Caring for natural hair is an art form. Natural hair can be complicated and not complicated all at the same time. If you know what your hair likes and doesn’t like and you know what you are doing you shouldn’t have too many problems.
If on the other hand, you don’t know how to care for your curly hair then you could run into a few problems along the course of your natural hair journey.
Knowing why and how to section your hair is one of those things. Today I’m going to give you the rundown on sectioning your hair and the best way to do this for your particular curl pattern and hair type.
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How To Section Natural Hair
When going to section your natural hair there is one thing I like to do and that is to start on freshly washed hair where possible. Freshly washed hair always seems to behave that much better because there are no products to weigh it down and make it behave funny.
You can still section your hair while dry hair but the chances are that you will be prone to more hair breakage along the way.
You will also need some tools to help you along the way.
Comb
You can use a wide tooth comb but personally, for me, I feel that you can’t get the lines as precise as if you were to use a rattail comb like this one.
A rattail comb is small so your lines are likely to be a lot cleaner and sharper.
We must also respect the fact that some people don’t like to be as clear with their lines and prefer to just finger part and that is ok too. It just comes down to personal preference in the end.
Spray Bottle
Water spray bottles are a necessity if you have natural hair because our natural hair needs water to live and thrive just like a plant. Lightly spritzing your hair with water will help to keep your hair moisturised and cause fewer tangles and breakage before you begin to section. Wet hair or damp hair is always a win with coily hair.
Related post: How to avoid natural hair breakage
Leave in Conditioner
Another essential item is a good leave-in conditioner. A leave-in conditioner will help to keep your hair feeling soft, and add a little bit of slip making it easier to deal with detangling if you need to.
It will also help to lock in the moisture that you have already received from having sprayed your hair with water.
Once you have the necessary tools and the right products you can now begin to section your hair. The right styling products will make a difference to your hair.
Some people like to start with a wide-toothed comb depending on their hair type. Hair types can affect how dense your hair is and how easy or difficult it will be to part. You can use the method of starting with a wide-tooth comb and then use a rattail comb afterwards to make the lines cleaner.
If you want to do a parting in the middle of your hair start by lining the comb up in the middle of your forehead aligned with your nose. This is the best way to make sure that your parting will be directly in the middle of your head and not off-centre.
Once you have done that line, feel free to go over it a few times for the best results to make sure that your lines are crispy clean if that’s the way you like it.
Why Sectioning Natural Hair is Important
Sectioning your natural hair is important because it makes your hair more manageable. Natural curls tend to wrap around each other very easily sometimes making it difficult to manage. This is especially true if you have very tight curls.
By sectioning your hair it makes it easier to work with and less likely to get tangled and therefore lead to breakage.
Sectioning is also great for wash day too. You might even find that washing your hair in sections serves you better than trying to do your whole head all at once.
Your Curl Pattern and Sections
I always say knowing your curl pattern is a great starting point in getting to understand your hair. Although curl pattern cannot tell you everything that you need to know about your hair it will give you the basics.
A looser curl pattern will likely be able to get away with much larger sections of hair whilst a tighter curl pattern (ie 4c hair) and curl definition will benefit from smaller sections of hair.
Your hair length can also play a part too. If you have short hair and you want to put it into bunches then you will need small sections for it to work.
Benefits of Sectioning Natural Hair
We’ve already touched on some of the benefits of sectioning your hair but let’s just be a little clearer on some of the benefits.
- It makes curly hair easier to manage
- Less tangling of the strands of hair
- Easier to wash your hair making sure all sections of hair are well covered and washed thoroughly
- Moisturising becomes easier as you don’t have to struggle to make sure all the stands are moisturised
- Saves time when styling
- It’s the fastest way to wash your hair
Washing Your Hair in Sections
One of my most favourite things about having my hair in sections is that wash day is so much faster. Wash day is never my favourite thing but I know once my hair is in sections I’m going to wash my hair a lot faster and it will be done properly because I’m doing it in smaller sections.
It even makes sense when applying a deep conditioner too.
Final Thoughts on How to Section Natural Hair
Learning how to section your hair is a game changer. All the options of hair styling are now available to you. You can do a really great protective style and keep your hair in good condition. Remember the key to growing natural hair is to keep it healthy and stop it from breaking.
I know you can do it!
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9 Tips to help reduce breakage and shedding
The perfect hair washing routine in 8 steps
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