So You Want To Be Natural Pt.5 – Products & Tools

Now that you have decided on where you will get your products from, either the kitchen or the store let’s talk about some of the products that you will need to make your natural hair journey  a healthy journey.

The first and most important step in having healthy hair is moisturizing it. So you have to have a product that is a moisturizer. To be an effective moisturizer it’s first ingredient MUST be aqua, water, H20. Water is by far thee BEST moisturizer for our hair and skin. In fact it’s such a great moisturizer that it alone can be your moisturizer (I speak from experience as water is my primary moisturizer), when your hair is in its naturally curly state of course (if you straighten your hair and moisturize with water it will revert your hair back to its curly state).

Another product necessary is a leave in conditioner to continue to moisturize your hair as the days go on. I’ve seen some naturals go without this step. I was one in my pre loc journey, now that I am experimenting with the LOC and LCO techniques I’ve incorporated it into my regimen.  My hair seems to be a lot softer and stays moisturized longer.

You will also want to invest in a cream or butter moisturizer to assist the leave in with providing more moisture to your hair and other benefits such as shine.  This is the second step in the LCO method and the third step in the LOC method.

All of this moisturizing will be done for nothing if you do not invest in a sealant. There are a multitude of oils you can use to seal the moisture in your hair. Without this vital steps the moisture will leave your hair causing it to be dry and breakage will occur.

Where we would be without a good cleanser to help us clean our scalp and rid it and our hair of all the other products we put in it.  Selecting a cleanser will require some consideration on your part. Biggest choice being to shampoo, cowash, or,both. Some naturals swear by cowashing alone, others stick with tradition shampooing.  If your a neo in the natural world cowashing is the act of using a conditioner to cleanse your scalp. Many naturals use both in their regimens, like yours truly 🙂

Another essential product is a moisturizing deep conditioner. This beneficial treatment aids in providing deep penetrating moisture to your hair and scalp. There are many natural, non natural and home made products that fall under this category.

In Order to provide strength to your tresses you should use a protein treatment. Just like the moisturizing deep conditioner the protein treatment will aid in the overall health of your hair and it to can be purchased or made in the kitchen.

This is not low on the list because it is least necessary! A Hot oil treatment is one of the best things we can do for our hair.  It is the spa treatment for hair.  It helps condition, strengthen, moisturize and heal your hair.  It can be purchased or made.  It is one of the easiest of the home products to concoct.  A journey without this is missing an important part of healthy hair.

Last but certainly not least is a rinse out conditioner, this is also used by some naturals after washing the hair but before the leave in is applied. It is another method of conditioning for those who feel it is necessary to help their hair be more manageable and moisturized. I do not incorporate this in my regimen.

Styling tools will also be necessary, items such as wide tooth combs or tangle teasers for detangling, Denman brush used for smoothing and clumping curls, butterfly clips and elastic bands for
separating hair. A spray bottle or two is also a necessary tool.

Previous: Pt. 4

Next: Pt. 6

Disclaimer: Everything listed here is basic and is meant to be a starting point. The links I’ve including will take you to some of the products I use for the various steps of maintaining my natural hair. I am no expert on hair care, I do not have my costmatology license, nor am I a chemist, biologist, or scientist. I am a natural women who’s been researching natural hair care since 2012. I am however an expert in my own hair story and that’s what being natural is all about…developing a relationship with the hairs on your own head. I share what has worked for me in hopes that it may work for you as well. 

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Dandruff Made Me Do It

Thursday was the end of the line for my dandruff free scalp. It’s like clockwork; first my scalp starts itching – Wednesday then the flakes appear Thursday thus Friday I must wash and relieve my itchy flakey scalp (Oh my hair is still on point tho, very well moisturized). Good news in this: my scalp gets the attention it deserves 🙂 Bad news: my straight hair is OVER for this month 😦 …well idk yet I may flat iron it for x-mas.  I know I should have waited til then but I was just so excited to see what my hair was going to look like straight.

Anywho, here’s what I did:
– Put 4 sections in my head using butterfly clips ( totally new for me, prior to locking I never sectioned as I didn’t feel I had enough hair. Now I notice my hair tangles more assuming because there is more length)
Deep conditioned on dry hair with Le Kair Cholesterol Plus because I had just “damaged” my hair by using heat I wanted to treat it with protien to fill in the damaged areas. Used plastic  cap and thick hat over conditioned hair for 45 mins
– Shampooed  DC out using Elaata QP with warm water to open my cuticles for the DC
– Deep conditioned using my DC mix to moisturize my hair as protien can be very drying. Used plastic cap and thick hat over conditioned hair for 45 mins
– Rinsed with cool water to close cuticles back.
– Did LCO method, which is liquid, cream and oil, my products of choice for this method were: water, Miss Jessies Baby Butter Cream, and coconut oil respectively.
– Installed two strand twist in the back and flat twist in the front

The dandruff that started moving in on my otherwise healthy scalp

Applying the Le Kair Conditioner to my dry hair

Shower cap to contain heat

Thick hat to add heat to assist in opening hair cuticles

Finished results front view

Finished results somewhat rear view..lol

Baggy Method

One of the best ways to get moisture to your hair is to do the baggy method. I do mine on clean dry hair and of course with a shower cap and a wood cap on top of that for added heat. I keep it on for 45 minutes or overnight. I do it on dry hair because if the hair is dry it will absorb more than it would if it was already full with water. Any type of conditioning done on dry hair will be absorbed directly into the hair… More value going in. I perform this type of hair treatment when I feel that my hair can use some extra moisture. I am very random when I decide to do this

My Ingredients

Jojoba oil
Castor oil
Vitamins A, D, and E
Essential Oil(s)

Cleaning with Castile Soap

I researched a lot prior to doing my BC…about everything…lol One of the things that I discovered was castile soap. Castile soap is an oil based soap. Unlike our regular soap, it retains its natural oils that it took to make it (all soap starts out this way but the oil is removed from the soap). Unlike shampoo it does not contain any detergents which can be stripping to our hair. So I tried it and boy did I love it. It made my scalp tingle – which felt good to me – and my strands were not squeaky …I liked that A LOT!

I clean my hair with my castile soap mixture weekly just prior to doing my DC. Below are two ways to mix it. The first is my current mixture and the second is what I will be trying on my next wash day (Friday’s are the day :)) I’ve decided to modify my current mixture by adding coconut milk to see how my hair responds to it, as it turns out that the coconut milk has very beneficial qualities.

With Olive Oil (my current mixture)

1/2 cup of Dr. Bronners Castile Soap

1/2 cup of Olive Oil

4 drops of Tea Tree essential oil

8 drops of peppermint essential oil

With Coconut Milk

1/2 cup of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap

1/4 cup of Olive Oil (cutting down, there is already oil in there…should be ok if not I’ll modify)

1/2 cup of Coconut Milk

UPDATE: Since you cannot make loads of this stuff because the coconut milk will spoil after four days I’m only going to make enough to wash my hair once. You can freeze the unused portion of the coconut milk for use at a later time. I put mine in an ice cube tray then in a baggy.

Essential Oils

Essential Oil are a major part of my hair care regimen. Their benefits out way not incorporating them in your journey. And most of them double up as some other life aid from skin ailments to sleep remedies….the benefits are endless. They are very strong and have to be used in small doses; however you have to go by the amount of the liquid you are adding it to. So if you have a small mixture you only want to put a few drops. If your mixture is large then you can add more. If your skin is very sensitive then use a small amount and adjust as necessary. I use most of these in my deep conditioner mix and if I have an itchy scalp I will message my scalp with one that is beneficial for dandruff and itchy scalp (most of them :))

Tea Tree Oil

This was the first one that I tried because I suffer from dry scalp and dandruff. It works wonders for itching and dry scalp. I found out that it also moisturizes my hair a great deal.

Lavender

I originally purchased this for my daughter’s hair for its cleansing properties. I would put one drop in a small spray bottle and spray her hair once a week. I no longer do this with her hair because with kids less is best. It too is helpful with dandruff and itching as well as promoting hair growth.

Peppermint

Stimulates blood flow to the hair shaft which in turn helps with growth.

Rosemary

Helps with dandruff, flakes, and itchy scalp. It also stimulates hair follicles.

Sage

Stimulates hair growth

There are many more however these are the ones that I have tried thus far to target my problem area’s and to promote growth.