Natural Hair Regimen: DIY Hair Care Routine for Curly Hair
Are you ready to learn the basics of creating a natural hair regimen?
Well, congratulations!
You’ve now taken the first step towards taking better care of your hair.
So, what’s next?
Where do you go from here?
What kind of products do you need?
What products do you already have in your bathroom cabinets?
It’s common for ladies that have recently decided to go natural to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of hair-related information on the internet.
There are seemingly countless products, tools, methods, and techniques for nearly everything hair-related, from everyday moisturizing to deep conditioning. If you’re new, it may feel like the options are almost endless.
In order to be successful, especially as a newbie, we recommend that you start with a natural hair regimen that’s as simple and flexible as possible. It’s also important that your regimen is adaptable based on the ever-changing needs of your hair.
There are many factors that impact the needs of your hair on any given day, such as the temperature outside, humidity, hard water, the hair products you use, and much more.
Even if your hair feels thoroughly hydrated and moisturized this week, it might become lifeless and extremely dry the next week. You’ll need to be willing and able to adapt to the unique needs of your hair.
Ideally, the best natural hair regimens involve products that work together in addressing two of the most important hair needs: protein and moisture.
Any hair regimen that doesn’t consider protein and moisture might fail to work well in the long run.
You’re the Real Natural Hair Guru
We’ve written extensively on why we believe that you are the true natural hair guru. However, here is the short version: There are very few things about hair care that are definitive gospel; only a few techniques will work for everyone across the board.
Just because a certain technique or product works for 90% of people doesn’t mean that it will work for you. You can very well be in the 10% of those who can’t use a particular technique for whatever reason.
Even advice based on comprehensive scientific research might not work every single time.
Many people (including Kira and me) like to offer haircare advice and tips based on their experience (or other people’s experience), but it’s important to consider the advice as an opportunity for you to experiment with your natural hair regimen.
The key to developing a great natural hair regimen is knowing your hair and finding its tolerance. Keep in mind that you’re the expert on your hair. No one can possibly know your hair better than you do.
Now let’s look at some of the most important factors that you’ll need to consider when choosing products for your natural hair regimen.
There are two main product categories to have in mind: moisture-based products and protein-based products.
The rule of thumb here is the more you do to your hair chemically, the more of both moisture and protein you’ll need.
The sections below will briefly outline the basic components of products for a healthy hair regimen based on the aforementioned categories.
For each category, we have included a list of product suggestions, though the lists are not exhaustive. There are just too many products to include on the list.
Don’t forget that building a good hair care regimen also means having to experiment with several products before finding the ones that suit you best.
What You’ll Need to Build a Basic Healthy Hair Care Routine
1. Shampoo
Moisturizing shampoo: Use this product once or twice a week based on your schedule. The best moisturizing shampoos typically don’t have ammonium or sodium lauryl sulfates and will not leave your hair feeling tangled, stripped, or squeaky clean. Instead, they are just gentle cleansers that leave your hair feeling detangled and soft.
Clarifying shampoo: Swimmers and people who have hard water in their houses should utilize chelating shampoos. Use the product once a month or twice if you use hair grease and other heavy oils on your hair quite often.
A clarifying shampoo will strip your hair of the product build-up and is a great way to start your hair off every month.
After clarifying, your hair should and will feel squeaky clean. A chelating shampoo, on the other hand, works on a deeper level to remove any stubborn mineral deposits on the hair.
Don’t forget that every head of hair is unique. Based on your situation, you might need more than one shampoo in your routine.
If you don’t have hard water and you only use a small selection of hair products, you might only need a moisturizing shampoo to complete your natural hair regimen.
If you use a lot of oils and styling gels, you will need to consider using a clarifying shampoo every once in a while to occasionally remove this product build-up.
2. Moisturizing Deep Conditioner
A good hair care routine should include a great moisturizing conditioner. Moisturizing conditioners generally follow the moisturizing shampoo after every wash.
It’s recommended that you deep condition your hair once a week for up to 20 minutes, preferably with heat (in a hooded dryer).
For those who wash their hair twice a week, only one of those washes should be followed by deep conditioning. You can simply apply the deep conditioner for about 15 to 20 minutes with or without the heat for that weekly wash. The time you deep condition your hair is all up to you.
Once you’ve determined how to build your natural hair regimen, we recommend reading our deep conditioning article. It’s advanced, but it will teach you how to produce amazing results.
It’s easy to get confused on the conditioning front, as not all moisturizing conditioners are created equal. There are a number of moisturizing formulas that don’t deep condition the hair very well, regardless of how long they are left on the hair.
Such formulas are mostly crème rinses or instant conditioners that are meant to coat the outside of the hair strands and give them a soft feel.
They also work very quickly and are meant for people that have very healthy, well-maintained hair.
Note: If your hair feels gummy or stretchy after using a moisturizing conditioner, be sure to add a protein-based conditioner to your next cleaning session.
3. Protein-based Treatments and Conditioners
These are primarily used for rebuilding the hair strands and work best when they are integrated into an already high-moisture hair care routine.
The frequency of using protein-based conditioners and treatments will largely depend on the strength of the product you’re using and the amount of hair damage you’re trying to correct.
Note: If your hair feels dry or you notice breakage, then you should hold off on using protein conditioning. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully when using these products. Some of the protein re-constructors have very specific directions for usage.
Choose a protein treatment on the mild end of the spectrum for light touch-ups. A protein treatment on the mid-to-heavy end of the spectrum is meant for more intense protein conditioning and is ideal for color-treated hair and/or relaxed hair.
Overall, protein re-constructors should be followed by a good moisturizing deep conditioner in order to restore the natural pliability and moisture of the hair.
4. Leave-in Conditioner
These leave-in conditioners are largely optional but can be a helpful component of a healthy hair care regimen.
Leave-in conditioners usually help with hair detangling, especially after shampooing and conditioning, and can actually be used as water-based moisturizers for daily use.
5. Water-based Moisturizer
Usually used for daily supplementation of moisture, the best water-based moisturizers don’t contain petrolatum, mineral oil, or lanolin.
Instead, they contain aloe or water as their first ingredient and often contain emollients and humectants that draw moisture into the hair to soften it.
We recommend moisturizing your hair once or twice a day before bedtime and in the morning.
6. Natural Oils
Natural oils are commonly used to seal in water-based moisturizer products and to help enhance the shine and pliability of hair. You simply need to first apply a small amount of the oil on the ends of the hair and then work your way up the hair strand.
Some examples include olive oil, neem oil, argan oil, emu oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, rosemary oil, tea tree oil, safflower oil, lanolin oil, sweet almond oil, Vatika oil, carrot oil, amla oil, and castor oil.
7. Protective Styling
If your goal is to grow long hair or retain your existing length, protective styling is an important part of any natural hair growth regimen.
A protective style is any style that reduces hair combing or manipulation, keeps the hair up and off the shoulders, and cuts back on the use of heat.
Some women wear protective styles daily, while others reserve them for certain days during the week. For faster hair growth, keeping the ends of your hair protected from the various elements is crucial.
Consequently, we highly recommend incorporating protective elements into your natural hair regimen.
8. Heat Reduction
Reducing the use of heat is another key component when it comes to healthy hair growth. Heat is very destructive to the protein bonds in the hair and even depletes the natural moisture content in the hair.
Using heat styling tools frequently on your hair, even with heat protectants, can be disastrous to your hair. Only hooded dryers offer the safest amount of heat, but they, too, have hot spots that can damage your hair over time.
So, limit the use of heat on your hair to once a week or less where possible, especially if you’re just starting out on your healthy hair care routine.
Take an Honest Look
Just as it’s important to know the kind of methods to use and incorporate into your regimen, it’s also important to know when to stop and re-assess your methods.
If something isn’t working for you, your hair will tell you either by breaking, feeling dry, or not growing new length over time. Although it might take you weeks or months of experimentation to get the perfect regimen, it will still come.
How to Choose a Good Moisturizing Shampoo
If you are looking for a way to add more moisture to your natural hair regimen, the best source comes from a moisturizing shampoo along with a deep conditioner.
While the water-based moisturizers offer a degree of daily moisture, not much else is better than a good quality moisturizing shampoo, along with a deep conditioner to offer hydration for your hair.
However, if your current shampoo and conditioner doesn’t meet your needs, you will notice that you are constantly fighting a losing battle when it comes to maintaining the correct moisture balance in your hair.
When in search of the best moisturizing shampoo product, below are a few common things you need to keep in mind.
When the label tells you that the product is a “moisturizing shampoo” or the shampoo promises to “infuse your hair with moisture”, this is not always true.
It is important to check these “claims” against the actual ingredients on the label of the product. It is the ingredients that will assist you in deciding if the formulation is, in fact, a moisturizing shampoo.
You should be looking for a shampoo that is able to balance its abilities to cleanse the hair along with moisturizing and softening the hair.
Does the Moisturizing Shampoo Contain Harsh Sulfates?
The primary thing to look out for is whether the product contains sulfates. Sulfates are a type of detergent or surfactant that is commonly used in most shampoos to assist with cleansing the hair.
Some examples of common sulfates include sodium lauryl sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, and ammonium laureth sulfate.
The higher the levels of sulfates in a product, the more it can remove buildup and dirt from your hair and scalp. However, too many sulfates in a shampoo typically reduce its ability to moisturize your hair effectively.
Here are a few general rules when choosing a moisturizing shampoo:
If the shampoo contains multiple sulfates, stay away. Shampoos like these will not moisturize your hair very well, they are useful for removing product build-up, dead skin, and stubborn deposits.
Shampoos that contain sulfates are best for clarifying the hair rather than moisturizing it. In the standard formulations, there is around 45-75% water and 25-55% surfactant or detergent. This ratio doesn’t really leave any room for any conditioning agents.
Any shampoo that contains more than one sulfate is not classified as a moisturizing shampoo. The detergents present dry the hair, and they will never assist you in maintaining moisture balance in your hair.
If you insist on using a moisturizing shampoo that contains sulfates, the laureth sulfates are more gentle on the hair compared to the lauryl sulfates. In addition, sodium myreth and tricedeth sulfates are more gentle derivatives.
This means a shampoo that contains these sulfates will offer you some amount of moisture depending on the other types of ingredients present in the formulation.
2. Does the Moisturizing Shampoo Contain Gentle Surfactants?
Even when you try to stay away from stripping-sulfate cleaners, your shampoo will not be very effective if it is unable to remove product-up buildup and properly clean your hair.
The types of surfactants that you should expect to find in a moisturizing shampoo include hydroxysultaine, isethionate, sulfosuccinate, lauryl polyglucose, and cocamidopropyl betaine.
These ingredients are known as secondary surfactants and are much more gentle on the hair. The primary surfactants are harsh sulfates that we discussed earlier in the article.
3. Salon vs. Drugstore Moisturizing Shampoos
When choosing between a moisturizing shampoo that contains sulfates from a salon between a moisturizing shampoo that contains sulfates from a drug store, always purchase the salon version.
While not always true, it’s common for salon shampoos to contain higher levels of emollients which counter the effects of the sulfate detergents present in the formulation.
The shampoos in drugstores often contain high levels of cleansers and water, but more than often, are missing the important fatty acids, conditioning oils, and emollients. For this reason, when possible, always choose a salon shampoo over a drug store formulation.
Although water-based moisturizers increase daily moisture, they are no match for the conditioning power that modern moisturizing deep conditioners provide.
While some of the hair product mistakes you make when it comes to your hair regimen can be excused, incorporating a moisturizing deep conditioner is a requirement.
A moisturizing deep conditioner is no doubt the foundation of healthy natural hair regimens. While most moisturizing deep conditioners contain protein, silk and wheat proteins are very common in deep conditioners.
These proteins are very gentle and enhance your hair’s elasticity by aiding moisture binding within the cuticles. As such, don’t worry if you see these proteins in your conditioner.
What Should You Look for in a Moisturizing Deep Conditioner?
1. Fat
When shopping for a moisturizing deep conditioner, look for a conditioner with a high “fat” percentage.
What does that mean?
You want a moisturizing deep conditioner that has lots of fatty alcohol in it. Fatty alcohols are hair-friendly alcohols and are unlike alcohols found in most finishing sprays, which often dry the hair.
Common fatty alcohols include stearyl alcohol, myristyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, and cetearyl alcohol.
2. Emollients, Humectants, and Conditioning Agents
Humectants are unique substances that draw moisture from the air around the hair. Common emollients, conditioning agents, and humectants you want in a moisturizing deep conditioner include sodium lactate, glycerin, sodium PCA, propylene glycol, sodium lactate, cetrimonium chloride, glyceryl stearate, polyquaternium, hydantoin, and other natural oils and waxes.
3. Silicones
The mention of silicones often elicits a lot of criticism from many hair-conscious critics (i.e., natural hair gurus); however, silicones actually work very well for most people.
Silicones have earned a bad rep on many natural hair forums and are considered to be a moisture-defeating, scalp-clogging, plastic-like hair coating. However, not all types of silicones are bad, and some silicones actually very useful.
Good silicones can help improve your ability to detangle wet hair. Some of the softness and sleekness you’ll feel after rinsing out conditioners is due to some of the silicones within the product.
Everything has its pros and cons, including silicones, but a reliable moisturizing deep conditioner containing silicone might work wonders for you.
Remember that it’s important to experiment with your hair because you’re the real natural hair guru.
If the list of ingredients in your moisturizing deep conditioner reads like water, silicone 1, silicone 2, silicone 3, silicone 4, and so forth, then reevaluate the product’s purpose.
Conditioners with a list of ingredients similar to the example mentioned above aren’t deep hair moisturizers. While this might give your hair an awesome shine and make detangling a breeze, the conditioner will consequently lead to hair dryness due to a lack of moisture deposits within your hair strands.
Things to Avoid
What are some of the ingredients to avoid in a moisturizing conditioner? Try and avoid moisturizing deep conditioners containing heavy proteins, mineral oils, petrolatum, and other similarly heavy oils.
These deep moisturizing conditioners will coat your hair. If your hair doesn’t handle silicones very well, then consider steering clear of these products