Ways to Revamp Your Afro Textured Hair Regimen
In a previous post I shared some signs for those with afro curls to look out for that gave you some clues that you need to overhaul or update your curly hair regimen. Below you’ll discover ways that you can make those changes to your afro textured hair care routines in a practical way.
How to Care for Natural Coils
When it comes to care for taking care of natural coils or textured hair, established routines and hair care products used should be the main focus. Yet, you don’t want to focus on these things not until you’ve determined your hair’s porosity levels and your hair goals.
Once you’ve established your hair porosity, goals, routines and products, you need to revisit them every now and again.
Remember the article I linked above on the signs your hair regimen may need to change? Please read that first for what you’re about to read to make sense.
If you recognize certain signs and now realize the regimen you’ve been following to care for your afro curls need a bit of tweaking, the next five tips will help you make some of the changes.
1. Take note of what’s working and what’s not
When it comes to afro curls, we can do a lot. So, it’s important to pay attention to how our natural hair responds to what we do to it and what we put on it. For example, do certain ingredients cause your hair to look dull? feel dry?
If you answered yes to either of these, either eliminate certain practices or increase other practices. For example: You may need to moisturize more often if your hair is getting dry too often. Alternatively, the routine you follow for moisturizing your hair may require adjusting.
2. Switch up the order in which you apply products
How you apply your hair products matters. For example, let’s say you usually seal your coily hair using the LOC method. Try switching it up and do the LCO or LCOC method. L= liquid (water), C= Conditioner or Cream O = Oil.
Another thing to consider is the order in which you apply your styling products. For example, you could use a gel followed by a curl defining cream. Then, try apply the curl defining cream first followed by the gel. Your results will vary.
3.Change the frequency in which you do the routines in your hair regimen.
When you are taking note of what is working and what is not working, this is a great time to decide on the frequency is which you are doing certain hair routines. Remember, it’s the routines that make the regimen.
For ex: you usually wash your hair once a week but you are wanting to reduce breakage. To decrease breakage, you’ll want to handle your hair less. Try moving your wash day out another week.
4. Change the type of products you use.
You may use the same types of products all the time. Heck, maybe years. Yet, if your porosity has changed, you may need to change the products you are using.
If your hair is lacking in luster or manageability (and you don’t need a trim), you may need to change your cleanser.
For example, let’s say you usually co-wash your hair. Switch to using shampoo for a bit. Your hair may just need a good cleansing and/or clarifying.
5. Check your porosity level (it can change).
All this talk about hair porosity, I’d be remise in offering up checking it as a way to help you upgrade your coily hair regimen.
There’s much debate on how to check your hair’s porosity but the most effective method is not the popular advice you’ve probably heard about. It involves filling a glass with water and putting a few strands of hair into it. Based on if the hair floats (or not), you will determine your porosity.
Instead of that flawed method, take this hair porosity quiz for more insight.
Then, if you’ve noticed your hair porosity has changed, adjust your hair care routines and change the hair products you use to support your hair porosity.
Afro textured hair care may be quite different from how others of a different hair type may care for their hair. That doesn’t make our coily hair any less than others. In fact, because we have to give our beautiful afro curls more attention, that just gives more validity to how valuable they are.
God has blessed us ladies with natural hair with beautiful kinks, coils and everything in between. One way we can show our gratitude to the Creator is to make sure our afro-textured hair care routines are on point and we are giving our naturally textured hair the attention it needs.
