For those starting out on their healthy natural hair care journey, understanding a regimen to follow can be overwhelming especially with so much information on the web currently on this topic.

A hair care Regimen is a list of specific, intentional steps you take on a regular basis to grow and maintain healthy hair. It should be simple and drawn out to suit your hair type, lifestyle, and schedule. Keep it simple especially in the beginning when you don’t understand your hair yet or the products that work for you to ensure that you learn how your behaves and then you can tweak your regimen as you continue along on your journey.

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SIMPLE REGIMEN GUIDE

Daily Natural Hair Care Regimen

Moisturize and seal your hair daily: Natural hair loves and lives for moisture, so don’t neglect this step. Use a water-based product then seal this in with an oil or butter. Sealing forms a hydrophobic layer over the hair hence, preventing water loss which in turn keeps the hair moisturized for longer.

Sleep in a Satin Bonnet/Scarf or use a silk pillowcase: this prevents your hair from drying out while you sleep, due to absorption of moisture and oils by your bedsheets and pillowcases.

Weekly Natural Hair Care Regimen

Pre-poo

A pre-poo is simply a treatment applied to your hair before you shampoo. This step is aimed at infusing the hair with additional moisture, prevents the stripping of the hair of its natural oils, and reduces tangle formation during cleansing. Pre-pooing can be done with penetrating oils like coconut oil and olive oil, you could also use an instant or deep conditioner. Or opt for a DIY mix using Mayonnaise, eggs, honey or yogurt

Cleanse

 Follow up the pre-poo step with a cleanser. this is to rid the scalp of excess oil, dirt, and products. Remember cleansing is for your scalp and not the hair and so focus should be on massaging your scalp during the process. don’t worry, your hair shaft will be cleaned as the lather runs through your hair. Cleanse at least every 1-2 weeks with a sulfate-free shampoo or cleansing conditioner.

Deep Condition

 A rule of thumb to follow is to always deep condition after every cleanse. this is a vital step in every natural hair care regimen. Deep conditioners are rich in nourishing ingredients that moisturize and strengthen natural hair. so be sure not to skip this step. deep conditioners should be left in for about 20-30minutes with a hooded dryer/steamer or 1 hour without heat. after this rinse off and apply a leave-in conditioner.

Protective styling

After cleansing, deep conditioning, and applying your leave-in treatment, put your hair in protective styles that can last you anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks or even a month. these styles are low manipulation styles and prevent breakage, in turn, retaining length. simple protective styles to rock include buns, braid outs, wash and go, twist outs, high puffs, box braids, and kinky twists.

Oil your scalp: Oiling your scalp keeps it hydrated and moisturized, you could throw in a scalp massage after this. good oils to use are jojoba oil and castor oil. if you find castor oil too thick for you, try diluting with a lighter carrier oil like olive oil or avocado oil.

Monthly Natural Hair Care Regimen

Clarify

Once a month cleanse your hair with a clarifying shampoo. These shampoos strip the hair of product build-up and give it a clean start for the next month. After clarifying you should notice your products begin to work better. If you live in an area with hard water, or you swim, then be sure to use a chelating shampoo; these shampoos are able to remove heavy chemical deposits in your hair which other types of shampoos are unable to.

Protein Treatment

Do a protein treatment every 4-6 weeks. Hair is made up of a protein called keratin, so it’s important to incorporate regular protein treatments in our hair regimen. you could do this by using protein deep conditioners or whipping up something in your kitchen with ingredients like eggs, coconut milk, yogurt, Avocadoes, and bananas.

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In Conclusion

Beginning a natural hair journey can be really confusing at the beginning, but with a simple regimen, you can be sure to streamline your routine to the basics and work your way up.