Recently I’ve been getting questions regarding how to start your natural hair journey and people being terrified about making natural hair mistakes.
I can’t say that this is completely unjustified because I have been there myself the first time I went natural and I think I made every single mistake known to mankind!
Making mistakes with your natural hair is part of the journey but that doesn’t mean you have to be left to make every single one of them. So today I want to share with you some natural hair mistakes that you can avoid in order to keep your journey on the right path because none of us really wants to fall off the wagon!
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12 Natural Hair Mistakes You Should Avoid
1. Not Sleeping On Satin
You might be thinking that people who sleep with either a satin pillowcase or satin headscarf are just being a little bit “extra” but it really isn’t about that.
When you sleep on satin you keep your hair protected. Most people sleep directly on cotton pillowcases but the problem with this is that cotton naturally soaks moisture out of your hair. Our naturally curly hair needs moisture and we are constantly looking for ways to retain it through various methods.
Satin does not soak up moisture but not only that it doesn’t cause friction in your hair either which can cause breakage. If you are not already sleeping with satin, I can’t stress how important it is. You can pick up a satin scarf from here!
2. Not Understanding How To Moisturise Your Hair Properly
Moisture is a key factor in natural hair growth. If you don’t understand how to moisturise and retain moisture then your hair will suffer because of it.
Moisturing is not simply about adding water to your hair, it’s much more than that. You have to understand your hairs porosity as one of the more underlying foundations. Having high porosity hair or low porosity hair can severely affect how your hair takes in and retains moisture.
If you are suffering from very dry hair you should take a look at these tips that can help you get extra moisture into your hair.
3. Using The Wrong Hair Tools
Hair tools are very important. Using the wrong ones can cause serious breakage to your hair.
If you have been using combs that have teeth which are too close together it will simply tear out your hair.
Curly hair is very delicate and the strands can break easily because of the way they are shaped. If you do want to comb your hair it’s better to use a wide-tooth comb like this one or finger detangle if you can because that will reduce your breakage drastically
Some hairbrushes can also be too hard. If you are going use a hairbrush make sure it is a soft-bristled hairbrush. This is even more important if you have thin edges.
4. Washing Your Hair Without Knowing How To Lock In The Moisture
When we talk about locking in moisture to your hair that doesn’t mean spray your hair with water and go. There are a few things that you can do to make sure that your hair remains moisturised for as long as possible.
Using the LOC method is a great way to seal your hair. Deep conditioning is another good way to make sure that the strands of your hair are penetrated very deeply right to the core. Regular conditioners and leave-in conditioners are great but they don’t get right down to the core of your hair as a deep conditioner can. Deep conditioners are a specially made formula.
If you want to know more about how to seal moisture into low porosity hair, you should take a look at this article
5. Only Co-washing
I love co-washing my hair. It’s much quicker to co-wash than it is to shampoo and it doesn’t strip your hair dry like regular shampoo.
The downside to only co-washing is that it doesn’t get rid of buildup which we all have in our hair and on our scalps.
Build up prevents your follicles from being able to breathe and can severely affect the growth rate of your hair.
It would be a mistake to only co-wash. You need to have a natural hair routine that uses a mixture of the 2 things.
6. Comparing Your Journey To Someone Else’s
This is a really terrible habit and its one that I had for a long time when I first started out. Don’t laugh but I really believed that If I used the same hair products and followed the exact routine as someone on youtube then I would have hair that looked exactly like hers.
Big mistake for my natural hair!
It didn’t work. In fact, I didn’t even come close. It just made me frustrated that I couldn’t get my hair to do what I wanted. Once I realised that it wasn’t going to happen things got a whole lot easier for me because I fell in love with my own hair and not someone else’s.
Never compare your journey to someone else it only leads to frustration. There are so many variable factors that it is not possible to have the exact same hair as the next person.
Your hair will not grow at the same rate as someone else, focus on yourself and learning about your own hair. Its a much better place to be.
7. Overmanipulating Your Hair
Over manipulation can be really damaging for your hair because the more you play about with it the more you increase your chances of having breakage. It’s a difficult habit to break but if you want some good growth its best to focus on low manipulation hairstyles.
8. Not Understanding Which Hair Products To Use
Finding the right hair products is important but you have to realise there is no product out there that is going to be a magic pill fo your hair. Your hair is very unique to you so it would be almost impossible to find a product that does exactly what your hair needs.
You should also try to avoid products that contain parabens and sulfates as much as you can. Products that contain these ingredients can be very harsh on hair and can, in fact, irritate your scalp.
9. Detangling On Dry Hair
Please don’t try to detangle your hair when dry. You will suffer from breakage if you do this.
When you dampen your hair first your hair has much more elasticity which makes detangling not only easier but also much less prone to breakage.
The best way to detangle is in the shower with conditioner on your hair.
If that is not possible then it’s better to dampen your hair with water using a spray bottle like this one first and then adding some type of leave-in conditioner or cream.
10. Using A Towel To Dry Your Hair
Towel drying your hair is a bad idea. I know we’ve all done it in the past but if you want your hair to flourish then you need to stop using a towel which takes moisture out of your hair.
It’s much better to use a microfibre towel such as this. It won’t take all the water out of your hair but it will take dry up the excess water.
11. Not Trimming Your Hair
This is a natural hair mistake that is quite common. Many people want to retain the length of their hair so they decide that if they trim it they are cutting away their growth.
In fact, the opposite is true. Trimming your hair is a really good way to keep your hair healthy and help it to grow.
Your hair will naturally get split ends and without trimming those split ends away they begin to travel up the strand and can make your hair look very unhealthy. No one wants that.
Trimming your hair is a very good way to keep split ends under control and maintain healthy hair.
If you are going to trim your hair please make sure you use professional scissors like these otherwise you will cause even more split ends on top of what you already have.
12. Thinking That All Hair Types Are The Same
There are vast differences in natural hair even if we are just looking at the hair typing system and not from person to person. If you don’t know or understand the hair typing system you can read about it here.
Different hair types require different things. For example, people with type 3 hair usually will need light oils and creams whereas those with a tighter curl pattern may need heavier oils and butters.
Even this rule is general because some people that fall into the 4c bracket could have thin hair making thick creams too heavy for them.
You have to realise that all hair types are different right down to the person.
Final Thoughts On Natural Hair Mistakes
We can all make mistakes when it comes to our natural hair. Hopefully, with the tips above tips, you can avoid a good amount of them and get on with finding out what really works for your hair.
What have been your worst natural hair mistakes?
