A Simple Regimen For 3C Color Treated Natural Hair

I had a conversation the other day with one of my cousins who has 3c color treated hair that is growing out. She was saying that for the life of her she could not keep her hair moisturized beyond 2 days.

Her hair is not retaining moisture, it is always breaking and shedding and she needs some help. Sometimes when you are talking to someone about curly hair there is so much to discuss and tell them that it is possible that you can end up telling them a whole bunch of stuff all at once that can seem confusing.

As a result I felt compelled to write down my version of a plan of action for her hair that she can try from this day forward to keep her hair moisturized and strong. Before we get into the regimen though we have some foundation things to discuss.

Color treated breaking hair

If your hair is breaking, that is not the norm and that is not something you should opt to live with. Honestly the portions of your hair that is breaking off is over processed. Fine strands are stripped very easily, that means if you add a relaxer or color you will thin the strand to the point of it just splitting in half.

Your options are cut your hair slowly to get rid of the damage or just go ahead and cut off all the color all in one shot. Another possible option is protein to strengthen the hair that is damaged and so your regimen will be protein based as well as trim your hair very often to get rid of the color. With that said here is a simple regimen to consider.

Regimen

Step 1 – Cleanse

Cleansing is easy, use a sulfate free shampoo* to get your scalp clean every week or two weeks or monthly if you are not prone to build up. Use options like apple cider vinegar* on your scalp if you prefer to stay all natural with cleansing your scalp.

If you are the girl with a ton of scalp issues, build up and excessive oil, using an all natural cleanser might actually help you. Check out this post here an all natural alternative.

Step 2 – Conditioning and co washing and deep conditioning*

To maintain your curls, conditioner is your very best friend, so having the right conditioner is absolutely important. You need a conditioner that is creamy not to watery. My recommendation is always Tresseme moisture rich conditioner to start out because you get a ton of product, it works and it is curly girl friendly.

Use the conditioner to co wash as often as you need to throughout the week and throughout the month. Deep condition every week regardless of how many times you decide to co wash.

Use things like eggs, mayo, yogurt or a protein based conditioner to deep condition your hair every week especially if your hair is breaking or mushy.

Step 3 – Styling

Your goal is to get your hair to clump, so once you are out of the shower washed and conditioned, add your leave in conditioner, oil and your styler.

Use your hands to rake the product in and a denman brush* to help your curls to clump.

Your leave in conditioner should be water based and if you need the protein make sure you have some protein high up on the ingredient list for added strength.

Be very heavy handed with your leave in and use the styler as needed. If you like a little oil in your hair use the oil after your leave in conditioner* but before your styler.

Air dry your hair for 30 minutes and then use a diffuser* to get your roots dry and your hair bigger. Then go in with a pick to get the hair even bigger if that is what you want.

Step 4 Night time routine

Some women, like my cousin, have trouble with pineappleing because the hair gets stuck in the pineapple position the next morning. The most important thing for all curly girls is keeping the hair covered so that it doesn’t dry out. If you do not want to pineapple then just cover the hair and go to sleep.

If your hair stretches easily and you want your curls to wake up in the morning then you need to use a little spritz in the morning to get your hair back to its curly state. Your spritz can be a leave in conditioner*, aloe vera juice* with water or conditioner diluted with a little water.

Things to think about

To maintain moisture in color treated hair or curly hair period will require a little help using water based products often. Do not think you can set it an forget it for days at a time especially if your hair is porous. Once you start doing your routine it will get easier.

Figure out your staple products, the stuff your hair absolutely loves. Once you have that down you will be fine and things will get much easier for you.

Check out Jade from lipstick and curls as she demonstrates her curly hair styling routine:

Now watch this video about deep conditioning* color treated hair: