so crucial to have in
your hair product arsenal, it’s time to talk about
the different types of shampoos:
Clarifying shampoos are the strongest type of shampoo. They consist of heavy surfactants that remove all build-up, grease and impurities in your hair. These strip EVERYTHINGGG. Use these once a month but if you regularly use non-water soluble products like heavy oils, butters and silicones, try bi-weekly to allow your hair to be sufficiently cleansed for hydration.
Moisturising shampoos are sulfate-free shampoos that contain mild surfactants. They are designed to cleanse your scalp and hair strands without stripping them of their natural oils. This should be the shampoo you use regularly e.g. once a week as textured hair can become easily dry so it’s important to retain as much moisture as possible.
Co-washes are conditioners that are formulated to contain gentle cleansing agents. These are not meant to be your sole cleansing product, especially if you use many non-water soluble ingredients. However, co-washes are perfect for naturals that require them to wash their hair more than once a week for personal reasons such as frequent exercise, etc.
Conditioner
I probably don’t have to tell you this, but conditioner is another crucial product that should be in your hair product arsenal.
There are two types of conditioners that you should use during your washing process:
Regular rinse out conditioners from a protective barrier around your hair to decrease friction, protect against environmental damage, minimise frizz and help detangle the hair.
Deep conditioners have the same role as regular rinse-out conditioners, but also contain ingredients with low molecular weight which allows them to penetrate deeper into the hair shaft and fill holes in your hair cuticle so water can remain in your hair for longer periods.
Both close your hair cuticles by lowering the pH to seal in the moisture and any nourishing ingredient.
A common practice within the natural hair community after shampooing is to use a regular conditioner and then follow up with a deep conditioner. All conditioners have a low pH, so using a regular conditioner first closes your cuticles so that when you add your deep conditioner your hair cuticle is already closed. So in simple terms, the deep conditioner is not doing anything. Just choose one.
If you have healthy hair, you don’t technically need to deep condition your hair each time you wash it as a regular conditioner will suffice. Your hair is already healthy and so is not in need of the repairing treatment that a deep conditioner offers.
Post washday moisturisers
The products that you use once you’ve completed washing your natural hair are crucial to help slow down the loss of hydration from your hair.
Dehydration is when water leaves your hair shaft through evaporation and it’s the reason why your hair starts to feel dry after a few days of washing it.
Now this is completely normal and natural so don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong if your hair dries out. Water will leave your hair no matter what and this is why it’s important to wash your hair every 5-14 to replenish the moisture.
However, you can slow down this moisture loss process using products with certain key ingredients!
These products can be stylers, leave-ins and creams that you apply after you have washed and conditioned your hair.
It is important to check out the ingredients in a product formulation as this will tell you a lot about how the product is going to work as a styler and how it will help to hold moisture in your hair.
In short, water should be the first ingredient of a product claiming to be moisturising followed by humectants which draw water into the hair shaft from the environment.
Stylers
Now that we’ve spoken briefly about how to keep your hair moisturised, let’s talk about the products that help achieve this themselves!
And yes, you read the subheading correctly 😊 Stylers can also aid in moisturising natural hair, not just leave-ins and creams.
In fact, you don’t actually need to use a leave-in or cream and do the LOC or LCO method to keep your hair moisturised. The process of washing your hair if done correctly is how your hair gets moisturised and to maintain that moisture you can solely use stylers like gels, custards and mousses to keep your hair hydrated. This is true as long as they contain water-based and water attracting ingredients 🙂
However, choosing the correct styler for a style is not necessarily trial and error but is instead strategic based on the style you want to achieve and the ingredients and techniques you must use to achieve these.
Wash n go
To get the best wash-n-go results you’re going to need water. And lots of it 👀
Proper hydration is what aids curl formation.
Read that again please 😉
Without water, your natural curls are too dehydrated to be seen or hold.
So, as well as topically drenching your hair with water after properly washing and conditioning, you’re also going to need water based stylers.
These are plant-based gels with a humectant base that not only capture water from the atmosphere, but also hold it.
Such humectants include aloe-Vera, marshmallow root extracts and just a whole load of extracts.
Pro tips:
- For wash-n-gos apply your stylers in the shower right after conditioning your hair.
- Saturate your hair with water in the shower before applying your styler. This will also help with curl elongation if you’re looking for a slightly stretched wash n go.
- Work in sections to evenly distribute products.
- Smooth the product into your hair to eliminate frizz.
- For curl elongation, dry your hair using a hooded dryer or a diffuser (links found below).
So if you believe your hair doesn’t curl or you’re a “I can’t 4c this” warrior, please know that your hair can do whatever you want it to do as long as you put it in the work and have realistic expectations. Everyone’s curls are different and all uniquely beautiful, but most importantly they are there.
All you need is the right techniques and products which I do discuss in this blogpost and my whole blog in general.
Apply these and watch your curls come through 🎉
You’re welcome 😉
My 4c hair is an anecdote of someone who believed my hair couldn’t curl until I applied proper hair care methods to my routine which transformed my hair for the better. If you’re sceptical, just give it a try!
(include a video?)
Twist-outs and braid-outs and other set styles
Unlike for wash-n-gos, for styles such as twist-outs, braid-outs and rod styles, you do not need to start on soaking wet hair. It is in fact best to start on damp, towel-dried hair. This is because you are not trying to capture your natural curls but are instead forming a different kind.
This doesn’t mean that hydration is not important for such styles. You still need to use water/humectant based products that help to hold and attract water into the hair for hydration purposes.
Stylers such as mousses, curling creams and custards.
They offer medium hold which is sufficient for set and rod styles. They also add softness due to the conditioning nature of the ingredients found such as the emollients, oils and butters.
Undefined styles just moisture
I don’t know about you guys but I am personally a firm believer of the bigger the hair, the better it looks!
For my fellow team volume over definition this section is for us!
Final words
Alright guys!
The moral of this blog post is to not get it twisted… It’s water that moisturises your natural hair, not products.
Products are tools that help draw water into the hair and seal it in.
♥ ♥ ♥
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