African-American Hair Care is often considered too confusing and time-consuming which, I’m afraid, caused many women to forget their gorgeous locks and experiment with procedures that make hair more manageable. However, once you have a child whose hair you need to style or simply decide to go natural, you might get a bit frustrated because you don’t know how to care for your African-American hair. Don’t worry – it’s a «live and learn» thing! You will get used to it and, in order to help you do that, I’ve made a collection of some of the most important rules of ethnic hair care:

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1. Brush with Care

Regardless of how strong and luscious it looks, African-American hair needs a delicate touch to stay beautiful and grow long. It tangles and breaks very easily which means that you absolutely must take very good care of how you brush it. The solution? Wide toothed comb – a very effective tool that will help you remove tangles and style your gorgeous mane without breakage and unnecessary pain! And remember, African-American hair care is not something you do in a hurry so take your time and give your hair all the attention it needs.

2. Moisturize

Ethnic hair care routine needs to involve a lot of good moisturizing products such as leave in conditioners, deep conditioners, pomades and natural oils which you’ll apply pretty much as frequent as possible. African-American hair has raised cuticles which makes it very vulnerable and unable to retain moisture naturally. In order to overcompensate for that, you’ll need to «feed» it with as much as good quality ingredients you can and your hair will repay you by looking good, being healthy, strong and able to grow without breaking off.

3. Experiment with Protective Styles

Different types of braids, knots and twists will help you protect your hair from knotting, tangling and breaking off in a very stylish way! I personally love these super-creative styles and find the fact that each one of them results in different types of curls or waves very fascinating!

4. Don’t Shampoo Too Often

Due to the flat, ribbon-like shape of strands, African-American hair loses moisture very fast and over-shampooing might damage it more than you think. That’s why your African-American hair care routine needs involve mild nurturing shampoos which you’ll use once a week instead of everyday. In case washing your hair every day is a must, do your best to use very little shampoo or, if possible, no shampoo at all.

Embrace your individuality and transform your look by trying out a unique shade. Did you know that green hair is associated with nature, creativity, and growth? So go ahead, experiment with this bold hair color to represent a new phase in your life, waiting to blossom like a fresh spring leaf.

5. Sleep with a Nightcap

Silk or satin – a night cap is an absolute must! This is not one of those strictly ethnic hair care tips but something I often suggest to all girls who are suffering from dry, frizzy hair that breaks and tangles easily. Why? Because it will help protect your hair while you toss and tumble in your sleep allowing you to have a nice, easily manageable, not to mention healthier, hairstyle upon waking up!

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6. Massage

Now here’s one interesting tip on ethnic hair care that you might want to remember – some say that massaging your scalp every day forces it to produce more oil! Now, what we all know for sure is that massage does help increase the circulation of blood inside the scalp making the hair not only healthy but able to grow faster and longer so you might want to give it a shot anyways.

7. Use Products Made for African-American Hair Care

Products that do such a good job for Caucasian hair might and probably will prove to be useless for your hair. But, hey… that’s just normal and works both ways! So, instead of just picking up any shampoo or conditioner for dry, curly hair, invest your money in products that are specially formulated for ethnic hair care and will be able to give you great results.

What are your African-American hair care musts and how skilled in ethnic hair care are you?

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Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge

I agree with Natasha. Some of these products can be quite horrendous for black hair. Go as pure possible...i.e. Shampoos, oils ect

I agree with Natasha on the last recommendation. Ethic hair products doesn't not mean that they are good for your hair. It better for your hair needs. I find I more search natural brands rather than "ethnic" brand and I find a lot of black girls and women tend to go that root. Ethnic products is just a selling ploy no actual difference from other brands. So that advice is case of assumption rather than knowledge of hair. As for massaging it is good for all hair types so it would have been better as general advice rather saying that it is black hair must. I don't think the writer should feel offended on that last statement when individuals disagree I find it to be a popular assumption for people who don't know better and don't realize that they are categorizing black hair narrow box, just like the old myth that all ethic hair is course and thick. Very not true.

I would have to disagree with last point of buying products just made for African American Hair. I speak from experience that you should just use products that work for your hair and listen to what your hair tells you. People tend to believe that people of a certain race have the same type of hair which is a misconception. Everyone's one hair is different regardless of race and products work differently for everyone. A lot of products that try to target race tend to be contain a lot of harmful chemicals for the hair such as parabans and glycols. I would recommend always to read the ingredients of any product that you use on your head because it can be both harmful for your hair and your health. Personally, I have experienced headaches and toxicity from using certain shampoos and conditioners that are targeted for people with curly hair. I would suggest, find what works for you and don't listen to anyone's hype about what works for your hair, because your hair is going to be unique to you and no one knows your hair better than you do.

Thanks!! I am African-American and I appreciate this article as well as those about essential oils and hair growth! Good stuff! Z

Great article! It reinforces most of the things my mom taught me about taking care of my hair. My three favorite product lines are KeraCare, Aphogree and Influance! Check them out! If you wear your hair relaxed like me, another good tip is to be careful about overprocessing your hair. African American hair is very delicate and needs love. I go atleast 8 weeks between relaxers and I make sure to give myself a protein treatment (Aphogree) 2 weeks before and after my relaxer. Also I get a roller or flexi set every week, it keeps my hair moist and I don't have to use the blow dryer and flat iron everyday.