9 Overrated Natural Hair Practices

Simple Simon was that dude that tried to catch a whale with his mother’s pail and it didn’t work out because all he got was water, go figure.

He did quite a few things in that famous nursery rhyme that did not quite work because of his inability to plan ahead and think things through. Yes I know this is kind of random, but humor me….

Anyway I decided that I am more akin to a ‘Practical Suzy’, she doesn’t have a nursery rhyme like Simon does but she is that girl that likes to make things easy and when trying to get to a certain goal but the goal also has to be useful.

I am like that with everything and my approach to my hair is no different; it is very practical and drilled down to simple things like moisture, protein and cleansing.

Everything I do surrounds those three things and because of that there are quite a few hair practices that I have found to be a little overrated and in some cases not very practical either.

Just like the overrated products and hair tools we wrote about some time back, I felt that overrated natural hair practices deserved a post of it’s own. Check 9 of them out…

1. Going to a salon

This might be a touchy topic, and if you own a salon you might not like that I would suggest that going to a salon is overrated. Well this is an opinion post and some might agree that going to a salon, monthly or even weekly is not necessary and can certainly get costly.

For years DIY-ers have gotten a lot of flack for taking their hair care into their own hands but after years of unsuccessful attempts at having someone else care for their hair they figure they can’t do much worse on their own.

Don’t get me wrong there are some sharp salons out there with some serious talent and every now and then to go and spend a little money on your hair and get pampered a bit just might be what the doctor ordered.

All I am saying is that caring for your hair on your own is entirely possible and with the wealth of information out there on hair care and health you have no excuse not to take the care of your hair into your own hands.

2. Parting with a comb

Phew! Now that we have the hard one out of the way, let’s talk about combs and brushes and “cool” inventions like tangle teasers. Many women who have been successful at keeping their hair healthy and retaining length have professed that they do not use a comb at all. As a matter of fact they do not use any sort of hair detangling or parting tool because their fingers do such a great job.

Your fingers are the best tools for your natural hair particularly in situations where a comb is not absolutely necessary like parting your hair in sections for a twist out. Come on, nobody is even going to see the parts while you are rocking your twist out so why use a comb to part?

Combs and brushes can easily break or pop your hair in places that you could have saved if you were patiently using your fingers. Not to mention they don’t cost you anything and your hair will be noticeably healthier I guarantee it.

3. Length checks before health checks

Baby girl, if your ends are looking airy, raggedy, split and torn, you have no business grabbing a tape measure and a video camera talking about “length check!!!”.

Let those bad ends go, it is way more important to have healthy short hair than to have unhealthy ‘long’ hair. Your hair will grow if it is healthy so your job is to maintain the oldest portions of your hair making sure that your hair and scalp remain healthy.

This doesn’t mean constantly cutting your hair two to three inches at a time; this means getting a quality trim when you need one, maintaining the moisture in your hair and making sure your hair is strong with regular protein shots. Yes my friends, long unhealthy hair is overrated.

4. Twisting in small sections for a twist out 

This is more on the aesthetic side of things, but you must admit twisting fewer sections saves you more time. A fab twist out is relative, meaning your idea of fabulous might just be tight small defined sections released after a couple of days, but for another person it might mean a few chunky twists released after just one night.

The point is either way you can get a great look, so if you want to save time and you normally are meticulous about your twisting try a less involved technique. This will be the absolute minimum number of twists you can get away with to achieve the desire results.

Oh and don’t bother to retwist every night, just let your hair ‘do what it do’ as the week progresses, less manipulation means less chances for breakage.

5. Smoothing edges

Laying down edges with shiny gel like substances is quite frankly, overrated! If you want to avoid purchasing expensive products dedicated to making naturally curly edges appear straight for about 2 hours then just change your mindset.

Smoothing edges is understandable in the sense that your hair might appear ‘neater’ but sometimes the extra product and hassle isn’t necessary. Use the products you have that add to the health of your hair to smooth your edges. For example, shea butter* used on top of a great water based moisturizer seals your hair and smooths it all at the same time. Win Win!

And if you have edges that won’t lay down without an anvil then embrace those coily baby hairs and move swiftly on.

6. Deep conditioning for hours

We have said it before and we will say it again, you do not have to spend four hours deep conditioning* your hair, a more effective way of deep conditioning* is to cut the time by 80% and use a heat source.

Your hair will absorb all it needs to absorb in the 20-30 minutes your product may or may not suggest on the label. Don’t get discouraged if you do not have a lot of time to dedicate to that portion of your regimen, because you actually don’t need a lot of time. Get under the drier and gett’err done quickly

7. Adding leave in conditioner* to sopping wet hair

Overrated might not be the best word to describe that whole thing, but it sure is annoying to always try to keep your hair sopping wet just to add product because everyone says that’s how you should do it. Wrong!

We all know the most perfect moisturizer created is water, but some of us, if not most of us like to use a water based leave in conditioner* to keep our curls hydrated a little longer too.

Think of your hair as a narrow tube, if that tube is filled to capacity with water, then adding more water or more of anything is futile. Use your micro fiber towel to rid your hair of excess water before adding your leave in to your hair, this way you create some space in the strand for your leave in product. Makes sense right?

8. Defining your curls

Alright, we get it, curls that pop and all that jazz are great, but did you know your curls will naturally behave the way they should if they are just fully moisturized?

When you do a curly style like a wash and go, you might be tempted to rake loads of styling product in your hair to get your curls to remain they way they look when wet or what you think they should look like. Wet hair looks and behaves dramatically different from dry hair, and 3A hair looks dramatically different from 4A hair, not bad different, just different.

Once you can accept what your hair looks like when you do a ‘curly style’ then drowning your hair in styling product will be less of a priority. Overrated!!

9. Oil mixes

Here’s the thing about oil mixes, they are cool, they are fancy, and if you like mixing exotic oils* together to make a super potion, then by all means do so. But if you are on a budget, maybe in college or if you just like things simple, you can use just one type of oil and still have great hair!

Choose a great oil that works for you and that you can purchase in bulk so that you are not running back and forth to the store. Use the oil to seal, for oil rinsing, for shine and anything you would usually use oil for; Your hair does not discriminate, oil is oil.

Starbucks

I know this is totally unrelated but I have also decided that Starbucks is overrated, all I wanted was a bottle of water there is no reason the lines at Starbucks need to be out of the doors and around the corner like we at the night club at 8 in the morning, should have just gone to 7-11 *smile*

What other overrated natural hair practices can you think of? Comment below.