How to soften natural Afro hair has always been a mystery to me. In primary school, my mother used to cut all our hair as it was easier for her to not spend countless hours doing our hair before school. We used to wake up around 4 am everyday because our school was literally 3 hours away. By five am we would be in a taxi to the Train station and by 6 am we would be in a train to Bosman station. By Bosman station we would walk all the way to Joubert Street where our school was then situated. We would arrive at school around 8 o’cock.
After school was the same journey back. School came out around 2 PM and we would get back home around 5 PM. We would get home, do our homework, eat and finally wash dishes.. We would be so tired we would sleep immediately after dinner, around 8 pm. And the journey would begin again the following morning.
Some of us have had the pleasure of growing in homes where information about natural hair was openly available. In our house thou, Natural hair information was scares. Our parents didn’t want us to look like boys, but they also didn’t want to struggle with combing our hair in the morning. Combing 2 little girls hair in the morning, who’s hair was very rough, was torture. We would cry every time a comb passed our heads.
So my mother decided to relax our hair. Bless her soul she used relaxers on us as a symbol of love. She didn’t want us to always be crying when she combed our hair. Ever since my first relaxer, I’ve always relaxed my air. Relaxing my hair was the only way i knew how to grow or take care of my hair because of the bad experience i had as a child of course, rough and relaxed hair.
But relaxed hair wasn’t a solution. Although our hair was growing, it was week. and it never grew passed a certain point. the worst thing about relaxed hair is that if you put the wrong kind of moisturizes, the sun will and can turn it Yellow, orange. So, when our hair because too orange my dad cut it again and so the cycle of the course hard hair continued.
Its literally only a few years ago that i saw how beautiful and soft natural hair can be if you use the correct kind of moisturizers and leave in balm for it to flourish.
To be fair, its only recently that hair companies have branched into producing natural hair products for afro , natural hair. All we had, 10 plus years ago was Revlon and a couple more. Today the options of natural hair products are many. There are different afro hair types and with that comes different hair products to fit each hair type need separately or together.
When i first cut my hair one year ago, i was taking a chance, i didn’t know how my hair would look or feel. But i had done my research online and i was confident about it.
My biggest problem was always, how will i be able to soften natural Afro hair. And how will my natural hair look. Will it be hard to comb? Will it have soft or rough curls and will it have small curls or big curls.
Its been a year since i cut my hair and i can’t mention the many hair products that i have used to get my hair this length and to get my hair looking this healthy. What i will say thou is that i have learnt a lot on how to soften natural Afro hair.
The most important ingredients in terms of how to soften natural Afro hair are:
1 Always use a leave in conditioner
2. Always use a Oil Balm to soften Natural Afro hair
3. To prevent hair from breaking before plating a weave, slather MPL Hair oil. Try if for one month. Thank me later.
4. Use shampoo as minimal as possible. To prevent natural from drying out, wash hair with conditioner.
To soften my hair i’m currently using the Loreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil Curl Nourishment Oil in Balm. The Nourishing Leave in Balm is amazing. The hair stays hydrated. The leave in Balm does not leave any white residue and the L’Oreal Elvive Extraordinary oil softens the hair so much, it feels great, and keeps any style you create.
The Loreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil, Leave in Balm is the perfect hair product to use of you want to soften natural Afro hair.
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XOXO
This is quite wise and thoughtful. May I pose one or two questions? It’s just that..I’d add more ideas that negate this.
[…] Afro hair framed my face beautifully. It was a testament to the power of self-love and self-care. Embracing my natural texture had been a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, and I was proud to wear it confidently […]