Curly Hair Regimen - Fall/Winter 2013

I've been focusing on hair health for the past four years as I've been growing my hair out.  It has also been important that I keep my hair cut in a style so that it is always impeccable for auditions and castings.  I feel like I've finally found a hair regimen that is easy to maintain and doesn't rely on tons of products to get the results I desire.

Detangling

To prep my hair for cleansing and styling, I detangle my hair first with a wide tooth seamless comb once a week and finger detangle on other wash days.  I dampen my hair with aloe vera juice which I purchase by the gallon from Trader Joe's, and use hemp seed oil which is one of my favorite hair oils for slip while detangling.  I detangle my hair in four sections and keep them in those sections for cleansing.  I detangle my hair first so that I won't disrupt the curls that form from the cleansing process.

Cleanse

I wash my hair 1-2 times per week with an herbal hair cleanser.  It is a powdered mix that I can easily travel with for work or holiday.  I've found that what I wash my hair with is the most important thing.  This herbal hair cleanser is not drying while cleansing my hair and it also softens and clumps my curls which eliminates traditional conditioner.

Style

For styling I spritz my curls with aloe vera juice because it closes the hair cuticle after washing it, and really helps define my curls even more.  I then use unrefined shea butter to maintain moisture in my hair and for hold.  Every time I try using a natural hair gel for styling, my hair feels a bit greasy or crunchy and dry.  Surprisingly when I use unrefined shea butter, my hair feels soft without the greasy touch, and maintains moisture in my hair until the next wash day.

I recently stopped using oils for my styling process because shea butter alone has worked even better for my hair.  You would think that shea butter would just weigh my hair down, yet now that it is much longer it seems to work better than it did when my hair was much shorter.  Unrefined shea butter has been amazing for my hair!

Lately I have been letting my hair do its thing and not setting my curls in any particular braid or twist out style.  I will spritz my hair with aloe vera juice and smooth my curls with unrefined shea butter in very small sections then let it air dry.  Wash and gos eliminate any further styling time unlike braid or twist out styles.

Maintenance

In between wash days I don't add more aloe vera juice or unrefined shea butter to my hair unless it desperately needs moisture or is somehow very tangled and could use some finger detangling.  I usually just put it in a very loose high ponytail at night and sleep on a satin pillowcase.  I release the ponytail in the morning, fluff, and go about my business.

In order to keep my curls fresh, I've been dusting (cutting off extremely small amounts) the ends of my hair more often.  I will dust each curl individually.  When I treat each curl as an individual unit I have more volume and movement in my hair.  I also keep my hair layered for volume and movement.  There is also this very simple method for trimming hair, yet cutting my hair curl by curl gives me the look that I truly want although it does take more time to do.  I'm finding that the more I've been cutting my hair with the curl by curl method the quicker the process is for me because I am used to it.  I've been doing very tiny micro trims every other month.

To keep my hair strong I use henna once a month.  If I can fit another treatment in I will, yet my schedule has been insane lately so that really hasn't been an option.  I've decided to keep things as simple as possible with my hair care this season especially since my schedule has changed so much.  I don't want to fuss too much with it or spend hours styling.  I've noticed that as long as I detangle my hair gently and regularly along with just letting it be, its seems to respond so much better.

How has your hair care regimen changed during the fall/winter months?

Image by Dawn Michelle