My Winter Natural Hair Routine 2012

This winter I decided that I was going to try and avoid so many hats, last year I was not interested in trying any new natural hairstyles

I wore a Rastafarian hat and many knitted beanies.

This time I will do some pretty interesting protective looks that will show off my new growth.

One of my favorites is the braid out and I go into further detail later in this article, but basically I will use a leave-in conditioner.

As to keep the hair moisturized and then I put the hair in a variety of puffs, ponytails and updos.

My Favorite Natural Hair Products

I have found one vitamin E conditioner that I use on a daily basis and it works well it just starts to build-up so that I need to cleanse it with apple cider vinegar to remove all the product.

The main reason I like it so much is because it allows for me to do braid outs over night and the next morning all I have to do is add some tea tree oil or jojoba oil to my hair for shine, but the curl pattern is still showing.

After practicing for several months my hair stays in the same style through out the day which is nice, sometimes I do not need to re-braid the hair when this happens I just wear my satin bonnet and shake out the hair the next morning.

Water is great for natural hair and I believe more curly head girls should use water and not be afraid of it, the key is to let the hair dry fully and not to over saturate the strands.

Another thing is to avoid combing your hair, that is one thing that I learned when I kept losing my curl pattern, to keep the hair wavy its best to not comb the hair but instead use your fingers to separate the braids, twists or curls, even a wide tooth pick can work.

Retaining length and growing natural hair long will take some forethought when taking care of your curly hair. One of the first things you will notice is that curly hair stays dry and also due to the amount of shrinkage it has the appearance of not growing.

The truth is that tightly coiled kinky hair does grow and it grows pretty fast, the reason for the lack of length has much to do with the types of styling aids used and the hair products.

Other things include un-necessary breakage of the hair, so if your hair is dry and weak the constant damage will rid the hair of any length or new growth that you have achieved. So the cure to this situation is to make sure you wear protective hairstyles often.

This may mean that you will have to wear your hair up in a fro updo, twisted bun or in the many types of braids. Whatever you choose the key is to keep the ends safe from damage and breakage.

Keep the ends moisturized on a daily basis, with leave in conditioners, deep heat treatments and natural oils, also keep the hair clean and remember water is your friend.

The winter months is the best time to wear natural hair in protective hairstyles so that in the summer months you can rock all your favorite hairstyles, from the fro hawk to the fro updo.

So far one of the best ways for me to eliminate frizz and have a pretty cute curly defined natural hairstyle is when I utilize the braid-out method. Believe me braid outs will become your friend during the winter because you will not have time to wear wash and go's.

The wet rainy days will just cause a frizzy mayhem if you decide to use a co-wash or the conditioner method each morning. Save that for the summer time.

How I Style my Hair with Braids-outs

I usually put my hair into several plaits or braids at night, then I add a small amount of olive oil, a little goes a long way so do not put too much in your hand. Next I use a great moisturizing conditioner, same principle applies I only use a little dab for my ends.

Once I tightly put several big braids in my hair I cover my head with a satin bonnet before I go to sleep. In the morning it only takes about 20 minutes to get the look I want.

I unravel the braids until they are sectioned off and they will have their own natural wave pattern, then I take a hair barrette and place it in the front of my hair, using a liquid hair shine gel to smooth down the edges and that is it. Ready for the day.

As the day goes along the hair will become fuller and settle in, but it sure beats having to worry about how your hair will come out each day. After doing this consistently for a few months you will see that the curl pattern in your hair will be trained to be in this style.

How I style my natural hair with twists

Other little tricks is that you can turn the braid outs into twist outs, this time you want to take smaller sections of hair and it can be harder to achieve the look you want if your hair is too short, so try this on about cheek or chin length hair.

I pretty much use the same routine but I make the twists smaller and make sure the ends stay together by adding a moisturizing conditioner. I try this style on the weekends, then I add hair accessories to achieve a fashionable kinky curly hairstyle.

Mae shares that she has been going between twist outs and braid outs for the whole winter because they are great protective hairstyles that help with minimizing hair loss while promoting moisture in the hair.

Mae uses twist outs by creating box braids, how this is done is you can take small sections to make plaits but before you do this it is recommended to use a leave in conditioner with a natural essential oil base.

The key is to let the plaits dry over night, so the next morning you can unravel them and keep separating the twists to get the volume that you want.

Natural chica shares her love for Pure Body Naturals because the ingredients are natural and come from Brazil.

Then to maintain the style it is best to rebraid the hair at night with a light hair lotion, this will help with defining the curl pattern as you wear the style during the week.

Cleansing hair once a week is a good idea to remove product buildup, just make sure the shampoo is non drying and follow up with a deep moisturizing treatment.

Here are some of the products that she uses:

Natural Hair Cleansing Shampoo

• CURLS Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream
• Hair Rules Daily Cleansing Cream Moisturizing No Suds Shampoo

Natural Hair Conditioner Treatments

• CURLS Curl Ecstasy Hair Tea Conditioner
• TRESemmé Naturals Nourishing Moisture Conditioner ( I actually use this myself because the price is economical and the results are amazing)

Natural Hair Deep Conditioner

• Doris New York Deep Treatment Conditioner
• Heat Therapy Wrap or Huetiful Hair Steamer

Natural Hair Leave-in Conditioner and Styling Lotions

• Doris New York Leave-In Conditioner
• Pura Body Naturals Sapote Hair Lotion

Natural Hair Styling Creams

• Doris New York Olive Oil Cream
• Pura Body Naturals Cupuaçu Butter

During your natural hair journey you will find mentors and products that work best for your hair type, it just takes trial and error to find the right routine and regimen for your natural hairstyles