Top 10 Healthy Hair Habits for Relaxed and Natural Hair

What habits do you have to pick up in order to keep your locks healthy? 

Habits can make or break your hair, literally. Let’s look at good hair habits that will keep your ends intact and give you swinging healthy locks. They are in no particular order:

1.    Co-washing – As a rule of thumb aim to shampoo once for every 3 or so co-washes. Co-washing is excellent in that it forces you to ditch harsh drying shampoos and help in moisture retention.

2.    Deep Conditioning* – I see this get neglected more often that I would like to mention. If you are a 3 times a week co-washer then deep conditioning* can be cut down to 1-2 times per month as moisture will likely not be an issue for your hair. If however you wash once per week, then make wash day a deep conditioning day! You want to give your hair a moisture boost to last you a week don’t you?

3.    Seal in moisture – For us kinky* curly haired ladies, our scalps do not produce enough oils* to moisturize our hair, so keep as part of your styling arsenal a natural oil to ‘seal’ the ends of your hair after a wash.

4.    Keep your hair products as natural as possible – Where possible buy natural hair products or make your own. You will then avoid any unnecessary exposure to chemicals that many of our hair products contain.

5.    Limit heat styling – There are so many other gorgeous styles that can be achieved without the use of heat so keep the flat iron* at the back of your cupboard only to be used every few months for a special occasion. Remember, you can roller set relaxed or looser textured natural hair for straightness without using heat.

6.    Protective styling – This is often something that ladies will resist adding to their regimen but if you have the ‘hands in your hair disease’ then protective styling will be a length saver for you!

7.    Avoid double processing – Permanent colour that involves lifting colour from your hair on relaxed hair is not something to be taken lightly and is better not done. If you are determined however, have a trained stylist colour your hair. The same goes for overlapping relaxers or any other chemical treatment. Take great care to apply relaxer only to new growth (stretching relaxers will help keep overlapping to a minimum).

8.    Avoid brushing excessively, particularly wet hair – Opt for a wide tooth comb* for styling. You may find that a wide tooth comb* will replace your brush altogether!

9.    Stimulate your scalp with massage – This is a good technique not only for its stress relieving benefits but it boost circulation to the scalp therefore to your hair follicles.

10.    Eat healthily – Sounds easy doesn’t it? However a lot of the food we eat in the course of an average westerner’s diet is high in calories but not so high in nutrition. Focus on nutrition and ditch processed foods in favour of natural ones. Fruit, vegetables and lean meat will give you better quality nutrition than a ‘healthy’ sandwich made with white bread.