In the past few years, natural hair has become a frequent topic of discussion, in and out of the black community. A lot of issues and processes within a natural hair journey are solely understood through the eyes of someone experiencing it. However, showing others how and why we take care of our hair the way we do can help delineate assumptions as well as help others to develop a greater respect for it. That being said, this article is going to follow my sister in her wash-day routine.
The following slideshow depicts 8 steps of her wash-day routine. This can be vary from person to person. Those in the natural hair community will always advocate that a person has to find what works best for their own hair. Below you’ll see that her process consists of shampooing and conditioning in sections, being sure to detangle towards the end (others may find that they might detangle prior to washing).
Lauren begins by lathering her hair in shampoo. Moving from root to end. 
She then rinses out the shampoo under the water. 
Next, she parts her hair into two sections. Making it easier to apply product. 
Now, she prepares to use the Creme of Nature conditioner. 
Starting at the root again, she massages the conditioner throughout her hair. 
She then detangles her curls starting at the ends, working up to her roots. 
Once this is repeated on the other half of hair, she again rinses her hair under the water. 
Lastly, she uses an old cotton t-shirt to gently dry her hair.
For my sister Lauren, this process took close to 30 minutes, but for others it may be longer. She expresses, “Washing my hair is definitely therapeutic for me. It acts as a neutralizer and gives me a fresh start”. Many natural haired girls would agree that wash-day is their favorite day of the week. For many African-Americans washing ones hair every single day is not needed and is actually counterproductive. As our hair makes it’s own oils, washing ones hair every day can leave ones hair dry, lacking moisture and unhealthy.
Raking her fingers through to disperse the product. 
Applying Eco Style Gel 
Using Carols Daughter’s Hair Milk
Lauren now applies moisturizing, oil + gel in small individual sections. This ensures that her curls are defined and every part is covered.
All in all this process took about an hour and 15 minutes. While this may seem time consuming for some, many natural haired girls and guys view this as a time for renewal and relaxation. Hopefully this article provided you with at least one takeaway about natural hair that you did not know before!
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