By Jc of The Natural Haven Bloom
One of my friends recently decided to become serious about her hair health. Her goals are to increase the fullness of her hair by minimising breakage and increase her length retention. She diligently did her reading up on the internet and came to me with questions about moisture. I realized on speaking to her that moisture can be a complete red herring for some naturals. There is the perception on natural sites that eliminating dry hair is the path to full and long healthy hair. I think that this is only a partial truth, there are certain aspects of handling natural hair where moisture has no role. This is my breakdown of what moisture can and cannot do.
1. Moisture will not help your hair to grow
This is perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about moisture. The level of water in your hair has no influence on hair growth. The growth rate of your hair is determined genetically and can be influenced by diet. In general even a poor diet will still allow your hair to grow at a normal rate, it is usually in starvation or deprivation of protein when your hair will slow down, stop growing or fall out. Having moisturised hair will not help your hair to grow faster.
2. Moisture can play a role in helping retain growth
The real role of moisture is in mitigating damage to hair during handling. This has a valuable role in ensuring that hair growth can be retained as less damage to the strand means that the hair can continue to be present for more years.
Handling hair is not restricted to just washing and combing, it is also crucial when styling both free hair and hair in a protective style (e.g braids and twists). A little bit of water helps to make hair more flexible allowing it to be manipulated without breaking. Dry hair will tend to snap easily even with gentle force, therefore moisture is important even in a protective style.
3. Moisture can help your hair look and feel better
I do not really need to explain this point too much. The look and feel of moisturised hair is much nicer than very dry hair which has a tendency to look dull and brittle.
4. You cannot eliminate dry hair
If your hair is naturally dry, it will always be dry because added moisture is temporary. For some naturals, hair can be dry as a result of using certain products e.g a drying shampoo and eliminating that product is able to restore moisture. However, the vast majority of people with natural hair, will tend to have naturally dry hair. The reason why the term moisture routine exists is because adding water to hair and keeping it around and in the shaft with oils and moisturisers is a task that has to be repeated several times as hair switches from its moisturised state to its default dry state. The only way to influence the level of water trapped inside your hair or on its surface without physically adding water to it is to change the external environment – i.e high humidity = moisture heaven.
5. Moisture and shrinkage go hand in hand
If your goal is to showcase as much length as possible or if you are aiming to stretch your hair, you have to bear in mind that added moisture brings in shrinkage. Some styles require that you use less moisture for example if you are maintaining a heat straightened style or some naturals who wear twists as a protective style, may find it easier to maintain the style for longer and reduce meshing/ matting by reducing shrinkage due to frequent water addition.
6. Moisture routines vary
There is no set formula for maintaining moisturised hair. There is no rule book that you have to apply water, oil or a moisturiser every day or every other day. For some naturals, it is sufficient to shampoo, condition and apply a leave in once a week. For other naturals, it is a routine involving misting hair once or twice a day and using an oil or butter to help maintain the moisture for longer. For others it is a rotation between shampooing and conditioner washing. In other words, a moisture routine has to be individual and you have to experiment to find the products, washing and moisturising routines as well as frequency that work best for your hair.
Ladies, do these 6 facts ring true for you? How does moisture play a role in your regimen?
It plays a big role. I have just learned that after 8 years of being natural. This is the first time I am acutally trying to grow it out know so I have to keep it moisturized. I ususally use water and then shae butter to seal the moisture in.
I used to be obsessed with my hair — literally. I added moisture (with water and a leave in) every other day, washed and twisted every Sunday, etc.
Now that it has reached a certain length, I’ve begun to slack off. And, my main method of slackery is to not moisturize it. I’ve gone the last 2-3 months without doing my added-moisture+leave-in routine. And, my hair has definitely suffered. It’s crunchier, drier, duller, and any other -er you can think of.
This week, I got back on the wagon and started adding water to my hair and then sealing with my moisturizer!! And, it did a world of wonder!! It definitely made it look & feel better.
This article couldn’t have come more on time. I happened to find it as I was rubbing coconut oil between my yarn braids. For the moment my moisture routine is spray with a water/condish mist, moisturize w/ coconut oil and alternating sealing with castor oil and aloe vera gel.
When not in yarn braids, it gets much more complicated lol.
Moisture has played a big part in length retention for my hair. I stopped using shampoo and I spray water on my hair and seal with oil or shea butter everyday. I usually wear my hair in twists and twistouts. Also, my hair is much shiner since I gave up shampoo. My hair also blows in the wind now and isn’t so stiff :)
I think the points made are very true, I’ve accepted that my hair is naturally dry and will never look glossy and shiny like in the magazines. When I used to “water” my hair everyday it was not happy and the shrinkage was awful I found it very difficult to style my hair.
So, I used to be mad on moisturising my hair but now I just let it do it’s own thing. I usually find that if when I wash it I give it a good deep condition then I don’t need to moisurise it until the third day. So I wash on Monday I moisturise on Wednesday then Friday and on Sunday will apply my coconut oil prepoo. I always moisturise at night my hair seems to like it better.
I also find if I don’t manipulate my hair too much, leave it in protective styles and sleep with a charmeuse scarf I don’t have to moisturise it too much.
I usually spritz with a herbal hair tea then apply a little of my Kimmay Leave in conditioner at night, plait/twists and scarf and that keeps me going. I’ve also made a body cream and after I moisturise my body I’ll smooth anything left on my hands onto my hair especially those pesky dry edges.
I don’t know if my drinking 2 litres of water a day has anything to do with not having to moisturise my hair everyday anymore.
When I first started to properly look after my hair I’d drench my poor hair in homemade oil concoctions it was so nasty, glad I’ve discovered how to Keep It Simple.
I don’t baggy or do any of the other extra methods suggested on black hair websites.
Everything in this post rings true for my hair.
I wash and style my hair every 5-7 days so I moisturize about once every 5-7 days. I always moisturize before I transition my hair style from a braid-out to a puff or bun.
For me moisturizing it using a water-based, oil/butter-rich cream on damp hair (Example: Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque). With that said, no amount of spritz, moisturizer and/or oil/butter will revive my hair if it is in need of a wash. Washing and conditioning on a regular basis is the foundation of my hair’s moisture.
I also find that keeping my hair well-moisturized and handling it gently keep breakage at a minimum.
All of the research I’ve done, including consulting a nutritionist, disagrees with this post. My experience with my own hair does as well.
Any tips for European hair, limp and thinning
My hair is naturally very dry & extremely tight coiled like the spring In ball point pens. I have to wash at least every 7 days as my hair is very porous, more if I exercise a lot in the week. During the week I’ve now realised a water spritz & castor oil application before re twisting works to replace moisture & curl. Miss Jessie’s Buttercreme works best to retain moisture but I’d need a tub a month if use twice a week minimum. Whereas my friend has stopped washing her hair and it remains soft without oils, etc.
When I use oil and water as moisturiser, my hair looks amazing but I get shrinkage. When I use oil straight-up (either coconut, or olive, or brand-names like ‘Africa’s Best’ and the like) my curl pattern loosens up like nobody’s business, you wouldn’t believe it’s the same hair…I don’t believe that it’s MY hair!!!! My hair still looks amazing BUT plain oil tends to be sweated out faster and the amazing results are usually short-lived.
Water is definitely your hairs best friend, despite contrary belief. Love this article about moisturizing hair too: http://www.exoticallure.com/black-hair-tips/Moisturize-Hair-for-Fast-Black-Hair-Growth.htm