My Natural Hair Essentials + Routine

I transitioned to natural 4 years ago, and after chopping my hair off, I had two main thoughts. One: oh my God I can’t believe I did that! And two: … well what now!? Well, I’ve figured out the “what now!?” and I’ve finally come up with a routine and I’ve found the products that work really well for my hair.

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First essential: coconut oil! Coconut oil is so amazing and is praised for being so versatile for hundreds of uses. I love to cook with it, and also to treat my hair! I love using any coconut oil you can get from literally any shop, but I also decided to try out The Body Shop's Pre-Shampoo Hair Oil. I firstly divide my hair in sections and spray each section with water and douse it in coconut oil. I love the Body Shop's product because it really gets my hair soft and ready for shampooing.

The next essentials are used in the shower. I rinse out the coconut oil after using it to finger detangle and leaving it in for a minimum of 45 minutes and follow up with The Body Shop's Ginger Anti-dandruff Shampoo, which is cruelty free! How amazing is that!? I always like to switch up my shampoo for some reason; I just finished up Motion's Neutralising Shampoo and now I've fallen in love with The Body Shop's one! I love the smell of ginger and it leaves my hair clean and smelling delicious!

Next, I follow up with Shea Moisture's Restorative Conditioner, where I finger detangle further. After I rinse it out, I sometimes use Shea Moisture's Deep Treatment Masque if I feel like my hair needs it.  Shea Moisture's products are also cruelty free, which is also another bonus and they all smell delicious and fresh! I leave this in for however long I need to; sometimes I leave it in for 10 minutes, sometimes for an hour! It just depends when I feel like washing it out again.

Next are the products out of the shower. I spray in some heat protecting spray then follow up with African Pride's Leave-in Conditioner and I use a hair drier with the comb attachment. When my hair is dry, I'm done! If it's a regular day where I'm not going out anywhere special, I just leave my hair as is. But, if I want to smooth back my edge, then I use edge control. The one I'm using recently is Aunt Jackie's Tame My Edges Smoothing Gel.

And that's it! This routine is especially important to me now it's cold because my hair really needs some extra care which I give with all that coconut oil and deep conditioner. Natural hair can seem like a hassle to take care of, but the right products can get you back to enjoying your natural hair journey!