How to Stay Consistent with Your Natural Hair Routine (Even When Busy)
Finding an easy hair care routine that actually sticks can feel impossible when your schedule is packed. You’ve got responsibilities pulling at you from every which way, and wash day is easily pushed to the bottom of the priority list.
Yet, caring for your natural hair is necessary. So, you have to make time for it. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be an all-consuming effort to be effective.
When I first went natural, I thought you had to do all the things, but over the past 20+ years, I realize that’s not the case. In fact, I have lots of tips & tricks to share to help you get your hair done in less time. Keep reading.
Consistency Isn’t About Perfection
Before sharing my tips, I must address the elephant in the proverbial room.
Being consistent with your natural hair care routines isn’t about perfection. It’s about creating a simple, natural hair regimen for your hair care at home and then making the best use of your time to get it done.
The five tips you are about to read will help you refocus, simplify your process (or redo it altogether), and feel good about the progress you make, even on the busiest of days.
Here’s what we’ll cover to make sure you make adjustments for an easy hair care routine:
1. Review Your Hair Goals
Staying consistent with your natural hair routine starts with remembering why you went natural in the first place.
Are you working toward retaining length, minimizing breakage, or simply, embracing your natural texture?
Without a clear focus, it’s easy to lose motivation when your life gets full and your time seems like it’s been cut short. So, revisiting your hair goals is a great way to get back on track. Here are some tips:
- Review and write your hair goals down, keeping them somewhere you’ll see often, like your mirror, planner, or phone background
- Be specific. When you first set goals, you may have been vague and set a goal like “have healthy hair.” Instead of that, try something like “retain one inch of hair every three months” or “deep condition every wash day.”
- Check in with your goals every month to keep to stay aligned with your priorities and make necessary tweaks as needed.
Sometimes, to have an easy hair care routine it takes being hyper-focused on what you want to achieve with your hair.
2. Create a Plan
Having a plan makes it easier to stay on track with your hair when your week is packed. It also helps to reduce decision fatigue, so you’re not wondering what to do when it’s time to care for your hair.
Build in some wiggle room by allowing yourself to shift things by a day or so if needed. You can do this without guilt. Just don’t push it off too many days or you’ll get off track.
For an easy hair care routine, choose which days you’ll wash, moisturize, and style your hair. Those steps are really the basics. Then, commit to it, but be flexible.
Also read: No More Wash Day Dread: A Simple Hair Reset
A simple plan done consistently beats a complex one that never happens. Plus, it saves you time.
3. Seek Inspiration from Others Who Are Going Strong
Seeing others stay consistent with their natural hair can be the motivation you didn’t know you needed. When your go-to style becomes a quick bun every week, inspiration can spark fresh energy. I know this one all too well.
- Save their posts, reels, or other videos that encourage you. Then, revisit them when you are having low-energy days
- Let inspiration lift you, not pressure you, define you, or make you feel less than. This is about your hair journey, not matching someone else’s.
I’ve discovered a few go-to hairstyles (these are for summer) that save tons of time for my medium density, fine natural hair.
Some hairstyles I come up for myself, but I definitely get inspiration from others.
See: What Really Is the Best Source of Natural Hair Inspiration?
4. Buy New Hair Products to Support Your Goals
Sometimes a new product can make your routine feel easier and more doable. It could be a new deep conditioner, a different leave-in, or a tool that helps cut down on time.
For me, the RevAir has greatly helped speed up my drying time; while this brand of hair products has cut down on the time it takes to detangle my hair on wash day.
Here are some tips for buying new hair products:
- Shop based on your current goals. If moisture is the priority, focus on moisturizing deep conditioners, leave-ins, or hydrating stylers.
- Avoid impulse buys. Instead, check the product reviews (thank you, Amazon) and the list of product ingredients to make sure the product suits your needs and preferences
- Toss out expired or ineffective products so your stash supports consistency. Did you know that expired or ineffective products can actually cause you to waste time on your hair? It’s because you end up trying to “fix” problems those products should have solved for in the first place.
5. To Big Chop (or Not)
If your hair feels more like a burden than a blessing, it might be time to evaluate where you are. The big chop is one option, but it’s not the only one.
- Ask yourself if a reset, by way of a big chop would help, or if your hair just needs more consistent care
- If you’re not ready to do a big chop, a trim can do wonders because when your ends are neater, your hair tangles less, making low-effort protective styles easier which gives you more breathing room
- The most important thing is doing what is best for your hair and your sanity
To make your hair care easier, you need to make a few shifts. What you just read will help in one of two ways:
- When your schedule is busy and you’re short on time.
- You’re losing motivation to care for your hair
