Ten Golden Rules for Growing Healthy Natural Hair

 These ten simple rules have helped me improve my attitude towards caring for my African hair.

1.       Accept your hair texture.

Your hair texture is just what nature intended. It has unique qualities to suite you! Learn to understand it, love and enjoy it.  I found Nappturality video’s advice in relation to accepting my natural hair texture valuable when I went natural last year. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtZ3boSNQOE&feature=plcp .

2.        Natural hair needs tender care.

Be gentle when handling your hair.  African hair is the most fragile of all hair types. Therefore use a tender hand to care for your hair. Prevent your hair from tangling but also master the art of untangling.

3.       When it comes to products less is more.

There is no need to buy a thousand expensive products. Applying too many products will clog your pores and contribute to scalp build-up, which is not good for your hair. Look for a few basic products that work for your hair.  

4.       Tender hair needs gentle products and natural hair loves natural products.

Avoid using harsh shampoos or products with harmful chemicals. Start reading product labels and look for natural ingredients and products.

5.       Keep your hair and scalp clean.

Hair can only flourish on a scalp that is free from pollution and free from buildup. So wash your hair regularly.

6.        Moisture, moisture, moisture.

Water is your hair’s best friend so keep your curls moisturised all of the time.

7.       Leave your hair alone.

This is key (particularly if you have fine hair like me!). Do you know why dread locks grow long? It is because hair is allowed to grow without being disturbed. Try to keep a hair style for as long as possible but no longer than three months unless you want to lock your hair.

8.       Say no to heat.

Avoid using heat appliances such as blow driers and stop using straightening irons all together. They damage the coils and ruin the shape of your beautiful hair.

9.       Trim your hair

If you have split ends trim your hair. Split ends tear up your strands and fuel tangling.

10.    Enjoy your hair.

African hair is beautiful and incredibly versatile so have fun with it!

Rules 2 to 10 comes from the Mierille Liong-A-Kong’s book Going Natural: How to Fall in Love with your Nappy Hair. It is a great resource for people who are considering going natural. I use this book a lot for information on caring for my hair.   

Love

Marisa.