My Natural Hair Care Regimen

Before I begin....

Disclaimer: Simply because these products work great for my hair does NOT mean they will work the same for your hair.  I'm just sharing what works for ME.  

Now that's out of the way, let's go....

I get questions all of the time about my natural hair regimen and what products I use on my hair, so here it is!  The products may change slightly if I am trying something new, but these are my holy grail items that work faithfully for me every.single.time!  Let me also state that I do follow the Curly Girl (CG) method and if you want more info about that method you can look here.

Once a week, usually on Sunday or Monday, I cowash my hair using a cowash conditioner or just regular conditioner.   My top products are As I Am Coconut Cowash, Eden BodyWorks Coconut Shea Cleansing Cowash, or Tresemme' Naturals Conditioner.  I separate my hair into four sections (2 in front, 2 in back), grab my wide tooth comb and jump in the shower.  The easiest way I have found to detangle my hair is to apply conditioner section by section and use my wide tooth comb to detangle while the water is running directly over that section.  I have found that the force of the water and the slip of the conditioner helps to melt the tangles.  I always do this step first whether I am using the conditioner to cowash or using a cleansing cowash product.  

After the conditioner and cowash have been rinsed I continue with my regular shower rituals (lol).  However when it is time for me to deep condition (DC), which I do every two weeks, I apply my  DC before I shower and put on a plastic cap to let it work it's magic.  About once a month or when needed I also give my hair a protein treatment using Aubrey Organics GPB Conditioner.  Because I do follow the CG method, I do not have product build up so I only use a sulfate-free shampoo when I need to which is probably once every 3 months.

Now after my hair is no longer dripping wet, but still damp I use the LOC method to moisturize my hair.  L- liquid, O- oil, C-cream (LOC) means applying your hair products in this order to get maximum moisture.  So, next I apply my leave in conditioner, Oyin Handmade Hair Dew (L), grapeseed oil (O), and Reve Hair & Body Butter (C) to my damp hair and let that dry a little.  I don't like styling my hair when it is completely dry, so I always keep a spray bottle of water handy in case my hair gets too dry along the way.  Although styling on wet/damp hair does increase the amount of shrinkage, it doesn't bother me.  My hair is just easier to style and manipulate before it is fully dry.

Now on to styling...
My hair is not very curly in it's natural state so I always braid or twist it while it is still damp  and take them down the next day to give my hair more texture.  This can take anywhere from 30 mins to more than a hour just depending on how defined I want my curls to be the next day.  If I want really big Tracee Ellis Ross type hair I usually do two strand flat twists or medium/large two strand twists that I separate once dry to make my hair really fluffy.  If I want really defined hair I do smallish twists so I don't have to separate them once I take them down.  The only two products I use to twist are Camille Rose Naturals Aloe Whipped Butter Gel (in the spring and summer) and Camille Rose Naturals Almond Jai Twisting Butter (in the fall and winter).  After trying a million and one (lol) products these are the only two that give me amazing definition and moisture for days.

I usually don't need to remoisturize again until Wednesday or Thursday, which I do by just scrunching in (to decrease frizz) a little more leave in conditioner and reve hair and body butter to seal.  My twist out or braid out usually last until Thursday without retwisting at night, just putting on my bonnet.  And usually on Friday and Saturday I just wear it in a puff and then do this routine all over again.

It took me about a year to finally find a complete regimen that works for my hair.  No matter how many people rant and rave about a particular product, you have to find what works for your hair.  If you are having a hard time finding what works I always advise to email companies to ask for samples or shop at Target, Sally Beauty Supply, Ulta, or any other store that allows you to return products that do no work well.  Any questions, you know the drill, post them below :).