The Mestiza Muse

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Steps To Beginning Your Healthy Hair Journey

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Transitioning from damaged to healthy curly by embarking on a healthy hair journey

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When it comes to hair care, many of us are unsure of where to start. We may have heard conflicting information or tried a bunch of different products with mixed results.

It can be difficult to know what steps to take on our healthy hair journey.

In this blog post, we will outline the basics of creating a hair care regimen that works for you!

Here are a few steps to beginning your healthy hair journey.

Curly Cut

When I started my natural hair journey, I didn’t know that there was such a thing as Curly Hair Specialists! I guess I was living under a rock.

I learned that there is a whole world of curly cuts out there and many professionals have developed their own method for cutting curly hair.

A curly cut is a dry haircut worn by individuals who wear their hair in its natural curl pattern.

Getting a curly cut can really make a difference in the look and feel of your curls.

Whether you’ll go for the “big chop” or transition slowly will be up to you.

I decided to chop off the majority of my damaged hair, then continue with the transition process.

Whatever works best for you is the way to go.

Find Products that Work for Your Hair

There are a few things in this world that are just meant to go together: peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, curly hair and…products? It’s no secret that finding the right products for curly hair can be tricky.

It’s quite natural to want to find the right hair products for your hair on your first try. But, to some degree, this journey is based on trial and error.

You’ll need to figure out what DOESN’T work for you so that you can figure out what DOES.

The best way to find products that work for your own natural hair is to experiment!

How do you know what works for you?

To really understand what works for you, you must first understand what it looks like when something does not work for you.

Unless it’s a total failure, give your hair some time to adjust before you totally reject it.

If your hair isn’t behaving as it should, and you think it’s because of a product you used, save it for later so you can see if it works better after some time has passed.

If you still can’t figure out what is wrong, go back and try to eliminate each product one at a time until you discover which one is the problem.

FYI – Continue to keep an eye on your hair as you progress in this journey because even if you’re in a good place with your hair products, your hair might start to react negatively to products that once worked well.

Learn Your Hair Type

If you’re were like me in the beginning of my hair journey, then you probably didn’t know your hair type. And that’s okay!

Hair typing is a science and an art, and it’s good to know your type so that you can have a point of reference. However, it’s not necessary to know your hair type in order to start on this healthy hair journey or to be successful!

Why? Because as you go through this process, your curl type will change, and if you focus on just the curl pattern, you’re not thinking about all of the other components of your hair that need attention, like porosity.

After experimenting with a variety of hair products for approximately 3 to 6 months, I believe this is the ideal moment to start testing your hair’s porosity.

Protein treatments and more advanced methods should be used after you’ve fully determined your hair porosity.

Discover Your Hair’s Porosity

It’s important to have a good understanding of your hair’s porosity level. Porosity is the level of how easily your hair absorbs and retains moisture.

If you hair porosity level is high, then your hair will absorb and retain more moisture than someone with low porosity hair.

It doesn’t mean one porosity level is better than the other, it just means you have to take different steps when caring for your hair.

This is why it’s crucial to know your porosity level, so you can choose the proper products – to keep your hair healthy and moisturized.

Establish a Hair Care Routine / Regimen

We all know that person. The one with the perfect natural hair who can just roll out of bed, wash it once, and it looks great all day long.

They probably also have a job where they don’t have to move their head more than 10 degrees in any direction. Then there’s the rest of us…

Let’s be honest: keeping your natural hair looking polished every day is hard work.

But with a solid routine and some helpful tips, you can get your locks under control without breaking the bank or spending hours in front of the mirror (unless you want to, of course). 😉

Incorporate more complex and targeted steps

When you’ve established a solid regime, you can gradually incorporate more complicated and targeted steps and products into your routine as you learn more about your hair through trial and error.

Creating a hair care regime involves finding out what your daily routine should be in order to maintain healthy hair.

You should also include weekly and monthly routines, as well as treatments that are done less frequently, such as a pre poo or hot oil treatment.

Shampoo (and chelating shampoo), conditioner, deep conditioner, protein treatment, and clarifiers are just a few of the products you’ll need.

Establishing a routine is really the best way to tame dry hair and out of control frizz, and your hair’s need will determine how often you perform any of these.

Note to yourself – Don’t get so upset about a mistake or setback in your natural hair journey that you let it ruin your day, but rather learn from it. You may never know who might benefit from your lesson in the future! Just sayin’ 🙂

Wash Day

When it comes to you hair, washing it is one of the most important days of the week.

This is the day you’ll shampoo, condition, deep condition, and possibly clarify or chelate your hair.

Some people wash their hair every week, while others only wash their hair once a month.

The frequency of how often you cleanse your hair will depend on a few factors:

  • Lifestyle
  • How much sebum your scalp produces
  • What kind of products you use and how often
  • How much sweat you produce
  • Physical dirt or pollen, etc.

A big part of building your own hair care regimen is to experiment with different things and figure out what works and why.

Begin with a weekly plan and observe how your hair responds. Your hair will let you know if what you’re doing is working or not.

Moisture

Hair moisturizing is one of the most important steps in a hair care regimen.

Moisturized hair means healthy hair, which is less likely to break, split, or become brittle.

If you want to prevent your hair from drying out, the first step is to keep it hydrated.

If your hair is super dry like mine was in the beginning of my natural hair journey, try using a water and conditioner mix to lightly moisturize your hair in the morning or before bed.

If your hair still feels dry and brittle throughout the day, try switching up what you’re using to hydrate it.

Possibly, do a protein treatment. You’ll be real surprised how well your hair retains moisture once your cuticles are patched up.

Try Products in Sample or Travel Sizes

There are a few things you can do to start your healthy hair journey on the right foot.

Once you’ve educated yourself about your hair, you can start looking for products that are designed specifically for your hair type.

You can also start by trying out sample or travel sizes of products before purchasing the full-size version. This way, you can test the products’ effectiveness without wasting your money.

All hair products aren’t created equal

Another thing to keep in mind is that not all hair products are created equal. Just because a product is marketed as “natural” or “organic” doesn’t mean it’s good for your hair.

In fact, some natural ingredients can actually be harmful to your hair if used incorrectly. So, it’s important to do your research and find out which ingredients are beneficial for your hair type.

Consistency is key

Finally, it’s important to be patient and consistent with your hair care regimen.

It may take some time to find the right products and routine that works best for you, but it’s worth it in the end!

So, don’t give up if you don’t see results immediately.

Do your homework

There’s a lot of data available on the internet, and researching it may be time-consuming and even controversial at times.

Don’t overload yourself by attempting to master everything at once since this may cause you to overdo or over work your hair, as in over-manipulating it or becoming a product junkie.

This happened to me when in an attempt to moisturize my severely hair hydrated.

My hair was always damp. I wetted my hair and followed it up with a leave in conditioner before allowing my hair to completely dry. I did this on a daily basis, twice a day for weeks on end, which will lead to hygral fatigue.

Practice patience with your hair

As long as you make an effort to apply what you’ve learned and continue to educate yourself, you will achieve hair growth and healthier hair.

The challenging part will be making sure what grows stays on your head.

It is important to be consistent with your hair care regimen, and give your hair time to adjust. Adopt the mindset that you’re in this for the long haul.

In the meantime, rock your natural hair with confidence at each stage of the process!

Adopt a healthy lifestyle

What you put into your body will reflect on the outside, including your hair.

Eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water are essential for healthy hair. This is critical, but it is frequently neglected.

So, make sure you’re getting enough protein, nutrients, vitamins and minerals in your diet and stay active.

Hair health starts from within.

Comparison is good

Many of us are told not to compare our hair with anyone else’s hair.

However, when learning new skills, having someone with similar hair to learn from can be quite beneficial.

Try to find someone who is further ahead of you in your healthy hair journey.

It may be be extremely encouraging and motivating to see someone else has achieved their healthy hair goals, and will make your goals seem more attainable.

Must-haves for your hair journey

To prevent hair damage or friction, I recommend using a satin or silk pillowcase or a satin/silk scarf or bonnet while sleeping. This will also keep your hair from drying out.

When washing your hair, use an old t-shirt, t-shirt towel, or microfiber towel, instead of a cotton towel.

For the time being, try to stay away from certain chemicals in hair care items by taking a closer look at the ingredients on your hair products; drying alcohols, harsh sulfates, silicones, or mineral.

They’re not nearly as awful as what’s been said about them, but you should avoid them until your hair has recovered.

Keeping a hair journal is quite beneficial since you can document the progress you’ve made, look back on your hair achievements, and see how far you’ve progressed.

Furthermore, if you ever have a question about what products or procedures worked best for your hair, your hair journal will be able to answer it!

Transition / Protective styles

Another element of your hair regimen is determining how often you handle it and try to keep manipulation to a bare minimum, which will help your hair remain tangle free.

Find a transition/protective style to blend the different textures your hair may have.

You can start with hairstyles such as twist-outs, braids, perm rods, low buns, pineapple, etc. There are a number of tutorials on YouTube you can look up.

Never stop learning

The final stage is to learn how to properly care for your hair. There are many resources that are accessible online.

There is always something more to learn about hair care, so never stop learning.

Conclusion

Don’t set yourself up for a letdown by setting unreasonably high standards during your journey. All this will do is make you give up before you even began.

Set realistic goals and focus on what is achievable.

We all have our own unique hair journey and it is important to be patient with our hair.

As long as you are consistent and patient, you will see results.

A clear and objective mindset is very important for any new task you take on in life.

Understand you will have failures, everyone experiences failures. The more you focus on optimism and fact-based information, the closer you will be to achieving your hair goals.

Damaged hair is not the end of the world. You can gradually rebuild the strength of your hair with good hair care and consistency.

HI,I'M VERNA

I’m just a girl who transformed her severely damaged hair into healthy hair. I adore the simplicity of a simple hair care routine, the richness of diverse textures, and the joy of sharing my journey from the comfort of my space.

My mission? To empower others with the tools to restore, and maintain healthy hair, and celebrate the hair they were born with!

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