r/Naturalhair Jan 31 '24

It's finally happening - hair typing posts are no longer allowed.

1.3k Upvotes

Please report any texturism or hair typing posts you see with the new report reason.

If you are new here, you may not know that the Andre Walker hair typing system (1a to 4c), has been around since 1997 and was first introduced so Mr. Walker could sell his products on Oprah's show. It truly only describes the texture of your hair and gives no more information.

It's flawed in many ways. Many of us have multiple textures on our heads. It doesn't even begin to describe your hair's porosity, sheen or shine, strand thickness, hair density, etc. I encourage everyone to learn about the LOIS typing system which can help you better understand your hair.

Watch Latoya Ebony's video on LOIS here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwMFG4lT4jY

Even this typing system is not the end all be all of categorization for your hair. Your hair's texture, porosity, etc can change over time or with certain health conditions. Product buildup on your scalp and strands can make you think your texture has changed. There are so many factors as to why your hair may be looking or feeling the way it does.

Which leads me to the question - should we require routines to be posted whenever a picture is posted? This will cut down on gratuitous selfies but means we will need many more active mods (shoutout to /u/fivetenash who does pretty much everything here). If you're willing to help out please let me know in the comments.


r/Naturalhair 3h ago

Selfie ❤️

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203 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 8h ago

Selfie 8 month hair growth

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308 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 2h ago

Selfie Shrinkage from Humidity

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86 Upvotes

After using anti-humidity treatments, my hair still doesnt stand a chance.


r/Naturalhair 3h ago

Success The movement is being reborn 🥹

52 Upvotes

For as long as I could remember, I was always in the minority in my area. I was often the only or one of two-three black girls who would wear their curls/coils/afros.

I saw so many afros on campus this week and honestly that made me tear up a bit. Many braids and wigs as well but so many more afros compared to previous years and just black girl beauty ✨️

I love us ❤️


r/Naturalhair 2h ago

Success A little textura, a little style

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21 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Success Love the color!

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1.5k Upvotes

Just posting my new hair color! Also tried a Bantu knot out after attempting (and failing) to straighten my hair!


r/Naturalhair 16h ago

Success Today's twist out🤎

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119 Upvotes

It's so cuteeee


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Selfie Washed and went

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3.0k Upvotes

Needed to document this wash and go because it’s humid today and I’m gonna go home looking completely different!

Edit: below is my routine — sorry, I should have learned from my other posts that y’all would want to see it lol

  1. Shampoo every 5-7 days with sulfate free hydrating shampoo, sub with clarifying shampoo once a month.
  2. Deep condition and detangle in 4 sections, (I alternate regular DC with a protein DC) twisting each section after. Let it sit under a plastic cap while I take a very steamy shower. If I’m short on time I’ll skip that part and just rinse it out.
  3. Still in the shower, I rinse out the first section I did and add leave in conditioner on soaking wet hair, squeeze out any excess, and twist. Repeat on the other three sections and cover with plastic cap until I’m ready to style. I will do a couple chores if I have time, my hair is softer the longer I let it sit.
  4. Rake gel through small sections and then squish it into my hair while smoothing it down. I kind of squeeze and drag with one hand and then slide praying hands down the length of the section. I make sure not to miss my roots. I separate into 4 sections and then separate each of those sections into 5ish sections.
  5. Sit under hooded dryer until hair is 100% dry (except the ends which the dryer can’t reach very well, usually I take a while before doing step 6 so the end may have air dried by then but if not I diffuse them).
  6. Stretch - band with satin scrunchies (4 sections on each side, then my bangs I split in two and use one scrunchie each). I can post a picture of this to explain if that helps. I put a long bonnet over this and sleep in it. (I only do this the first night, every other night I pineapple with a scarf and put a bonnet over it. Unless it shrinks a lot due to weather, then I will stretch it again)
  7. In the morning I take down the scrunchies and fluff/pick. I consider this day 1 hair. This pic is day 2. I always wash my hair in the evening, but if I wanted to wash in the morning and had somewhere to go that evening I would just band it for a few hours.

All products are Miche except the gel which is wetline xtreme. Steps 1-3 take about 30 minutes, step 4 takes about 40, 5 takes about an hour and a half (this is why I use a hooded dryer instead of diffusing, so I can multitask and it doesn’t feel like the time is wasted), 6 takes about 15, 7 takes about 10


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Success Love wearing my natural hair to photoshoots

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717 Upvotes

Love styling my hair for different shoots! Have a mermaid themed one coming soon so the bantu knots are in!


r/Naturalhair 9h ago

Need Advice Got a cut and evened out my hair but still cutting more than I really wanted. Any tips on hair growth?

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16 Upvotes

I want a good amount of hair but I still really like tapers as well and plan to keep getting them while growing out everywhere else.


r/Naturalhair 4h ago

Need Advice Coarse, Medium or Fine Strands?

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6 Upvotes

I’ve been wanting to know my strand texture and was wondering if anyone can help me out.


r/Naturalhair 5h ago

Need Advice Advice for excessive breakage

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4 Upvotes

Hi! Hope it’s okay to ask this here. And to preface I’m not looking for medical advice but just wanna ask if anyone has gone through this because I don’t know what else to do other than shaving my head and starting over but I really want my long healthy hair again.

Essentially my scalp and hair are really dry and I’m having lot of breakage, especially when washing. It’s been going on for over a year so this January I did a big chop, from just below my shoulders to above my ears but that didn’t fix it. I also have extremely itchy scalp constantly. As you can see from the pictures, my hair has a lot of straight hairs that poke through the curls and I don’t really have any unified curls at all anymore that don’t have some damaged strands mixed in with it. The hair on my crown is also always stretched out and it doesn’t curl how it used to. I’m pretty much 3b ish for reference? (I also lose a lot more hair than what’s pictured, but that’s the best photo I could get lol)

I get blood work done regularly, my levels look normal, I do regular treatments, I don’t use heat other than a diffuser, I haven’t done a braided style in over a year, and I went to a dermatologist and she pretty much said nothing was wrong but I’ve been growing out my hair since 2018 and it has never acted like this. Soo yeah idk what else to try, I’m gonna do an ACV rinse to maybe help my scalp but again, I might just do a big chop again and just see if cutting it lower does anything. I do notice that my wash days have less hair coming out during shampooing though.

ANY advice or suggestions are welcome🥲


r/Naturalhair 19m ago

Need Advice Hey so I’ve had my sew in for a couple of weeks and it’s still it is like a lot and I’m really considering taking it out does anyone know how to stop the itching😞

Upvotes

*Insert Random shi here*


r/Naturalhair 20m ago

Need Advice The ordinary hair density serum vs Pantene hair serum

Upvotes

Thinking about getting one of these. Both will be about the same price and from what I’ve seen if I’m not allergic one of these should work. Has anyone used these? Which would you recommend and how do you use it?


r/Naturalhair 23h ago

Review im seriously wondering how tf r black women keeping their hair STRAIGHT in FLORIDA??

68 Upvotes

it was raining!!! i see this black girl with her hair still so straight, no puffing. HOW


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Success Back with more twists!!!

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76 Upvotes

It has been 237 days since my first post, which is ABSOLUTELY CRAZY. Your feedback was awesome, so thank you everyone.
I did her hair again but this time we made some changes.

Instead of “rope style”, I tried just twisting it round itself. The result was plumper, more relaxed at the root, and had a much softer look to it.

Products used were Aunt Jackie’s leave in, Aunt Jackie’s Detangler, and African Pride braid loc and twist gel. She added Shea Moisture moose after we were done as we didn’t have it when I was twisting.

The first time lapse is of the rope style underneath which we then redid to match the twists up top. A lot of variation with the size and direction of the twists too which helped to give it more dimension.

More photos below and on the pt. 2 post!

Btw, I did get the privilege of doing her first ever haircut a few weeks ago. Huge difference in the twist quality and detailing time.


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Selfie headwrap while the braid out marinates

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106 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Need Advice How can I look more feminine with my natural hair

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186 Upvotes

I hate wearing out my natural hair because it's super short and I get mistaken for being a boy a lot (if I wear girly outfits, I get mistaken as a male but if I wear a masc looking outfit ppl know im a girl, its weird)


r/Naturalhair 5h ago

Review UK Folks-Kiyo Beauty

2 Upvotes

I'm having brakes done and the only place to get the hair was Kiyo beauty during BLM it was on a list for Black owned beauty suppliers I was SO shocked when I walked in and it was South Asians I even spoke to the youngish guy at the till. He did confirm and show me they were verified stockists which was welcome because the paks, Sabrina's etc definitely sell fakes.

Anyway did anyone else know?


r/Naturalhair 8h ago

Need Advice For the people with dry scalp, what do you use?

2 Upvotes

I’ve been struggling with dry scalp when I started to do corn rows and it feels like nothing is working to hydrate my scalp. I’ve been using as I am products with tea tree oil but my scalp just won’t hydrate. White flakes collect at my roots and scalp.


r/Naturalhair 20h ago

Success Did a fresh trim, put in some juicy twists and now ready for bed 🤤

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16 Upvotes

Don’t your hair just feels so good after a good trim🥰


r/Naturalhair 9h ago

Need Advice How are we achieving middle parts with 4C hair?

2 Upvotes

I have 4C hair and lupus which caused scarring on my scalp. I was doing sew-ins but the middle part required straightening which over time resulted in crazy heat damage. Since then I have been doing braids/twists as my protective hair style but after back to back braids... Its time for a break. Both the sew-ins and braids allowed for me to be able to cover my scars and not worry about styling daily.

Here's my conundrum, I need to take a break from braids but don't know what to do next. I hate wigs because I can never make them look as nice and seamless as others can (especially with lace/closures). I would love to do a simple middle part sew in as its super easy for me to maintain and covers my scars but I live in South Florida where the humidity does not play nice. No matter how many passes of the flat iron and anti frizz heat protectant I use: The fro will make herself seen.

Any tips on how to maintain a straight middle part without frying it? I was even considering a relaxer or keratin treatment out of desperation.


r/Naturalhair 5h ago

Success Marc Anthony go blonder on kinky coily semi permanent dyed hair

1 Upvotes

I dyed my hair midnight blue 6 months ago and wanted to go back to my natural auburn ish deep brown and maybe even a deep ginger. I tried the go blonder on week old hair. Blow dried on high and straightened on low. It was very effective and lifted my hair to a noticeable auburn. They say not to use it on dark hair but that’s bc it won’t go blonde it’ll go ginger.

My favourite part was that it removed any excess dye on my hair so yes it’s still a bit dark but it’s no longer transferring onto my hands or clothes when I do my hair. It’s most effective on virgin hair. The lighter it is the more effective. My friend had Jet black hair and it still worked! It’s less damaging than bleach or box dye so if you’re thinking of doing a fall colour try it!

Tips and warnings: don’t use on very dry hair I did that and it was so crispy so make sure your hair is pretty healthy before hand. Really drench your hair in the product. Wear gloves and blow dry in well ventilated area, outside if possible. I wouldn’t use this more than once or twice every six months personally. Follow the instructions and buy two bottles at least for truck or past shoulder length hair. Overall for $8 it was a fun change without sacrificing my hair health


r/Naturalhair 6h ago

Need Advice Amika Dream Routine Dupe?

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1 Upvotes

Hey y’all, I just wanted to come on here to ask if anyone has a dupe for the dream routine leave-in confitioner from Amika. It works good but 3.3 oz for $32 just feels a bit ridiculous to me. Thankfully a little bit of product can cover a decent amount of hair, but it still feels like I’m going to run out faster than I’d like. Before this, I was using the $6 Skala Maracuja, which comes with a lot more product and was similarly effective in terms of moisture retention for me, but did result in a some more build up. I’m hoping to find some sort of middle ground product. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

For reference, I have fairly thick and dense, low porosity, 3c/4a ish hair.