Curly Hair: The Care Routine

I have experimented with numerous techniques for caring for my very dense, tightly curled, and massive hair all of which have failed. But then I consulted God through prayer. After which He has led me to adapt a simpler method for caring for my hair, and it's been great and has proven tried and true! I would like to say that if you need to know ways of taking care of your hair, your best consultant is the Maker of your hair. He will not fail you with answers if you go to Him even about your hair. God speaks through various avenues; just be in tune with Him and you'll hear Him speak. God cares about every aspect of our being and our hair care as women is not exclusive. Pray about your hair. Ask God to teach you how to care for it. He taught me, and now I share :). Below, I will discuss in depth my current hair's washing, and styling routine. 

The wash...
I wash my hair within every 5-10 days. So on average I typically wash once every week. I try not to exceed these limits and by God's grace I am able to keep to it. Before I wash, I part my hair down the middle. I clip half out of my way, and begin to work with the other half. I apply warm water to this section until it is completely drenched. Then, I apply my shampoo to the roots of that portion after which I begin messaging with the pads of my fingers (not with finger nails) to get the scalp to be cleansed. I message for about 5 minutes. I apply just a little bit of water to get the shampoo to be evenly distributed in the hair and message some more. After another 5 minutes, I rinse the shampoo out thoroughly making sure that there is no shampoo residue. 

Next, sometimes I apply some coconut oil to that section. But I don't always do that; however it is a good way to further soften the hair before combing. To achieve an easier tangle-free hair, I part a portion of the front of that section, clip the rest away, and apply conditioner. I begin to comb from tips of the hair to the roots slowly and carefully. After combing, I two-strand twist that section to keep it out of the way and from being re-tangled. I follow the same method for the entire section of hair. Basically when this half of my hair is combed through I will have a total of about 4-6 individual twists. Then I move on to the half of hair that has been clipped away up until now; I repeat this process on that half until my whole head is fully washed, conditioned, detangled and two-strand twisted. When all of my hair is washed and conditioned, I rinse out the conditioner with the twists still intact (at times I may unravel the twists when rinsing to allow the water to flow through, but I immediately re-twist to keep it from tangling again!)

Here, the twists have been freshly washed, and allowing them to dry. These twists were done with plain coconut oil.

The styling...
So, a few minutes after the rinsing the conditioner I apply coconut oil to the roots, edges, nape, and on the hair shaft for locking in the moisture (water=moisture) and for added sheen. At this point, I have about 10-12 twists on my head. These 10 twists gets further divided into two(2) each resulting in 20 twists in all. So by the time I am finished, I would have about 20-24 smaller twists. I know it sounds a bit like a lot of work, but it actually isn't. It's quite a simple technique, and it works great for my hair! It takes a total of about an hour and forty-five minutes for the entire washing and twisting process to be completed. I will stress that after I comb my hair during detangling I no longer comb my hair until the next time that I wash. For the most part I use Carol's Daughter Hair milk or Palmer's coconut oil Formula to do the twists.

Style for the week...
So now I have 20-24 twists in my hair. I sometimes pin the twists, or lightly braid it into a simple style, or wear it in a banana clip horizontally to help it to dry. I wear the twists for an average of 2 days. I unravel and once again clip it horizontally with a banana clip for another style which could be worn for an additional 3 days. As seen below!

Here is a set of twists that have been lightly braided and pined into a style.

Extra style...
If the style above gets worn out, I separate the curls formulated from the twists, moisturize the edges and nape with some water, followed by castor oil, or hair milk or little coconut oil and do a bun (as seen below); I wear that for another day or two and then we're back to the wash process - it's a repeated cycle! :)

All in all, I am able to achieve on average 3 different styles with my hair in one week with very little effort, and little time.

 Products and gadgets often used:
Shampoo and Conditioner: Suave Professionals Almond and Shea Butter
Oil: Coconut Oil
Styler: Carol's Daughter Hair milk
De-tangler: Wide-tooth comb 
Styling comb (for parting): Rat tail comb
Styling tool: Banana clip

I do not trim, I do not color, I do not flat iron, and I do not blow-dry my hair (in fact I don't own a blow drier) . I also do not use hair accessories to decorate my hair.

Simplicity is God's standard and has proven to be satisfying, and a blessing to me even in the care of my hair. Simplicity is my approach to every area of my life inspired by Jesus' personality :)

We have different kinds and textures of hair and it is only the Maker that can prescribe the best methods and techniques for caring for our individual hairs. I pray this post is helpful even as you seek God on your own for methods to taking care of your hair.

For the individual who requested this post, I pray that this is a blessing to you. I pray that it has answered any questions you might have had :)

God bless,
-Charity