Who Defines How You Take Care of Your Natural Hair?

Should you decide for yourself or take advice from the pros?

I've seen some hair professionals suggesting that naturals shouldn't wash their natural hair any sooner than at least 10 days. However, the common wisdom followed by some naturals is that you wash your hair once a week.

For me, I wash when I feel like it. Sometimes that's once a week, sometimes longer, sometimes twice a week.

I know naturals who use and test product, after product, after product, each day; sometimes layering the products and even putting gel on top for curl definition. If their hair is in need of a wash before 10 days, I say do it.

curlytea March 26, 2013

Should you decide for yourself or take advice from the pros?

I’ve seen some hair professionals suggesting that naturals shouldn’t wash their natural hair any sooner than at least 10 days. However, the common wisdom followed by some naturals is that you wash your hair once a week.

For me, I wash when I feel like it. Sometimes that’s once a week, sometimes longer, sometimes twice a week.

If you need to get rid of layers of product before the 10 day period, then that’s what you need to do regardless of which professional stylist is telling you not to.

The very issue of letting stylists determine how you should care for your ‘natural’ hair can be worrisome as well.

Some naturals turn away from stylists because of their own experience with the stylist(s) who used to do their hair when it was relaxed. When my cousin wanted to go natural, she and her ex-stylist got into a shouting match because her stylist was outright hostile to the very idea of “nappy” hair.

Then there’s the problem that even some natural stylists want you to go natural THEIR way instead of you finding out for yourself how best to take care of your own hair.

I had a online client tell me she went to a natural hair stylist who kept trying to put braids in her hair until it grew longer. But that client didn’t want braids or fake-natural-hair extensions.

I suspect that a regular wash and twistout wouldn’t put as much money into that stylist’s pocket as natural extensions or braids.

So my point is that some people shy away from stylists because there’s an innate, vested interest for some stylists to convince you that you cannot take care of your own hair.

While that may be the case when it comes to color and cutting, the rest of the stuff you can handle at home if you know how.