Styling your hair at home
It might seem like a daunting task, but many of us begin the journey to natural hair care with high intentions. Not everyone sticks with it though. A lot can happen along the way, from damage to hormonal changes and gray hairs!
Most people start off by watching videos online and buying a bunch of products that may or may not work for them. The product closet grows and grows until you’re hoarding a bunch of stuff that “doesn’t work”. Unfortunately, marketing tactics are great at convincing you that labels are the correct way to determine whether a product works or not. Or may be an influencer influenced you into purchasing.
When starting your natural hair care journey, the best place to begin is by understanding what you need for your lifestyle and the basics of hair care. The most important factor that we as stylist find to be common is the proper cleansing and detangling of the hair. This is where you should choose quality tools that help you maintain the health of your hair on a daily basis (or at least wash day basis). Making sure your scalp health is good and your wash day is consistent can change the trajectory of your journey.
Once you get the hang of this, you should understand how your hair reacts to things like water how good it looks on day one versus two versus three or if it can even go that long. You should be intuitive about your hair to know what to give it. This can be trial and error for a while, but partnering with a hairstylist will cut that time down. Someone who understands many hair types or at least your hair type will be able to guide you on the right path and one hair appointment.
I recommend researching products before purchasing them, knowing the quality of ingredients, but also looking at reviews to see how it’s reacting for others and how it might work for your hair. By understanding your hair type and what the purpose of your product does, you will be able to achieve success in the results you desire.
When I say hair types, don’t get caught up in your curl pattern. Curl patterns are surface level identifiers. In skincare we choose products based on skin type (for example; oily, dry or combination), so we should do the same with hair. I like to pick products in the salon based on the hairs surface texture or porosity. Depending on the goal (volume, definition or long lasting style etc.) I have to determine how easy can your hair define? Based on that fact I can decide to choose whether it needs a strong hold product or if it can get away with light holding product. There are many other factors that can affect style result, but this is essentially the basis. If you’d like to know more, I have an online course to help you learn these components of styling at home called Wash Day Essentials. Please use code “CURLEEME25” for 25% off when you purchase the class. Here is a direct link to this exclusive sale: https://auracurls.mykajabi.com/offers/W9LeUtYZ?coupon_code=CURLEEME25
Once you understand your hair type and what it needs to achieve your goal, you will need to apply this into your routine. It’s very easy to try the many methods of styling out there, but there is ultimately on right way to apply products. SATURATION. We apply the product so there is product everywhere on every square inch of the hair. This doesn’t mean too much product, but making sure it got covered and using water to help spread the product throughout and your tool of choice will solve half of your problems!
You can practice different tools and styling methods and choose your favorite results to use when it’s time for wash day. The key here is to not be lazy. In order to have your hair look good, you have to do it. The next step to wash day is drying your hair. This is the process of allowing all your previous steps to set into place. It’s best not to touch the hair at this point or else you will disrupt the setting of the product to guarantee the style. You just put so much work into. Diffusing or scrunching in place are both great ways to speed up drying. Air drying or sitting under a hooded dryer are also valid ways of setting the hair.
This is a lot of information to take in. But these tips can change your wash day routine and it will only get better the more you try. That’s why I made my online course to help people at home get the same looks that they can get in the salon. I think it’s important to understand your hair as it is and have realistic goals for what it can do. It will take time, but have patience and the next thing you know, you’ll be at your goal!