How I Quickly (And Easily) Brought My Damaged Type 4 Hair Back To Life

A while back, I went through a phase where I started disliking my natural hair because of curl envy. I wanted a looser curl or wave, and just couldn’t get with the fact that my head was mostly covered in tight curls and springy coils.  Needless to say, it drove me up the wall; actually, it drove me to the point of manipulating my curls daily and straightening my hair on a monthly basis.

Of course, my hair habits were so bad that almost half of my hair was damaged in a span of three months. At the rate I was moving, I was going to have to go through another transition or do what I never wanted to do–big chop.

This was a pivotal moment for two reasons: It opened up the doors for me to start loving my hair as is, and it taught me that my natural hair journey doesn’t stop after I’m natural–there most definitely will be setbacks along with all of my successes.

After that day, I decided that I was going to set some new goals for myself and then completely nurse my hair back to health. Here are a few habits, regimens, and ideas I took on during my second journey to healthy natural hair.

I Did A Mini Chop!

Doing the big chop was never in the stars for me because I am a woman who loves length far too much to cut most of my hair off. So the first time around, I decided to transition. This time, however, I wasn’t so lucky.

My hair was dry, brittle, damaged, and split at the ends; I knew that if I tried to transition out of this damage, the split ends would eventually split up the root or my hair would start breaking off at record speeds. Either way, I was not willing to risk damaging all of my hair just to keep my length–so I cut it.

I did a mini chop of about 4 inches, which brought my hair a little above my shoulder. While I was generally upset that I had to lose length in the first place, I knew it was a lot better for my overall hair health in the long run.

Finger Detangling Over Combing

I’ve always detangled my hair with a comb because I’ve always had extremely thick hair–which only got thicker after I went natural. I followed the proper technique of brushing from ends to root, but I still found myself losing more hair than I wanted because the comb would snag on ever little knot and tangle.

I eventually ditched the comb and began detangling in the shower. I’d use products with a lot of slip like coconut oil* mixed with aloe vera gel*, or a cheap conditioner that I could easily replace since I’d be using a ton of it. It worked wonders for my medium length hair, but once my hair started getting longer I started to detangle outside of the shower.

I found that with my fingers, I could feel ever knot, “dread”, and tangle–which ultimately allowed me to work through and separate them gently; opposed to a comb, where I usually had to tear through my hair.

Braids and Twists Galore!

I was so scared of further damaging my hair that I wasn’t going for any styles that put me at risk for too much tension on my scalp and hair, so I stuck with braiding and twisting my natural hair.

I would do ‘wash and gos’ during the week, and then opt for either a braid out or some flat twists on the weekend. Since these hairstyles were both low manipulation and protective, I was able to grow my hair longer as well as retain length throughout the year.

If I wanted to change my style a little bit, I would add in clip ins* to my ‘wash and go’ or extensions* to my dutch and/or french braids for length. However, I’d take the added hair out before bed to avoid any breakage at the root of my hair.

No Heat For 1 WHOLE Year

Heat was the very reason I was in this situation in the first place. No only did I straighten my hair way too often, but I got some sketchy information about “heat training” and would try to loosen my curl pattern–huge mistake.

Because I was really angry at flat irons*–and well, because my hair was generally fragile anyway–I refrained from using heat for one year. This was one of the reasons why I was able to retain so much length because nothing was really breaking my hair off like heat, and now it was finally out my life. My hair grew quite a few inches before the year was even up, but I still stuck to my original goal.

After the year was up, I didn’t flat iron* my hair for another 3 to 4 months afterward. And when I did, I prepped my hair with with a trim, protein treatment, deep conditioning*, and then I went to a trusted hair salon and got it professionally straightened.

I experienced absolutely no damage and was a very happy camper. Now, I only get my hair flat ironed twice a year so I can still rock straight styles without all of the damage.

I Went Vegan! 

Except for cutting out dairy and eggs from my diet, I never had to drastically change what I ate because I was a Vegetarian to begin with. Instead, I decided to focus more on what went into my hair. I began using “chemical free”, “all natural”, Vegan products and recipes.

Unfortunately, finding Vegan products made solely for natural hair was a little difficult at this time because they were either pricey, didn’t work for my hair, or they were non- existent. Because of this, I worked mostly with DIY recipes. I used everything from ginseng, hemp, and shea butter* to avocado, lemon, and honey on my hair daily.

Ultimately, the shea butter*, ginseng, honey, and vinegar mask was the recipe that worked wonders for my hair and really jump started my growth.

After a few fails and some glorious successes, I learned that caring for my type 4 hair wasn’t a cakewalk. But instead of giving up and relaxing or continuing to straighten out my kinks all the time, I learned what worked for me–and it allowed me to begin loving my hair.