How to care for Dry and Brittle hair

I get a lot of e-mails from many naturals that are tired of  having DRY HAIR and asking me how to moisturize dry hair. They have used every “blogger approved” product that does not work well with their own hair type.  They have dry, brittle and rough hair. But blame everything but their bad hair habits on why their hair is in its current state.

Natural hair (kinky, coily and curly) is naturally drier than other hair textures. Which in turn makes it more fragile than other textures.

The only way we can keep our hair thriving and growing is to keep it moisturized. DRY HAIR BREAKS!! So you have to be very careful when manipulating your hair when it is dry.

Why is moisturizing your hair so important?

Moisturizing hair is important for bother fully natural and transitioning to natural hair. A lot of naturals have dry, brittle hair that’s hard to manage. But the reason why it’s not “as soft” or “as fluffy” as someone else’s with the same texture is because of how it’s taken care of. Before I took “actual” care of my hair.. Paying attention to its likes and dislikes. Changing products that weren’t my “fav blogger approved”; and dumping out the ones that were…. I had to give my hair the time and attention it needed in order to get it back to it’s healthiest point. I deep condition and protein treat my hair often, just to reduce the amount of frequent maintenance it needs between times of TLC.

The more work you do in the beginning to make sure that your hair is as healthy as possible, the less work you’ll have to do as time goes on.

The best way to moisturize

You moisturize correctly by either using the LOC method (which is not mandatory) or simply sealing in the moisture (water or leave in conditioner with WATER as the first ingredient) with oil or for thicker hair, a hair butter. Some use a leave in after their styling product or the oil last. It all depends on the person and the type of regimen you want to keep up.

For example, When I style my hair in flat twist. Starting on freshly washed hair, I won’t use a leave in conditioner, since my hair is already wet. I would then use a hair butter AND curl definer on each parted section to detangle and flat twist each section. Once I decide to take my flat twist out (once it’s dry), I have a shiny and soft flat twisted out; that can easily be manipulated with minimal shedding.

On dry hair, I’ll use a leave in conditioner, either a spray or the Cantu Leave in, prior to even trying to detangle. Dry hair will snap off and shed a lot more if you even try to detangle or comb it when it’s dry… And by Dry I mean hair that was not sealed properly or dried with out any product. I then follow that leave in conditioner with the hair butter or an oil, and then the curl cream in order to detangle that section and then twist. Twisting on dry hair created a more stretched look… So I’ll purposely allow my hair to dry out on a regular basis as long as I follow the above steps.

Beware

Sometimes, when products are used in the wrong order or even “the wrong way” it won’t do the job it is intended to do. Yes sometimes, we feel that we write our own rules, and we make our own choices when it comes to what we use and how we use them; BUT sometimes, some products either A) don’t work for our hair or B) it’s being used incorrectly; so you won’t get the desired effects.

You are the only person that knows your hair. You’re the only one that can change a step, modify a product or try something new. But you HAVE to pay attention to your hair; to see what is working and what isn’t. You don’t have to moisturize your hair daily, if your doesn’t require it. You don’t have to do the LOC Method, use hair butters or gels or anything else that your hair doesn’t need. No 8 steps to Glory…