I, like many of you have been watching Kimmaytube for a very long time. If you do not know who she is, you might consider her to be the ultimate natural hair guru. The girl that was able to preserve her hair to the point of attaining her goal of waist length hair, chopping it all off and going in for another round.
She is also known for her visuals and her ability to explain what some might call complicated ideas about natural hair care, making them super simple and easy to follow.
Since this is turning out to be a major plug this wouldn’t be complete if I did not mention that she is the curator of the hair product line called LUV Naturals.
In the video on the second page of this article Kim gives a simple tip about using parts in your hair to preserve the hair from breaking. Some might call it genius I call it..well genius and something that speaks to the truth about hair care.
The point of this post is not only to highlight Kim’s tip but I wanted to encourage you all as you create your regimens and mix your concoctions to remain as simple as possible when caring for your hair.
Often times it might seem as if we dive so deeply into a variety of practices all in the name of strand preservation when really most of it is just simple common sense.
4 simple things to remember
1. Afro textured hair is dry
What this means is that our hair needs water all the time. This can come in a variety of forms, one your shower, two your products (conditioners and leave in’s) three simple spray bottles with our spritzes in them.
We also have debated on whether hair needs oils* on top of moisturizers to keep the water in longer. Some hair professionals will tell you that sealing moisture in is ridiculous for whatever reason. From experience I can tell you that using a sealant in the form of an oil or butter does in fact keep your hair moisturized longer.
At the end of the day, whatever you have to do to keep your hair hydrated is your top priority.
2. Curly hair is easily traumatized
If you think your hair is a diva, it is because she actually is a diva. Curly strands are attracted to each other, and most of us fight with them weekly trying to stop them from doing what they naturally like to do.
We use heat to straighten which can lead to heat damage, we separate clumps with our picks to create that ‘thick, block em out of pictures” look which can weaken individual strands.
We also pull, tug, rip and comb our strands to death and most times they just give up, they split, shed and thin. When you let your hair naturally expand over the week without using a pick, or ditch the comb and use your fingers you will see a huge difference in how your hair behaves.
Not to mention heat! We all love heat, we have a love hate relationship, but mostly love for straight strands when our hair lives to be curly. Heat can be great when used effectively and by effective we mean minimally, we have to remember that heat styling is not the natural order of things for curly hair. #Fact!
