How to Take Care of Your Natural Hair under a Weave

Many of us have decided that wearing a weave is the best protective style for your natural hair. Or maybe you are a celebrity and would much rather that your natural hair be left untouched during heavy manipulation. How do you take care of your natural hair under a weave?

What is the best practice that would reap the most benefit? Well if you are worried about your hair under your weave and you have no idea on how to take care of it, keep reading.

1. Cleanse

When you wear a weave* your primary responsibility other than keeping your weave clean is keeping your scalp and leave out clean.

How to do it

The focus of the cleanse should be trying to get rid of the gels, edge control, oils*, conditioner or anything that can cause build up. Shampoo your hair twice, the first time using an applicator bottle* with water and shampoo focusing on your edges, in between your braids and under the wefts.

On the first application of the shampoo use the tips of your fingers to agitate the dirt and then let the shampoo sit for at least 2-3 minutes before rinsing. Never use your nails, you will cause scalp irritation if you do. Apply your shampoo again and rinse thoroughly.

2. Condition

You want to condition your hair thoroughly, so apply your conditioner to your hair around your edges and leave out saturating your hair completely. Take the time to deep condition your hair so that the product can penetrate your braids as well.

It is super important to wash the conditioner out fully so that there is no build up. Getting rid of all your product and build up will allow the weave hair to breath and not feel too greasy or limp.

3. Drying

The first area you want to get dry is your braids, so before you even pull our the blow dryer* to dry your weave, use a diffuser* on your braids in between your wefts. Once that is done then you can focus on your weave. The last thing you want is mildew on your braids from them being wet.

4. Keep your weave clean

Obviously as you care for your natural hair you will also be taking care of your weave. A clean weave is the best thing for your natural hair, so make sure you care for the hair so it can last.

The Q-tip trick

If you have an itchy scalp from not getting rid of all the dirt from your scalp, you can use a little Witch Hazel on a q-tip and clean your scalp with the Q-tip. This might take a while, but it helps to keep your scalp very clean and gets rid of the itch.

How do you care for your natural hair under your weave*?