3 Hair Challenges You Should Try in 2015

As the new year approaches, we all take a little time out to reflect and set our new goals and resolutions. If we can do that for everything else, why can’t we do it for our hair? Natural hair challenges are fun because they make us do the extra hair care steps in our regimen that we normally forget. Here are a few popular natural hair challenges that you may want to try in the new year for healthy and moisturized hair:

No Heat Challenge

Most No Heat ‘challenges’ last around 6 months. Depending on how often you use heat in your regimen, this challenge can either be extremely easy or extremely hard for you.

The truth is that heat can be very detrimental to natural hair, especially if it is used often. Many naturals that constantly use heat experience heat damage and notice that their curls are a lot looser, if not completely straight. The bad thing about heat damage is that hair cannot bounce back from it after a certain point, and you have to either cut the damage or grow it out.

You can probably find a blogger hosting a no heat challenge, or you can start one yourself. Try to stop using heat altogether for six months. Instead, opt for heatless hair styles like rod sets (perm/ flexi/ etc), along with low manipulation styles like braid outs, twist outs, and bantu knots.

Spend more time cowashing and deep condition at least once per week. At the end of the six months, you will notice that your curls are moisturized, more defined, and much stronger. You may even decide to extend your no heat challenge a little longer (I know I did!).

Protective Style Challenge

A protective style challenge can be done in increments of months, depending on how often you change or refresh your protective style. Some protective style challenges can last up to six months, with short breaks to let your hair ‘breathe’.

Protective styling basically means protecting your ends and not manipulating your hair every day. There are a variety of protective styles that you can do. If you don’t want to use extension hair of any kind, here are a few protective styles that you can try:

Mini twists
Buns
Flat twists
Halo braids

If you are up for using extension hair (whether it’s Marley hair, natural hair extensions*, bundles, etc), here are a few other protective styles that you can try:

Updos (with Marley hair)
Havana Twists/Senegalese Twists
Box braids
Crochet Wig*/Crochet Braids
Wig* (lace closure*, u part, etc)
Weave

Whatever protective style you decide to try, make sure that you care for your hair the entire time you have it. At the end of your protective style challenge you can notice that your hair has grown and retained length without constant manipulation.

Coconut*/Castor Oil Challenge

Coconut and Castor oil* challenges are also very popular in the natural hair community. I’ve done a coconut oil* challenge personally, and I loved the results I got from it.

To do one of these challenges, simply find different ways to use either oil at least three times a week for a month or more. Here are some common ways to begin using both coconut* and castor oil in your hair regimen:

Prepoo
Oil Rinse
Mixed with deep conditioner*
Hot oil treatment
Sealant
Mixed in DIY refresher spray
LOC/LCO Method

Experiment with how you use your oil and see what works for you. Castor oil* may be too thick for women with finer hair (like myself), so either mix it with another lighter oil, or stick to the coconut oil* challenge.

At the end of this challenge you should see shinier, healthier hair. You might decide that you want to use that oil more frequently in your regimen.

Water intake challenge

Water intake challenges aren’t specifically for hair growth, but drinking a decent amount of water everyday can work wonders for hair and skin. If you’re a beginner, you can work on drinking the recommended eight glasses of water per day (or four water bottles!). If you already do so, try increasing your intake. My personal water challenge for the new year is to drink a gallon of water a day for a month.

Water is the optimal source of moisture, and even though you may wash and moisturize your hair often, true growth and health begins from within. To make the challenge easier on yourself, download a water intake app and record how much water you drink per day.

These are a few ideas for natural hair challenges that you can try in the new year. You can of course create your own, or even begin a challenge at any time in the year. Just take small steps and notice the difference that you will see in a small amount of time!