Do’s and Dont’s of Natural Hair

· by · in Relaxed Hair. ·

One of the first websites I was directed to when researching natural hair was Long Hair Care Forum. This website is my inspiration for my Non Nappy Hair Mafia stance. LHCF is great because it is all about healthy hair care practices. It is mainly for relaxed hair, but there are forums for all hair types. 


The Do’s and Don’ts of Natural Hair was one of the first posts that I visited and every time I go back to it, I think it gives a really good Natural Hair 101, just to get you started.


For example:

  • Do wash your hair in sections
  • Don’t think you can comb natural hair the way you did with relaxed hair
  • Do not sleep with loose hair – section hair and cover with a silk scarf
  • Shea Butter — Unrefined Shea Butter if you can get your hands on it, is absolute heaven!!!
  • Don’t be impatient! This is key. It will take time for you to adjust to your hair if you have never had it natural before, or have never done it yourself before. Allow sufficient time for the learning curve to teach you what you need to do. Nothing worth doing comes without effort. You can take less time, be less careful, but you get what you put into it
  • Don’t be careless. If you try to treat silk (kinky hair) like cotton, by throwing it in the washing machine everyday (i.e. putting it through the ringer), you’ll destroy it
  • Do listen your hair. If you need to clarify, you’ll see the signs. If you need a protein treatment, you’ll see the signs. When you’re in dire need of moisture, you’ll know. Know the signs, and give your hair what it needs
  • Do enjoy your curls. When they are well taken care of, they beg to be touched. Let them loose and give ’em a squeeze every now and again
  • Do stick to a regimen. The only way to know if something really works or not it to stick with it for a while. Yes, today’s society is “gimme now”, and this is an unrealistic approach to really learning anything about the effects of various products.

Read the rest of the pointers here: Do’s and don’ts of natural hair – Long Hair Care Forum


LHCF is one of our recommended sites. It takes a while to get to understand how it works and what all the terms mean (more about that in another post), but the information is worth it. Especially because people share from their own experience, so you can compare and contrast, get what you want and leave the rest.



9 responses to “Do’s and Dont’s of Natural Hair”

  1. Masauka, may I ask on avaialbility of shea butter in Zambia. You have mentioned it in your Dos and Don'ts. Is it easily available in Zambia in either unrefined or refined form? It is said to be the holy grail of natural hair care. Once I had bought some refined shea butter by Organics Root Stimulator. It made my hair soft but gave it no shine at all. Never gone back. I have some unrefined gotten from Nigeria by a Nigerian friend. I am yet to use it as I need to blend it first.

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  2. A friend travelled to Nigeria for work and I asked her to get me some. Everyone I know who uses it, gets it from West Africa. The pure stuff really stinks and that is how you know it is really pure. It makes the hair extremely soft and it is not greasy. I will be writing something about Shea Butter soon. I have not been using it long, but so far, it seems to be as great as everyone says it is. I also used to use the ORS one, but it does not shine as you say.

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  3. My brother is an industrial chemist and he mixed it with essential oil for me, just for fragrance sake. I couldn't use it before that. It stank too much. The biggest thing for me is that it moisturizes without being greasy. There is a scientific explanation for it that I will find and get back to you on. This is why it is so often used as a base ingredient in cosmetics

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  4. just wondering more about listening to your hair- I always suffer with knowing how to tell which deep conditioner to use, could you do more on this. thanks

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  5. Thank you Natasha. I am still trying to figure out if I am hearing correctly or listening selectively. I will be sharing something soon about my experience with the different natural conditioners. I am also trying out some chemical and natural leave-in conditioners and my experience with various kinds of shampoo and rinse out conditioners and some of the natural oils I have been trying (shea butter, castor oil and coconut oil).

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  7. Thanks for the question Saphira. Unfortunately, I have heard and met people who say they have bought shea butter here (somewhere in the Lusaka Showgrounds), but I am yet to come across it myself. The truth is that it lasts so long, my stash should last me another year or two (a total of 5 years). However, since we are having a meet-up soon, I will have to have identified a supplier by then, so I will get back to you.

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