Greetings Daizies,
Fall season is on it’s horizon and with that comes the problematic split ends and chronic dryness that can come upon us all with natural hair. It’s time to take moisturizing to the next level as we prepare for those cold times. Here’s how to make sure you don’t slack off this season and pay for it later.
Keep it Simple
The best thing to do is keep it nice and simple. There are 2 popular methods for daily moisturizing. The LOC method and the LCO method. LOC stands for liquid, oil, cream/butter and LCO, a different order, liquid, oil, cream/butter. I’ve used all sorts of order combinations and for my hair I can’t say I’ve found a difference. I recently used OLC and I don’t think that’s even a thing lol but I typically use the LCO method because oil seals the moisture in my hair more effectively. The first step of coating the hair with a water-based leave-in conditioner or plain old water to simply hydrate the hair. Then the next step of oil or a cream is to seal that moisture. The last step is to close the cuticle with the oil or cream.
For the SIMPLE part, choose your 3 products to hydrate, seal, and coat your hair. Have these 3 products in an easy to find place to eliminate the struggle of figuring out what you’ll us each day. Ideas for your LOC or LCO method.
Liquid:
- Put water in a spray bottle and spritz hair
- Leave-In Conditioners
- Hair milk or hair lotion
- Hair pudding
Cream/Butter:
- Shea Butter
- If water was used as the liquid, leave-in can also be used as the cream
Oil:
- Jamaican Black Castor Oil 8 oz – Glass Bottle
- Grapeseed Oil
- Jojoba OIl
Keep it Regular
Make daily moisturizing a habit. I choose to do this every night before showering (so I can rinse all of the oil off my hands/arms) but try to do it a few hours before bed so I don’t end up just sleeping. If it helps, put a daily reminder on your phone so you don’t miss your ideal time to do your hair.
Keep it Fun
Maintaining natural hair can be a time-consuming. Keep it fun by catching up on your favorite show. This can also help motivate you not to spend too much time or lallygag by setting a goal to finish by ‘x’ amount of episodes. For me, I try to finish my LCO within 1 episode of ‘Insecure’ and for a full on twist out, within 1 episode of ‘Power’.
Overall, maintaining a consistent moisturizing routine is one of the most crucial keys to healthy natural hair. If you’ve been slacking it’s never too late to step up your game. For more questions pertaining your moisturizing regimen, comment below and be sure to follow my blog and Facebook posts for more updates.
As always,
