CARING FOR NATURAL HAIR WHEN YOU’RE SHORT ON TIME

Hi guys!
Hope you’ve all had a fabulous week!
I wanted to make this post about caring for natural hair when you’re short on time. Everyone has stuff to do these days and we all know how time-consuming natural hair can be. Juggling uni, my job, a social life and all the other stuff life throws my way, I sometimes struggle to make my hair look presentable (LOL seriously, sometimes it’s embarrassing. I actually pray I don’t see anyone I know when I go out with my hair looking A HOT MESS). And, despite loving our hair, we cannot allow our hair to rule our lives soooo here are some tips that may help you quicken wash day/styling etc!

• Try to keep your hair stretched (e.g. braid outs, twist outs, bantu knots, blowouts *with caution* etc) – if your hair is in a stretched style, this will most likely reduce tangling so this will obviously cut down on the time it takes to detangle on wash day
• Try detangling under running water – when I’m in a rush and I need to wash my hair, I saturate my hair with conditioner in the shower (as usual) but instead of detangling normally, I detangle my hair under the running water of the shower. Something about the water pressure essentially ‘pushes’ the tangles out (for the super environmentally conscious ladies out there, this may not be for you but desperate times, friends!)
• Deep condition on the go – wet your hair, apply your DC, put on a plastic cap/plastic bag and wear a beanie or wrap your hair in a scarf (I usually tend to do this if I have to run out to grab some stuff or when I go to the gym). This is great for those ladies who just don’t have the time to sit around waiting for the DC to work its magic.
• Diffuse your hair – this one is hit or miss for some people because it does involve heat (but you can do it so the heat is minimal). After you wash your hair, try drying your hair with a hair dryer using the diffuser attachment instead of waiting for your hair to dry. This will help spread the heat evenly across your hair and will prevent your curls/kinks from getting crushed or flattened. This also helps with adding volume to your hair. Anddd if you’re somewhere cold, you definitely don’t want to be walking around with wet hair.
• Protective styling – this is an obvious one lol. If you do a protective style, you won’t have to do your hair as often and your hair will grow (remember to moisturise and seal though).
• Steam your hair while deep conditioning – steaming your hair adds moisture and combined with a DC, you may be able to cut the deep conditioning time to about 15-20 minutes. Steaming your hair has numerous benefits (another post to come).
• Create a good nighttime routine – this may seem like a weird one but if your nighttime hair care routine is good, you’ll avoid a lot of problems. Just spend 5-10 minutes every night making sure you’ve got your satin pillowcase/bonnet/scarf on and that your hair is moisturised. If you don’t, your hair may become dry and brittle, meaning you have to spend longer moisturising/deep conditioning your hair. Also, protecting your hair at night will cut down on your morning routine.

One of my favourite protective styles (two cornrows)

An example of a stretched style (braid out)