Atlanta Content Creator Inspiring [life] style

Friday, September 9, 2011

Keeping It Real: Natural Hair Care

You still have time to enter the End of Summer Makeup Giveaway!
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Hello Muses! Since my dear friend Cheryl is out of town for a few days, she asked me to contribute a guest blog post on something near and dear to my heart: natural hair.

The choice to wear your hair natural can be about lots of things, but for me, it was just about making my life simpler. I made a resolution a few years back to keep it real more often and decided to start with my hair.

natural-celebs
Like a lot of women with VERY curly hair, I’d straightened it with heat and chemicals for a long time; nine years to be exact. I can tell you, by the end of those nine years, my hair and I were both tired of all the blow drying, flat ironing, and endless trips to the salon. So I grew out/cut off the straight hair and started over.

Everyone’s hair texture is different and it may take a while to find things your hair likes, but here are a few of my favorite products and tools for taking care of my hair:

A wide-toothed comb. I’m not sure how many of you have ever broken a comb in your hair before, but it’s a shocking experience. To avoid this, you need a wide-toothed comb. Also, do yourself a favor and don’t try to get a comb through dry hair; it won’t go well. Basically, when your hair fights the comb, no one really wins.

Conditioner. I can’t stress this enough. When you have highly textured hair, you MUST use conditioner. A little trick I use between washes when my hair feels a little crunchy is to mix about 1:10 conditioner and water in a spray bottle and just spritz my head all over. Some of my favorite conditioners at the moment are ABBA conditioners and Herbal Essences Hello Hydration.

hair-productsExtra Moisturizers. As I said, everyone’s hair is different, but I find that my hair usually benefits from a leave-in cream. At the moment, I’m pretty in love with the Shea Moisture line of products, particularly the Coconut & Hibiscus Curl-Enhancing Smoothie and the Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Mask (which you can also use as a styling product). Best of all, you can get them at Target and Walgreens.

The Internet. I like to play with my hair and try new styles to change it up a bit. YouTube and the blogosphere are great for finding fellow naturalistas with tips and tricks. A few of my favorites are:

a. Naptural85 ~ I use her method for two-strand twists all the time.

b. Afrobella ~ She’s got a great sense of humor about her hair and is always trying out new products.

c. Nappturality ~ This is the first place I went when I decided to stop straightening my hair. The forums are endlessly useful.

ashlee-ladaun
(Cheryl's natural hair friends ~ Ladaun & Me)

This guest post was brought to you by Ashlee F. who is a natural hair enthusiast and museum studies grad student at George Washington University.
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24 comments

  1. My hair is natural, so naturally I adore these images. Excellent post on natural hair care.
    I just wash mine, leave it to dry naturally.xx

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  2. i wash myy hair at night and let it dry withouut blow drying it :) then the next morning usually my hair already looks nice and i onlyy have to brush it! but sometimes i just waant to wear my extensions haha :)

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  3. i love taking care of my hair, so i will definitely keep these in mind! :D

    <3, Mimi
    http://whatmimiwrites.blogspot.com/
    $25 Apothica Gift Card Giveaway :)

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  4. natural hair is always good, I thing Im going natural soon

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  5. I like to think that one day I'll go back to natural hair. It's definitely less work!

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  6. this is soo cool:)

    love,
    rosecandle11.blogspot.com

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  7. I love natural hair. :) My friend Brittany has hair similar to Solange and it is ridiculously fabulous. I'm jealous! Great guest post. xoxo

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  8. I keep wanting to perm this hair! it's so much of a hassle but I do need to try the water and conditior method! My hair gets crunchy quick! I tried twist outs, but my hair is still short and it never comes out right to me.

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  9. Love all the hairstyle - neat post!

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  10. i love corinne bailey rae more and more!!
    xo
    MosaMuse

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  11. Hay Cheryl
    Haha im so glad I met you, your very nice and gorgeous! OMG I am trully loving your blog,it has great post and your content is awesome! Glad you like the wristbands and I will be using your pic for fall fashion advice and such. Love to talk to you more, your great!
    theunique28.blogspot.com

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  12. I love the hair!! Especially Solange Knowles :) And I support the natural hair. I think hair deserves a break from heat and chemicals once in awhile

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  13. I greatly need to know how to take care of natural hair styles. It's one of my biggest issues. Thank you so much for the info. Gonna definitely take you up on the advice.

    http://wtfash.blogspot.com

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  14. Congratulations Cheryl! You're the winner of the Your Face Here Giveaway! Stop by Cafe Fashionista to find out how to claim your prize! :)

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  15. Thanks for your comment, great post!

    http://chicgeekblogger.blogspot.com/

    Please take a minute to look at my trunkshow;

    http://iouproject.com/tsh/jessica-karen/

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  16. I love natural hair, especially when it's well maintained. I actually had dreads for about a year when I lived in Atlanta.

    Solange is one of my favorite people in entertainment as is Janelle Monae. Their style is incredibly organic and genuine.

    Fab post dear!

    Diego
    www.howtozipyourfly.com

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  17. I really love seeing adorable little girls with their natural hair, esp little afros and braids. Love your looks ladies.

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  18. Good post. Really like the idea of having a natural hair care. The removalists Sydney dig that.

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  19. Liked your guest blog, Ashlee! Can't say my hair is too unruly, but I think we can all gain something from your advice. BTW, it just wasn't the same without you there a couple weekends ago!

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  20. @Anna, thanks for saying so. It's too bad I couldn't make it down, but I hope you all had some fun!

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  21. Great tips, tkz for sharing.
    I'm following you FB fan page and BlogLovin

    <3

    Lots of Love

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  22. Great tips and recommendations! Thank God for YouTube and natural hair blogs--there is so much natural hair content out there that the challenge has become weeding through it all to find what is truly useful advice and direction.
    Good post!

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  23. Awesome post....it was my pleasure choosing your link:)

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  24. If I had curly hair I'd totally let it go wild. Unfortunately my hair is as strait as piece of paper. Just getting some life into it requires a bit of work. Enjoy that curly hair! I wish I had it too!

    Heather

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♥ Thank you all for leaving your comments! ♥ Remember to find inspiration in everything! ♥

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