Moisturizing and Sealing Fine Natural Hair: How To
Last updated on December 28th, 2022 at 04:41 pm
You’ve made your best effort to finally try that hairstyle your favorite hair blogger did (like 9 months ago), only to discover little pieces of hair in your sink and on your shoulders. Dry hair. No more. The tips below help with effectively moisturizing and sealing fine natural hair.
Did you notice it before? Perhaps the breakage seems to have gotten worst. Let me help you out.
Well moisturized hair is hair that defies breakage. Moisturizing fine natural hair must be done properly. Due to the very fragile nature of our hair type, ensuring that you moisturize your hair and maintain for a set period of time is not only beneficial. It’s critical.
Having naturally weaker strands is one thing. Couple that weakness with dryness and your hair won’t stand a chance of remaining on top of your head.
Moisture Retention is the Issue
Getting moisture to fine hair isn’t usually the problem (unless you have low porosity hair; then, you may need to do some things to get your hair shaft open to receive moisture but that’s another topic).
Being able to maintain moisture in the hair (aka moisture retention) is often the struggle. Once your hair has received the adequate amount of moisture to keep it soft and pliable, properly sealing in the moisture is the step that some people either omit or do incorrectly.
Here are some simple tips to moisturize and sealing fine natural hair:
- Always start with the pre-poo before washing.
- Imparting moisture to your hair begins on the day you wash it. Apply all of your moisturizing products (leave in conditioner, aloe vera juice/gel, oils AND your styler) in the shower while your hair is soaking wet. The dampness that’s already in the air is your friend and will allow you to get all of the moisture into your hair and sealed in before it begins to dry out.
- Use natural hair products that will pH balance your hair before starting the process of moisturizing and sealing. Manufacturers from the same hair line formulate their products to work together. Use them step by step to return your hair to a balanced pH of about 4.5-5. If this isn’t desired, you can always test the pH of your products using pH testing strips
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Resources on pH Balancing Your Hair
Resources on pH Balancing Your HairHere are some great articles around the web that go into more detail about pH balancing your hair and why it’s important:
Why Your Moisturizer Doesn’t Work
Understanding Your Hair Through It’s pH Level
How to Balance the pH of your Hair
- Never skip the deep conditioning process and always use a heat source when applying deep conditioner to your natural hair. Allow the moisture from your deep conditioner to open your cuticles and penetrate the hair shaft. 30-40 minutes is sufficient.
- If doing a protein treatment, do it before your deep conditioning treatment. Your deep conditioner will balance out the effects of using protein so that your hair stays moisture/protein balanced.
- Use a light weight oil down the length of your moisturized hair and a thicker oil like Jamaican Black Castor Oil on the ends which is often the driest part of your hair since it’s oldest and most in contact with your clothing.
- It’s OK to apply a little moisture to your hair between wash days by way of a spritz of water followed by a lightweight oil. This is a great way to proactively keep your hair moisturized, especially if your sebum production is less than sufficient.
Moisture retention requires a bit of science and a bit of skill. Some oils function better for different people. For those with fine hair, lighter weight oils like Jojoba, Argan, and Almond are best in order to prevent build up.
The process of moisturizing and sealing fine natural hair is something you can improve quickly. They will take a little time if you have yet to discover what types of products your hair responds best to. Don’t give up. A moisturized head of hair is frizz free, holds the best styles and poised for length retention.
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