It's crucial to keep your scalp clean and healthy. Just as you wash and moisturise your face each day, you need to regularly cleanse your scalp. Hair growth starts in the follicle and new hairs grow through these tiny pores in the scalp. If the pores are blocked it is hard for new hair to poke through and you can get painful bumps and ingrown hairs. A dirty scalp can invite fungal infections, dandruff, stunted hair growth and other problems so it's essential to keep it clean.

We recommend washing your scalp every 7-10 days with a gentle sulphate free shampoo. Focus on massaging the shampoo into your scalp with a gentle circular movement to dislodge dirt and encourage blood flow to the scalp. A clean and stimulated scalp allows for optimum hair growth.

5 Tips for Washing:

1. Pre poo with coconut oil to avoid hygral fatigue: simply apply the coconut oil to your hair, focusing on the ends, then cover with a shower cap and leave for at least 30 minutes.
2. Massage the shampoo into your scalp using your finger tips and work it along the hair strands. Don't worry about getting shampoo on the bottom of your hair, it will get enough of a clean as the suds from your scalp run down.
3. Follow up with a conditioner that has a lot of slip to make detangling simpler. When conditioning or using a deep conditioning treatment, don't leave the product on for longer than specified in the instructions as leaving hair wet for too long will weaken it.
4. Detangle with your fingers or a wide tooth comb to minimise manipulation.
5. Once you've rinsed off the conditioner, squeeze out excess water. Next, wrap your hair with a microfibre turban or towel for swift drying. Avoid blow drying as it can damage afro hair, drying without heat is easier and leaves hair softer and stronger in the long run.

Once your hair is clean and nearly dry, it's time for the most important part of your afro hair routine: moisturising. Just as you wouldn't shower and dress without moisturising your skin adequately, it's essential to make sure your hair is well moisturised.

L - Apply a Liquid.

A water based moisturising product in the form of a spray is best. We recommend Sheen, a water based blend of aloe vera juice, grape seed oil and essential oils. The hair is made of protein bundles kept together by hydrogen bonds and disulphide bonds. To keep hair strong it's important to keep it full of the moisture it needs for the hydrogen bonds and the most effective moisturiser is water!  

O - Seal in the moisture with an Oil.

Water evaporates easily from the hair so a relatively thick oil blend is needed to seal in moisture. The best blends contain olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil and jojoba oil. Seal contains all of these and more so it's our top recommendation, it was recently voted the Indy Best top oil for afro hair because it: "penetrates the hair shaft and leaves your strands feeling hydrated and super soft, and it remains that way for hours afterwards."

C - Layer on a Cream.

This should be a water based moisturiser but not as fluid as the product used in the liquid step. A moisturising cream or leave-in conditioner will do the trick.  We recommend Smooth, with its blend of coconut oil, olive extract and organic & fairtrade shea butter.

Protective styling and low manipulation looks are ideal for afro hair care. Check out our style page for inspiration of simple styles for afro hair to take you from the workplace, to date night.

Protective styles are any style where the ends of your hair are tucked away. Looks such as braids, twists or weave can be protective styles. With these looks ensure that you keep the style in for no more than 6-8 weeks and keep hair clean and moisturised throughout. Our protective style set contains everything needed to keep your hair in top shape.

Low manipulation styles are looks requiring little maintenance and those that don't invite your hands into your hair! Wearing a buns or a roll, twist and pin style throughout the week keeps knots and tangles at bay as you don't have to handle your hair much. With these looks, wrapping your hair at night will keep it looking great throughout the week.

When styling, we recommend working with your hairs natural curls. Those that say afro hair is unmanageable are often trying to get it to do something that goes against its very structure, that is straightening it.

If you are after the straight look then try stretching and straightening without heat and without chemicals by trying out traditional African threading techniques. This is a great way to get a new look whilst keeping your hair healthy.

Once your hair is clean, dry and styled you can tweak the look throughout the week to reflect your changing vibe. Whilst keeping the core of the routine the same you can switch up the styles you do each week, perhaps going from a low maintenance bun, to micro braids, to a twist out after each wash day. The key thing is to keep your routine the same and make only minor changes at a time.

Once you have your routine perfected, you can start thinking about how to save time whilst caring for your afro hair.

So now that we've covered how to build an afro hair routine that really works, let's talk about breakage, dandruff and other common issues.

Common causes of breakage include dryness and friction from rough handling, cotton pillowcases and wooly hats and scarves. Using heat such as straighteners and blow dryers weakens the hair and leads to breakage. Chemicals can also lead to weak, brittle hair that breaks easily, the biggest culprits for afro hair being relaxers and bleach based hair dyes.

Common causes of hair loss include tight braids or extensions (also known as traction alopecia) and damage from rough handling and the use of chemicals such as relaxers (traumatic alopecia). Using the wrong tools can lead to hair loss and breakage, for instance, rough bristle brushes or combs with dozens of tiny teeth will pull out your hair and damage the hair that is left behind.

Long term mistreatment of afro hair can lead to permanent hair loss and bald patches. Stress can also be a cause and is one of the biggest culprits behind sudden hair loss.

Many women also find that they lose hair in bulk 3-4 months after giving birth. Although this can be scary it is nothing to worry about. Normally we shed 100 hairs a day but during pregnancy the hair strands remain in their growth phase and don't fall out. The 100 hairs a day that would have been shed over the 9 months of pregnancy tend to all fall out all at the same time once your baby reaches around 3 months. This can seem like cause for alarm but it is very normal and calms down after a few weeks.

Breakage

The best way to avoid breakage is to ensure that the ends of your hair are adequately moisturised and regularly tucked away in protective styles or low manipulation styles.

Afro hair is more vulnerable to breakage when it is damaged by rough handling, chemical use or heat styling. The best way to avoid breakage is to treat your hair like silk and keep it from common problems. The key steps are:

• Finger detangle or use a wide-toothed comb
• Avoid relaxers and bleach-based hair dyes
• Stay away from blow dryers and hair straighteners 

It also helps to sleep in a satin bonnet or on a silk pillowcase. Sleeping on a cotton pillow case leads to breakage for two reasons. Firstly because the cotton absorbs moisture from hair (this is why socks are cotton) leaving it dry and vulnerable to breakage. Secondly because cotton is a rough fabric so as you move in your sleep friction is created between your hair and the pillowcase and afro hair easily snaps off when not covered up.

Dandruff

Hair Loss

Itchy Scalp

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