Tips for Moisturizing Dry Hair (Naptural85)
by Naptural85
How can I repair my dry hair? I can't get it to retain moisture!?"
I did a video on this specific topic, which I'll link below, but I also wanted to address it on my blog for anyone who might have missed the video.
Dry curly hair, especially dry African-American curly hair, is normal! Our hair is naturally curly, coarse and dry, it's just how it grows out of our heads. With straight hair, it's easy for the natural oils to travel down the hair shaft, keeping it moisturized. But with curly, coily hair, it's a lot harder for the oils to navigate, which causes the hair to remain dry, especially towards the ends. So don't assume that because your hair is dry, it's always an indication of how well you care for your hair, or signs of neglect. Most of the time it's just a characteristic of our hair! I can moisturize the heck out of my hair and still have it be dry by the end of the day.
Dry curly hair, especially dry African-American curly hair, is normal! Our hair is naturally curly, coarse and dry, it's just how it grows out of our heads. With straight hair, it's easy for the natural oils to travel down the hair shaft, keeping it moisturized. But with curly, coily hair, it's a lot harder for the oils to navigate, which causes the hair to remain dry, especially towards the ends. So don't assume that because your hair is dry, it's always an indication of how well you care for your hair, or signs of neglect. Most of the time it's just a characteristic of our hair! I can moisturize the heck out of my hair and still have it be dry by the end of the day.
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| My coily hair dries out more often, when worn in a "Wash and Go" state. In a twist out state, my natural coils are combed out and less-defined (hair is straighter) causing moisture to last longer. |
Personally, my hair is really thirsty and get's dry really fast. In order to keep my hair moisturized I do the following "regimen." I'm not perfect in doing the same thing every single month, but I always do some variation of the following:
Daily Moisture Treatments:
One of the most simple solutions to combating dry hair on a daily basis is to apply water on your hair day and night. In my experience, it's not enough to just apply products or oils to your dry hair, it needs water first. The water is the moisture, while the oils and products are what seals the moisture in.
I fill my spray bottle with two-thirds water and one-third aloe vera juice. Then give my hair a light spritz every morning and night, just enough to penetrate my strands, but not enough to make my hair soaking wet, so it doesn't ruin my style. I add the aloe vera juice because of it's amazing healing properties. It also helps to ease frizz and calms the ends of your hair.
After lightly spritzing with water, follow up with a bit of your favorite oil-based hair product to seal the moisture in. My favorite sealing product is my homemade shea butter cream.
This method works well on any style you're wearing: wash and go, twist out, bantu knot out, etc.. The only style you won't want to do this to is a silky, smooth flat- ironed style, as the water might revert your straight hair.
Weekly Moisture Treatments:
Once-per-week or once-every-two-weeks, a deep conditioning treatment is really helpful. Two of my favorite deep conditioning treatments are my Homemade Mayo Deep Conditioner and my Homemade Greek Yogurt Deep Conditioner, both uploaded to my Naptural85 Youtube Channel. They're both packed with protein, so they're extremely helpful in helping to strengthen your strands.
Give them a try if you're not protein sensitive! Otherwise, use any deep conditioner of your choice at least once per week in order to infuse moisture and beneficial minerals and vitamins to your hair.
After your deep conditioning treatment, while your hair is wet, be sure to seal in the moisture with your favorite oil-based hair product.
Anytime Moisture Treatments:
"Water Bagging"
If you're hanging around the house with nothing to do, why not condition your hair! A really quick way to infuse moisture into your hair without a lot of fuss, is to "water bag".
After your deep conditioning treatment, while your hair is wet, be sure to seal in the moisture with your favorite oil-based hair product.
Anytime Moisture Treatments:
"Water Bagging"
If you're hanging around the house with nothing to do, why not condition your hair! A really quick way to infuse moisture into your hair without a lot of fuss, is to "water bag".
Spritz your hair with water (and aloe vera juice if you like) and throw on a plastic cap! Keep it on for as long as you want. You can even sleep with it on if you want to! When you take the plastic cap off, your hair will be extremely soft, and the best part, there's nothing to wash out! Just follow up with your favorite oil-based hair product to seal the moisture in.
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| The same "Wash and Go" from the image above after one night of "Water Bagging". I slept in my plastic cap and woke up to plump, moisturized hair |
"Conditioning on The Go"
This is one of my favorite things to do, especially in the extreme cold of winter and extreme heat of summer. I uploaded a video of this to my Youtube Channel, but I'll also attach it here!
So that's basically all I do to retain the moisture in my hair. Again, my hair is naturally very dry, but these simple daily and weekly treatments really help me maintain the moisture. There's a lot of products out there that promise to help you retain your moisture, but for me, water, shea butter, and various oils has done wonders for the structure of my strands.
Again, not everyone's hair is the same, but I believe that water is the best moisturizer you can use. I think what makes the difference is the product that you use to seal the water in. If your hair has a looser curl pattern, you can get away with lighter products to seal the moisture in, like light oils. But if you have a tighter curl pattern, you'll want to stick to heavier creamier products, like butters (shea, mango, etc…) to really help the hair absorb the moisture.
So I hope this post helped guys! Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon!
XoXo Whit
Again, not everyone's hair is the same, but I believe that water is the best moisturizer you can use. I think what makes the difference is the product that you use to seal the water in. If your hair has a looser curl pattern, you can get away with lighter products to seal the moisture in, like light oils. But if you have a tighter curl pattern, you'll want to stick to heavier creamier products, like butters (shea, mango, etc…) to really help the hair absorb the moisture.
So I hope this post helped guys! Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon!
XoXo Whit
