5 BACK TO SCHOOL HAIR HACKS

Hey guys!!

How are you all?? It’s been a while! In the last few weeks, I’ve graduated from university (thank God!) and I’ve done a bit of travelling to Sardinia (which was amazing! Apart from when we got caught in a wildfire. Super scary!!) and Mykonos (which has been on my bucket list for a while and was SO beautiful). There are some pictures on my Instagram if you want to have a look!

Well as I’m sure we all know, summer is coming to an end/has come to an end (for some of you!) and many of you will be heading back to school in the coming weeks. Well, in my experience, hair and school can be a stressful combination. And when you have to prioritise one over the other, the hair tends to suffer (which is fair enough – you can’t throw your school fees down the toilet because of a twist out!). Over the years, I came up with a few hacks to help me keep my hair healthy and strong whilst keeping up with my work!

Protective styles

This is probably the most obvious one but protective styling saved me a LOT of stress when it was time for school. A fresh set of box braids (or whatever else you like) can keep your hair out of your way and protected for weeks on end. You can even choose to do short term protective styles during the week and let your hair out during the weekends! That’s what I used to do – I would install twists or cornrows or buns at the start of the week and then let my hair out to breathe on Saturday and Sunday. HOWEVER, PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO MOISTURISE YOUR HAIR WHILE IT’S IN A PROTECTIVE STYLE. You want your hair to be longer and stronger when the style is taken out – not brittle and damaged.

Use heat while deep conditioning

Another massive timesaver! As anyone who reads this blog knows, deep conditioning is essential for healthy hair. Well you can take that deep conditioning a step further by deep conditioning with heat e.g. a steamer, a heat cap, a hair dryer (use the hair dryer on top of your shower cap) or simply wearing multiple layers on your head while you deep condition. The heat allows the deep conditioner to penetrate further into the strands, meaning that instead of deep conditioning for 45 minutes, you can get away with deep conditioning for 15 minutes. TIP: if you don’t have a steamer/heat cap and/or you’re majorly pushed for time, deep condition while you have a long, hot shower or bath. The steam from the shower/bath will act like a little steam treatment.

Learn to do your own hair

This may sound a bit weird but it’s helped me countless times. When you’re a student, you’re usually short on time and, more often than not, money. Learning to wash, steam, blow dry, trim and style my hair has been soooo valuable when it comes to saving time and money. The only thing I haven’t mastered is braiding my hair – I definitely do not have the patience for that! Now, when it comes to certain things like trimming, relaxing or dyeing your hair, I definitely recommend going to a trained hair stylist because these things can go wrong in 2.5 seconds. Every time I trim my own hair, I know I’m taking a huge gamble but, hey, why not live on the edge a little. Plus I don’t trust anyone with my hair more than I trust myself!

Put the DIY stuff on pause

Now I love a bit of DIY because I like experimenting and knowing what’s going on my hair but sometimes, nobody has time to sit there blending some avocado and whipping some eggs when you have a 4000 word essay due in 3 days and you’ve only written the title. Do a little research and find some GREAT store-bought products with great ingredients and use those. During uni, I only did the DIY stuff if I reallyyyy had time on my hands. Your hair is not gonna fall out because you used Shea Moisture instead of raw honey and aloe vera. Do the DIY stuff during the holidays!

Get the right hair tools

This one is for everyone of course but certain tools made my life so much easier in school because they either helped me get through wash day quicker, helped me moisturise my hair faster or helped dry my hair more easily. For me, these tools were:

1. A spray bottle – the fastest and easiest way to moisturise your hair in my opinion. A quick spritz before heading out the door makes all the difference.
2. Satin pillowcase – this stopped my hair looking like a dry, crusty birds nest every morning therefore saving me precious minutes of having to detangle and moisturise. I sell satin pillowcases so please drop me an email on natureslocks@gmail.com or DM me on social media if you’d like one!
3. An old cotton t shirt – obviously everyone has one of these but this will help you dry your hair much faster without making your hair frizzy and dry like regular towels do.

These are just a few hacks I came up with that have helped me maintain healthy hair while dealing with school. It is possible to keep your hair healthy and do well in school. You just need to come up with a few tips and tricks and you’re good to go! So good luck with school everyone! I hope this year brings you the best grades you can achieve! And don’t forget to take a breather sometimes! And if you have any other hair hacks, please share them down below!

Love,

Tara xXx