Although some people of African descent with highly textured hair choose to alter the curl pattern in an effort to make daily styling easier, some choose to wear their hair in its natural, unaltered state. Natural black hair comes in a variety of different textures and curl or wave patterns, but dryness is a common concern. Natural black hair needs moisture and careful handling techniques in order to reach its fullest, healthiest potential.
Shea Butter
According to the American Shea Butter Institute, shea butter, which is produced from the African shea seed, is a thick and natural vitamin A cream. As such, the butter has effective moisturizing properties for the hair and scalp. Dry hair is a common concern for people of African descent because of the coiled structure of the hair strands. Shea butter will infuse the hair with moisture and important vitamins to add sheen and ease detangling.
Castile Soap
Because the length of natural black hair may not be properly moisturized on a regular basis, harsh shampoos should be avoided since they strip the highly textured strands of precious moisture. Instead, Greenlivingtips.com recommends that gentle cleansers should be used to clarify the hair and scalp. Natural black hair may benefit most from diluted castile soap, which can be inexpensively found in most health stores. Castile soap will prevent excessive loss of the natural oils produced by the scalp, while thoroughly cleansing and refreshing the hair.
Henna
Henna is a natural plant dye that is commonly used to condition and tint the hair a reddish color. The dye is translucent and binds with the natural hair color. Many people with natural black hair find that the use of henna strengthens hair and makes combing and brushing easier. Henna powder can be found inexpensively in most health or ethnic food stores. For deep conditioning of the hair, henna powder is mixed with water until it forms a yogurt-like consistency. The henna paste is applied to hair and covered with a plastic shower cap or Saran wrap for at least one hour. The hair is then rinsed until most traces of henna are gone and is immediately conditioned with a moisturizing conditioner or shea butter. Washing henna from the hair with shampoo may increase the risk of dryness or roughened hair cuticles in natural black hair. While there are salons that offer henna treatments, it may be more cost effective to apply henna treatments at home. HennaForHair.com advises that body art quality henna powder should be free of harmful synthetic dyes that can damage fragile natural black hair over time. HennaPage.com also makes the important distinction that henna is often mistakenly classified as either black, red, or neutral. What are commonly referred to as black and neutral henna are actually the plants indigo and senna, respectively. True henna, which only imparts a reddish dye, has the greatest conditioning properties, making it ideal for natural black hair.
Natural Oils
Natural oils such as sweet almond oil or olive oil can be used for deep moisturization and conditioning. Heavier oils like castor oil can also be used to condition the hair after applying a leave-in moisturizer. Heavy oils can weigh down the curls and coils of fine natural black hair, so lighter oils should used in their place. Natural oils can be blended together and added to shea butter for a rich, deep moisturizing treatment, which is recommended by Wholeliving.com.
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