How to Build an Effective Natural Hair Regimen

What is a hair regimen?

Curly hair needs love and care. Simply put, a natural hair regimen is a routine (set by you!) to keep your hair healthy. A regimen provides structure, repetition, and consistency to the lifelong process of taking care of your hair. It will involve both products and processes that keep your hair healthy and happy.

Think of your hair regimen as a meal plan for your hair. You plan it out in advance to make sure it includes everything you need, you follow through, and then you repeat. Whether your hair regimen repeats on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis, establishing a regimen that works will be your key to natural hair that always looks and feels its best.

However, not every regimen is a good regimen.

In fact, if you establish a bad regimen, your regimen might lack important elements (or include harmful habits.) Imagine if you made a detailed meal plan for yourself and followed it to the letter… but you forgot to add vegetables, and you added ice cream on a daily basis. Sooner or later, your body wouldn’t feel very good. The same thing can happen to your hair if you adopt a poor hair regimen.

Don't worry- this is what we’re here for! Everyone’s regimen should look different and cater to their unique hair, but we have provided a list of things to avoid, and a guide on what to definitely include in your regimen.

What NOT to do with your hair regimen

• Don’t follow the regimen of someone just because their hair looks like yours. Their regimen might work for you, but odds are your hair has different needs based on porosity, thickness, density, your lifestyle, and other factors.
• Don’t stick to a routine that isn’t working. Don’t quit after one week (give it some time), but if it’s been 1 or 2 months and your regimen isn’t achieving the results you want, adjust it! You’ll need to experiment to get the best results.
• Don’t focus too much on finding the right products. Don’t get us wrong, there are a lot of bad products out there that will harm and dry out your hair. But it is more important to incorporate the right kind of products (rather than specific products or brands) into a consistent regimen. If your regimen isn't working, try adjusting the timing or the order of your regimen before you switch up the products.

The NECESSARY components of a hair regimen

No matter your hair type, curl pattern, porosity, or hair length, there are necessary components (products and processes) you need to keep your hair healthy. Within each of these components, you can pick the product, amount, frequency, and order that works for your hair.

CLEANSE

• Your hair needs to be clean and your scalp needs to breathe in order for healthy hair to grow.
• If you have curly or coily hair, use a gentle, sulfate-free shampoo, like this all-natural Hydrating Avocado Shampoo. (Avoid relying just on co-washing, because this won't adequately cleanse your scalp of product buildup.)
• Most Naturals wash their hair somewhere between once a week to once a month. You'll need to experiment to find out what frequency works for you. If this is your first time establishing a natural hair regimen, start with once a week and then experiment with longer intervals.
• How to tell if you should change your shampoo schedule:
• If your hair feels limp, dull, lifeless, greasy, dirty, or other products don’t seem to work anymore, you probably need to shampoo more often.
• If your hair feels dry, brittle, or frizzy, you might be shampooing too much. Try extending the time between washes.
• If you cleanse less often, go lighter with other products to avoid buildup. If you cleanse more often, be more diligent with moisturizers.
• Learn more about picking the right shampoo routine for your hair.

CONDITION

There are three main categories of conditioners, and all are important! The curlier and more dry your hair is, the more conditioner you should be using. Here’s the breakdown:

• Daily or rinse-out conditioner- a light conditioner that can be used on a daily basis and is meant to be washed out. It makes your hair easier to detangle, less prone to frizz, and hydrates hair. Use this anytime you get your hair wet (and use it during detangling if you detangling is tricky for you.) We recommend this Hydrating Avocado Conditioner, an all-natural alternative to other rinse out conditioners.
• Leave-in conditioner- use after washing your hair to replenish and maintain moisture in your hair. Apply a lightweight, water-based leave in conditioner to damp hair, after washing and before styling.
• Deep conditioner- an intensive moisturizing and nourishing treatment. You leave this conditioner in your hair for a certain amount of time and then rinse it out. While deep conditioners help with the same things as the other types of conditioner (detangling, softening, frizz, moisture), you should think of deep conditioner as a five-star meal for your hair. It provides not just moisture, but all the nutrients your hair needs to be really healthy. Deep condition once every two weeks with an Avocado Deep Conditioner for best results.

MOISTURIZE

• We talk a lot about moisture at NaturAll… because it’s so important! Moisture is the answer to so many problems: breakage, dryness, tangling, matting, even hair loss.
• Depending on the porosity of your hair, you may need moisture on a daily basis, or less frequently. Moisturize all parts of your hair, but focus on the ends.
• Moisturize at night (to protect your hair when you sleep, and to avoid your hair looking weighed down.)
• Methods to moisturize your hair: use steam (in the shower works great!), a moisturizer, a refresher spray, or the LOC or LCO method.
• Learn more tips on how to keep natural hair moisturized.

SEAL

• Moisturizing is futile if you don’t seal in the moisture!
• Every time you moisturize your hair, use a sealer or anti-humectant to keep your hair moisturized throughout the day.
• Experiment with different oils to see what your hair likes best. Some suggestions:
• For thicker or coarser hair, try Shea butter or Jamaican black castor oil.
• For finer hair, try jojoba oil, avocado oil, or olive oil.

DETANGLE

• Detangle often. This will reduce hair loss, matting, dryness, and breakage. The more often you do it, the easier it will be each time.
• Detangle carefully and gently to avoid damaging your hair. Use a wide tooth comb or finger detangle. 
• Finger detangling works if you have very fine or brittle hair, but do a full detangle with a comb from time to time. It’s easy to miss parts of hair with your fingers, which can develop tangles.
• Start from the ends, always pulling down, and then work your way up. This will reduce breakage.
• Detangle hair damp (not dry and not soaking wet; your hair is brittle and weak in either state.)
• If detangling is particularly difficult or painful, use a conditioner to add slip, or detangle while applying an Avocado Deep Conditioner.

STYLE & PROTECT

• This part is completely up to you and your hair! Learn the styles you like and can do well, but also practice some low manipulation styles like buns and twists to do on days when you’re tired or don’t have time.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment!
• Watch out for product buildup if you use a lot of styling products.
• Cover your hair with a bonnet at night, or sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase. Use hats and scarves to protect your hair from extreme weather!

CONSISTENCY

Your regimen won’t have results if you don’t stick to it! We have a few rules of thumb to make your regimen easier to stick to.

• Build a regimen that has a weekly or biweekly structure. Odds are, the rest of your life has a weekly rhythm to it. Use the natural routine of your life to your advantage, and work your hair regimen into it. Eventually, it will become habit and easier to remember.
• Keep it as simple as you can. This will keep you from getting discouraged or giving up on the process. Incorporate low maintenance styling and do as many elements as you can (ex: wash, deep condition, and detangle) on the same day.
• If you need to, set a calendar. If Wednesday is wash day, block that time off so you won’t schedule something else.
• Still struggling? Get an accountability buddy. This is just a good friend who can text you or ask you every two weeks, "hey, did you deep condition your hair?" You’ll be surprised how much this helps :)

DON'T FORGET!

• Use a protein treatment every 6-8 weeks, if you notice your hair feels limp or lifeless.
• Trim your hair every 3 months to retain length and avoid breakage.

Example Regimen

Having trouble keeping all of these guidelines straight? Here's an example hair regimen from Youtube influencer NaturallyPhilo!

"As an influencer, I constantly have to try new products to keep up to date with brands and my subscribers. Despite that, I do have a set regimen that helps me maintain healthy hair and sustain growth. The number one thing that has helped me is twists! Twisting my hair and leaving it alone on a weekly basis has been a big help. The way I see it, the less my hands are in my hair, the more length I retain. The following is my hair care regimen:

• I do a full wash day once a month (shampoo, conditioner, and deep conditioner.)
• I co-wash or deep condition biweekly.
• During the week, I rock twists with my natural hair. These twists are moisturized with a Shea butter mix and sealed with NaturAll's Jamaican Black Castor Oil Growth Serum.
• Whenever I twist my hair I detangle it with my fingers and a paddle brush. I also detangle my hair whenever I condition or co-wash it.
• 2-3 times a week I massage my scalp with NaturAll's Growth Serum for about 3-5 minutes.
• During the weekend, I unravel my twists and rock a twist out or an afro.
• Whenever I go to bed, I twist my hair up if it’s not in twists already and I put on a satin bonnet.
• If my hair is not in twists and I’m too tired to twist it at night, I put my hair up into a pineapple style and put my satin bonnet over it.
• I trim my hair every 3 months in its shrunken state to know exactly how much to cut to maintain a good shape."
• Learn more about my regimen here!