Natural Hair is so hard to maintain!

Natural Hair is so hard to maintain! Why does natural hair take so much time to wash and style? 

Don’t want to read long form? Go to the very bottom for a summary. The longer version is worth it though…

If we had a Naira for every time someone said “natural hair is more difficult to maintain than relaxed hair”  we would be millionaires. If you think this is so, let’s look at it objectively.

Caring for relaxed hair

It has been a while since I last had relaxed hair (more than a decade now) but I do remember that to get a wash and set which was the standard, you had to 

1. Shampoo
2. Get a treatment (optional)
3. Deep Conditioner
4. Get rollers in
5. Get under a dryer for at least 30-45 minutes if the heat was aggressive, 
6. Style hair. 

And that was done pretty much every weekend - 4 times a month. If the wash and set was to be stretched, It meant I would do it  every other weekend - 2 times a month.  Naturally every day, the hair had to be combed and styled. 

Styling hair for relaxed hair can run the gamut from just combing out the roller set to doing a blow-out (which I loved to do) and that would involve a lot of manipulations for each section of hair with a hot hand-held hair dryer (yes, after being under a hair dryer) and a comb. Maintenance afterwards would involve wrapping hair at night and styling every morning. 

Of course, when the “undergrowth” (new growth of natural hair) would come in, we would have to get it “relaxed”. That was typically every 6-8 weeks. On those days, you would start with the relaxer, completely ignoring the 15 minutes on the instructions because the stylist wanted your hair to be well “done” a.k.a fried/processed to the very end of its limits. (Emmoticon) then wash your very tender scalp before going through the wash and set steps. 

There were also those who wanted to either have a new look or stretch the period between relaxers so they would get (sew-ins) weave-on or braids/twists/cornrows with attachment (added hair). These days, wigs are also an option. It may be worn over cornrows or glued in. Nevertheless the wig would also need washing, curling, styling, brushing and other grooming to stay looking good. 

Now with natural hair, what are the steps?

1. Prepoo (optional)
2. Detangle
3. Shampoo 
4. Deep Condition
5. Detangle
6. Apply Leave-in
7. Dry with heat (optional)
8. Style Hair

Caring for natural hair 

Natural hair styling can also be as easy as threading/twisting/braidiing/cornrowing hair while wet to doing a wash and go where very small sections are carefully finger styled with mousse. It can also be put into several other styles just like with natural hair.  Natural hair does not require daily combing. It is in fact, actively discouraged.

Even when you use wigs or a sew-in (weave-on), that extra hair has to be oiled and styled. It also has to be washed from time to time as well. Want to install braids? That can take from 3-8 hours at a salon depending on the size and style. Want to install false locs? That takes a lot longer and if you decide to recoup the time by wearing the style for weeks, you risk hair breakage because your hair will most likely get dry and brittle in that style. 

At the end of the day, ALL hair take time to take care of.  You just choose your hard and go with it. The reason why people think that natural hair is difficult to maintain may be because they are new to it. 

Another reason, back in the day and now, no matter what part of the world you are in, there are salons that are well trained and experienced in the care of relaxed hair. With natural hair, that easy outsourcing had to go out the window as most people have to care for their hair themselves, most times not out of choice. 

Now, I don’t want to minimise the fact that there is a learning curve if you are new to natural hair care or used to outsourcing it all the time by having someone else handle your hair. So, here’s what we will do. Let’s do a quick run down on what you need in order to reduce your time.

The number one thing that will take your time on wash day is detangling your hair. This is something I will go into in subsequent posts but to reduce the detangling time, here are the following tips. 

Tips for less tangled hair

1. If you wear your hair in a stretched state most of the time, your hair will tangle less. A stretched state is simply your twists, braids e.t.c. If you are wearing your hair in buns, it will tangle a lot more. 
2. If you wear a silk/satin scarf to bed, there will be less friction and less tangling. 
3. Start detangling from the time you loosen your hair from its stretched state. And you loosen your hair from say mini twists, put it in chunky twists in preparation for wash day. 
4. While washing, lightly detangle and then put back hair back in sections. 
5. Trim your hair from time to time if you notice weak ends and or lots of single knots strands. 
6. Use the right products when handling your hair. Skip all the DIY conditioners because they do not really condition the hair. You can use a hot oil treatment to prep (this is optional) and you can even skip Deep conditioner from time to time but make sure to use a leave-in conditioner every single time you wash your hair and in between wash days. Good quality conditioners soften your hair and provide lubrication so that the hair strands do not rub against one another. 

TLDR: Natural hair is not hard to maintain. Natural hair also does not take time more time than relaxed hair to maintain. There is a learning curve and you as an individual can choose how to make your hair wash day go long or short.