Fall is here, and it’s finally getting colder! What does that mean for us 4c girls? The goal for this season should be to find ways to keep your hair hydrated and moisturized because the cold air and wind will dehydrate your hair quickly! I want to share my best tips to help keep type 4 hair, and natural hair in general, healthy during the colder months.
- Stay on top of hydrating & moisturizing your hair
If your hair is low porosity, look for leave-in conditioners with film-forming humectants that help draw moisture to your hair and lock the moisture around the strand. Try lighter, creamier products like SuperCurl that moisturize your hair as well as lubricate your strands to reduce breakage. You can still seal your hair with thick butters especially if your stands are coarse and thick, they help with strand elasticity. If your hair is high porosity, it will love thicker butters and leave-in conditioners. Extra Butter is an excellent choice. Also, try moisturizing products that contain a little bit of protein because it helps keep your strands strong. Regardless of your hair porosity, don’t let your hair get severely dehydrated before you re-moisturize. Invest in a good spray leave-in conditioner like Thirsty Curls or Midnite Train that you can use to maintain your hair’s moisture levels.
- Deep conditioning
This is super important. Treat your hair to your favorite deep conditioner weekly or biweekly so moisture can deeply penetrate it. Good ones also contain plant extracts, butters and fatty alcohols that moisturize your hair and help with strand elasticity. Heal & Renew is my personal fave! It’s also amazing for your scalp. If you have low porosity hair, apply your deep conditioner immediately after shampooing. Since your cuticles are still open, more of the deep conditioner ingredients can penetrate your strands. If you have high porosity hair, in addition to moisturizing deep conditioners, you also want to add monthly protein treatments to your routine for stronger hair.
- No heat except for steam
Excess direct heat can damage and dry out your hair, especially if it’s already very porous. If you can’t do without flat ironing, use a heat protectant spray and thoroughly deep condition your hair before flat ironing. Steam however, is good, especially for low porosity hair. The heat from steam opens up your cuticles and the water vapour molecules easily get into your strands to hydrate your hair. Regular steam treatments will help your hair, you can also steam your hair while applying your deep conditioner, it allows for better product absorption.
- Protective styles
These keep moisture in your hair longer. Also, your ends which are usually the most porous parts of your hair are sealed and protected. There is less hair manipulation, hence less friction on your strands that can lead to breakage and split ends. Don’t neglect your hair while it’s in a protective style, keep remoisturizing if need be. My favorite protective style is twists.
- Cover your hair when necessary
Protect your hair from the harsh cold weather with scarves and hats to reduce the rate of dehydration especially if you have high porosity hair. Unfortunately, most hats and scarves are made with fabrics and materials that can suck moisture from our hair or cause snagging so look for satin or silk lined hats and scarves. Those are much safer!
I hope these tips will be helpful as it gets colder, you can check out my Instagram or Youtube channel for specific moisturizing and hydrating tips for both low and high porosity hair.
xoxo
Aboyowa @westafricanbaby
