Simple care for textured hair

When deciding to embrace and care for your hair texture, it’s easy to assume that you need to become a product junkie, rushing to buy every brand recommended by influencers. The potential cost and time investment for maintenance can seem overwhelming.

We all know at least one blogger or friend who swears by DIY haircare, spending hours every Sunday creating and applying homemade treatments. While this approach works for some, there are also many professionally formulated, ready-to-use products that can help maintain textured hair quickly, efficiently, and beautifully.

Choose carefully your products

The urge to accumulate hair products often comes from a heightened awareness of our hair’s appearance and the desire to achieve the same results as someone else—who may have a completely different hair type.

However, constantly switching from one brand to another isn’t the best approach to hair care. Different companies have varying quality standards and ingredient compositions, even when their marketing suggests they all follow strict industry norms, and we all know it’s not the case for every company.

To ensure proper care for textured hair, it’s essential to understand ingredient lists (INCI)—the mandatory labels listing all components of a product. Fortunately, apps like INCI Beauty and Clean Beauty now help decode Latin ingredient names and assess the quality of a product, making informed choices easier than ever.

Essential Hair Care Steps

Taking a step back, it’s important to remember that the goal is simply to keep your hair healthy—and you don’t need an entire cabinet full of products to achieve this.

The basic routine consists of:
✅ Washing once a week, in general.
✅ Detangling after washing.
✅ Daily hydration, with occasional deep hydration.
✅ Daily styling to feel confident in your look.

The last step can be done using serums or structuring products if you’re aiming for a more polished hairstyle. Ideally, stick to one or two brands with similar formulations and choose only the essentials for your routine.

At the end of the day, people should be able to do everything with four to five key products. Plus, if you live in a humid climate, hair hydration requires less effort thanks to the moisture in the air. Resist the urge to clutter your shelves with unnecessary products!

Plan Your Hairstyle the Night Before

For tightly coiled hair, prepping your hair at night is essential to save time in the morning and ensure a great style.

The key steps to never skip:
🌙 Evening hydration + a protective hairstyle to prevent tangling overnight.
🌙 Apply a hair milk or butter before twisting or braiding your hair.
🌙 Sleep with a satin scarf or pillowcase to protect your strands.

This way, you’ll wake up with hair that’s easier to style, healthier, and well-protected.

💡 Total time investment? 5 minutes at night + 5 minutes in the morning for hydration and styling.

Even with relaxed hair, these steps shouldn’t be skipped, as chemically treated hair is more fragile and prone to breakage. If you spend 5 minutes straightening or styling your hair in the morning before heading to work, the time commitment is the same—it’s just a matter of habit!

Understanding That Weekly Hair Care Doesn’t Take More Time with Natural Textured Hair

When hair is straightened, the weekly wash day is often followed by a long blow-drying session to maintain the desired sleek look.

With natural textured hair, the steps remain the same:
🛁 Pre-poo treatment (optional)
🛁 Washing
🛁 Detangling

From there, styling varies:
✨ Some opt for a free afro, which requires… nothing at all!
✨ Others go for twists, a styling cream, or a defined hairstyle.

💡 In all cases, this routine doesn’t take more time than a traditional blow-dry.

Tools: Blow Dryers & Brushes—Use Sparingly!

If you want a sleek look, you may still be tempted to blow-dry your hair. However, excessive heat weakens the hair fiber, making it more fragile over time.

✅ Use a diffuser to distribute heat more evenly and reduce damage.
✅ Limit brushing—detangle only during wash day.
✅ Opt for finger detangling or wide-tooth combs for coarser textures to minimize breakage.

Trimming the Ends?

Curly and coily hair types are often focused on hair growth, which may seem less noticeable due to the hair’s natural shape. However, these hair types can break easily, and the ends become fragile over time.

✂️ To maintain healthy hair, trim the ends about twice a year to prevent breakage and promote overall hair health.

For Our Children: Keep It Simple

👶 Before the age of 2, a gentle, fatty soap is enough to wash their hair. If detangling and hydration are needed, a simple spray of water and pure organic oil will do the trick.

👧 After age 2, brands have formulated specific hair care products for children. It’s important to follow the same ingredient-conscious approach, if not an even stricter one.

💡 Keep the routine minimal to avoid making hair care a stressful moment.
✔️ Wash and detangle during shampooing (with fingers or a wide-tooth comb).
✔️ Hydrate daily.

🚫 Avoid heat styling and color treatments—children’s hair is delicate and naturally beautiful, requiring only gentle, adapted care.

Conclusion

Choosing to keep natural hair is not more demanding than straightening it; it simply requires different habits. However, this does not mean spending hours styling your hair every day.

Summary:

✅ ESSENTIAL:

• Wash and detangle once a week for curly and coily hair (more often for wavy hair).
• Hydrate every 1 to 2 days, depending on how dry your hair is.
• These three steps are key to maintaining healthy hair.

✨ OPTIONAL:

• If your hair is weakened by heat styling, coloring, or if it’s very fine, apply a protein mask every two to three weeks (this can replace conditioner).
• For those looking for a specific style, styling products and serums can help lock in moisture and enhance shine.

✨ ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Active individuals who sweat frequently, those using heavy products (such as butters or gels), or those with locs should opt for a clarifying shampoo instead of a mild one.
• Once a month, applying a nourishing mask can help maintain the health of natural, untreated, and not overly fine hair.