Caring for Natural Hair
With a full head of hair comes responsibility. It is not enough to grow long natural hair. You have to invest time into taking care of it as well. This will help your strands to thrive and retain length. The health of your hair is dependent on how you take care of it. Some of the integral practices include:
Detangling and Wide-Toothed Combs
Always manipulate your hair when it is wet or damp because dry hair is prone to breakage. Manipulation such as detangling is necessary for natural hair. Before shampooing and washing your hair and before styling your hair, you have to detangle it. The safest way is to finger detangle.
This is gentle on your strands as you are able to feel where all the coils, kinks, and curls are and to separate your strands without snagging or breaking any. Although it is best to avoid them, you can still use combs and brushes. The best combs are wide-toothed combs. They come second to finger detangling.
Scalp Massages
Regular scalp massages are good for the health of your hair. Massaging your scalp helps to stimulate blood flow which is integral for hair growth and health. The massages should be gentle. You can do them once every three days so that your scalp does not get used to it and adjust accordingly.
You can use related procedures such as the inversion method if you want to grow an inch or more of your hair within the month. The inversion method should, however, not be done for more than seven days within the month as your scalp and body will adjust to it and show no results.
Reduced Heat Styling
Heat styling can cause heat damage. This alters the strength of the bonds in your hair and it can take months to recover. If you want to have long, thick, and healthy hair, step away from the blow dryer and the flat irons.
Heat does, however, have a role in the natural hair process. You can get a diffuser that uses low heat to aid in the absorption of oils for the health of your strands and scalp. Collapsible hooded driers that use indirect heat from blowdryers also help to maximize and speed up the absorption of some integral nutrients from various hair masks. Heat should be used properly and rarely in order to work for the benefit of your hair.
Protective Styling
The purpose of protective hair styling is to keep the hair neatly tucked away. This is especially done in harsh weather conditions to protect the hair. Protective hair styling also focuses on the health of your ends so as to retain the length.
Protective hairstyles range from crotchet braids, twists, and flat twists to weaving and wigs. Each protective style has its own benefits. While twists and flat twists allow you access to your hair so you can still wash, condition and oil it, weaves and braids do not offer the same convenience although they last longer.
It is a good idea to get your hair treated and styled by beauty professionals at a hair salon to reduce hair damage and hair loss. Modern barbershops and salon studios provide all types of beauty services, as well as many other services like nail salon services, facial services, eyelash extensions, massage therapy, eyebrow threading, and waxing services.