
I’ve been focusing on hair health for the past four years as I’ve been growing my hair out. It has also been important that I keep my hair cut in a style so that it is always impeccable for auditions and castings. I feel like I’ve finally found a hair regimen that is easy to maintain and doesn’t rely on tons of products to get the results I desire.
Detangling
To prep my hair for cleansing and styling, I detangle my hair first with a wide tooth seamless comb once a week and finger detangle on other wash days. I dampen my hair with aloe vera juice which I purchase by the gallon from Trader Joe’s, and use hemp seed oil which is one of my favorite hair oils for slip while detangling. I detangle my hair in four sections and keep them in those sections for cleansing. I detangle my hair first so that I won’t disrupt the curls that form from the cleansing process.
Cleanse
I wash my hair 1-2 times per week with an herbal hair cleanser which you can read more about in this article. It is a powdered mix that I can easily travel with for work or holiday. I’ve found that what I wash my hair with is the most important thing. This herbal hair cleanser is not drying while cleansing my hair and it also softens and clumps my curls which eliminates traditional conditioner.
Style
For styling I spritz my curls with aloe vera juice because it closes the hair cuticle after washing it, and really helps define my curls even more. I then use unrefined shea butter to maintain moisture in my hair and for hold. Every time I try using a natural hair gel for styling, my hair feels a bit greasy or crunchy and dry. Surprisingly when I use unrefined shea butter, my hair feels soft without the greasy touch, and maintains moisture in my hair until the next wash day.
I recently stopped using oils for my styling process because shea butter alone has worked even better for my hair. You would think that shea butter would just weigh my hair down, yet now that it is much longer it seems to work better than it did when my hair was much shorter. Unrefined shea butter has been amazing for my hair!
Lately I have been letting my hair do its thing and not setting my curls in any particular braid or twist out style. I will spritz my hair with aloe vera juice and smooth my curls with unrefined shea butter in very small sections then let it air dry. Wash and gos eliminate any further styling time unlike braid or twist out styles.
Maintenance
In between wash days I don’t add more aloe vera juice or unrefined shea butter to my hair unless it desperately needs moisture or is somehow very tangled and could use some finger detangling. I usually just put it in a very loose high ponytail at night and sleep on a satin pillowcase. I release the ponytail in the morning, fluff, and go about my business.
In order to keep my curls fresh, I’ve been dusting (cutting off extremely small amounts) the ends of my hair more often. I will dust each curl individually. When I treat each curl as an individual unit I have more volume and movement in my hair. I also keep my hair layered for volume and movement. There is also this very simple method for trimming hair, yet cutting my hair curl by curl gives me the look that I truly want although it does take more time to do. I’m finding that the more I’ve been cutting my hair with the curl by curl method the quicker the process is for me because I am used to it. I’ve been doing very tiny micro trims every other month.
To keep my hair strong I use henna once a month. If I can fit another treatment in I will, yet my schedule has been insane lately so that really hasn’t been an option. I’ve decided to keep things as simple as possible with my hair care this season especially since my schedule has changed so much. I don’t want to fuss too much with it or spend hours styling. I’ve noticed that as long as I detangle my hair gently and regularly along with just letting it be, its seems to respond so much better.
How has your hair care regimen changed during the fall/winter months?
(Image by Dawn Michelle)
Tara says
I love how simple this regimen is. For me it’s detangling that takes the most time so I want to try aloe vera now and see if that works for me too.
Dawn Michelle says
Thanks! Let me know if aloe works out for you Tara!
Jean says
Hi Dawn!
I love how simple and effective your hair regimen is. You mention that your hair cleanser is a dry mix. I went back and read your article about hair cleansing ingredients to use and was wondering what your dry cleansing mix consists of. Also, what do you add to the dry mix before cleansing your hair?
I have been using your DIY leave-in/detangler (aloe, jojoba, rosemary, lemongrass and vegetable glycerin) as my first step out of the shower. Do you like using the plain aloe vera in place of that mixture?
Always enjoy your posts…have a great weekend!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Jean,
Thanks! I’m not disclosing my exact ingredients just yet, but I did link to the other article so you would have information on how to make your own personalized herbal hair cleanser. I also currently use just plain aloe vera juice to keep things simple. Enjoy your weekend too!
ray says
hi,
i’m looking for herbal oils for my curly hair. i would try vatika, but it has a synthetic preservative in it. have you tried Godrej Anoop 100% Herbal Hair Oil?
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Ray,
I haven’t tried that oil and am currently using shea butter for my hair. You can read about infusing oils with herbs here though.
Miatta says
Dear Dawn,
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your website has been a Godsent. I have been natural for almost two and a half years. I went natural because I had damaged my daughter’s hair with heat and needed a new routine for her, while also showing her to appreciate her hair in it’s natural state. In the past year or so I have been experiencing scalp itching and increasing severe shedding (I mean actual patches of hair loss). I have been to two dermatologist who have not been able to confidently diagnose the problem. And solution have not successfully treated the problem, besides having me use products that I know are no good. So I have decided to develop my own variation of the natural products you use and leave the rest to my faith in God and prayer.
Thanks again,
Miatta
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Miatta,
Thank you so much for your beautiful comment. I’m so glad Minimalist Beauty has been helpful for you and your daughter. Wishing you the very best!
varsha says
Dear Dawn,
First of all, I would like to thank you to recommend aloe vera juice as a leave-in for my hair.It made my hair soft,silky,manageable without frizz.Last time I made a flax seed spray(1 teaspoon of flax seed in i cup of water)and sprayed on my hair after shower,I observed a beautiful curl pattern,no frizz and beautiful shine and it even last for day 2.I tried henna with coconut milk and the conditioning my hair received was tremendous,beyond anything I’ve ever tried.Thank you so much Dawn.
But even though my hair has turned healthy and manageable,I still face shedding during wash days,losing upto 120-150 hairs during every wash days.Other days,I lose 15-20 hairs.Is it normal?If not please help.
Loved your suggestions and a million thanks for that.Have a great day ahead!
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Varsha,
I’m so glad that the aloe vera and flaxseed gel has been working so well for you! As for hair shedding there are Ayurvedic herbs that are supposed to help with that such as brahmi and amla. You can create a tea with the whole herbs which is the easiest way to use them or create a hair mask with the powdered herbs. You can use the tea as a hair rinse or daily hair spritz. If you choose to the make the mask it would be a hair treatment. However works best for your hair regimen.
In general I think that if you have curly hair, the shedding can appear to be extreme just because curly hair gets caught and doesn’t not fall out easily and unnoticeable like straight hair. Every time I detangle my hair I am able to see exactly how many shed hairs I have. I also know that how I detangle can determine how many shed hairs I have. I usually have more shed hairs when I use a wide tooth comb than when finger detangling. So I choose not to use a comb every time I wash my hair and detangle it. At this point I am pretty aware of what is normal with my hair shedding. It varies between each person. Stress is also something that can cause more hair to shed so scalp massages help with relaxation and may also help.
Best wishes!
Cassandra says
Hello Dawn Michelle. I may have missed it but how do you get your shea butter soft so that you can apply it to your hair? Thanks for all of the info you have been a great help.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Cassandra,
I warm shea butter in the palm of my hands before applying. If the shea butter that you have isn’t as soft as you like it you can melt it in a double boiler (Pyrex glass in a small pot of water works perfectly) with some of your favorite carrier oil. You can experiment with small portions to get the ratio that you like. Hope this helps!
BrownCurls says
Hey Dawn!
Well I’ve been down my own little path away from silicones et all for about a year now. Have learned so much about my hair! Taking pictures of my hair has helped me notice the difference made by various attempts at playing with ingredients etc.
I have just recently discovered shea butter and cannot believe how great it is at getting completely absorbed by the hair and at really closing the hair cuticle and giving me great shine. It’s the new thing I am in love with at the moment.
You probably already know about Alaffia shea butter and their Beautiful Curls products. It seems to me their fair trade model etc is very worthwhile so I mention it in case anyone reading doesn’t know about it. I quite love their Wavy to Curly products for my 3B/3C curls. And I use their kid products on my kids 🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi BrownCurls,
I hope you’re enjoying the new year so far. I have seen the Alaffia Beautiful Curls line but have never tried it. I’ve been completely commercial product free for over a year now and don’t see myself heading back in that direction anytime soon. Really learning about your hair truly is the key to caring for it better.
The one thing that I’ve learned this past year is that I don’t have to do nearly half of the hair care steps or use any of the products on the market to have healthy hair or to style my hair. Marketing just makes things more complicated than it has to be. I’m glad that you too have simplified and found what works for you.
Best wishes always!
BrownCurls says
Thanks for the good wishes Dawn! Yes, we opened 2014 in good health which is the most important thing of all, and enjoying our family life peacefully. I hope you have a wonderful 2014 as well!
As far as marketing, yes, it can indeed make everything so complicated. MArketing means nothing to me these days, I go straight to the ingredients label and if I don’t understand everything on that label, I ain’t putting it in my hair.
My hair texture is different than yours, judging by your pic, and whenever I have tried to use oils straight on my hair or even shea butter straight, it really weighs my hair down and also increases my dry time a lot. I always air dry and I have a ton of hair, so drying time is one variable I pay a lot of attention to, since I like to rinse my hair every two days or so. What I have learned from using the Beautiful Curls leave in and gel in different ways and different amounts, is that my hair does indeed love shea butter, but I have to water it down with something. So of course online there are lots of homemade recipes for Shealoe = shea butter whipped with a mixer and mixed with aloe (and people do creative and add other things as well, but just shea and aloe whipped together works really well for me). I am currently playing with this, and tweaking my own recipe that fits my needs, with a little coconut oil, and a bit of liquid herbal extracts I like, etc. It’s definitely doable, as I can whip a nice amount that can last a solid two weeks.
So anyways, just wanted to share that way of using Shea. I know it is all over the internet, you tube etc. But I have learned so much from reading this site, I figured there might be a curly haired chick out there just starting out and having the problems I had with shea in the past. Don’t despair ladies, those curls can really look great most days, and more than likely shea will be your friend if you learn how to use it for your particular hair. 🙂
Dawn Michelle says
Hi BrownCurls,
It took me awhile to figure out how to use unrefined shea butter successfully in my hair. I use only a tiny bit now per section focusing on the ends of my hair. It is definitely a staple for me.
Best wishes!
Norma says
Hi Dawn,
What products would you advise to use to prevent or reduce volume? My hair tends to be quite voluminous and I don’t like it a lot.
Thanks in advance and have a great day.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Norma,
Both unrefined shea butter and DIY flaxseed gel reduce volume. My hair is much more voluminous in a wash and go than in a braid or twist out too. Different styling methods can also make a difference. Let me know what works out for you. Have a great weekend!
Norma says
Thank you for your quick answer Dawn. Have a great week-end too.
Dawn Michelle says
You are so welcome Norma!
rochelle says
Hi Dawn, How do you not ‘over process’ your curls with the henna by doing it every month? I am afraid that I will loose my curl pattern in the process. I am already seeing where a patch/side of my hair has a looser curl pattern. Do you do a full strength henna every time? Do you put the henna only on the new growth or your whole head? Thanks for your experience and answers.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Rochelle,
Everyone’s curly hair is uniquely different. Some have relatively the same curl pattern throughout their hair while others have very distinctly different curl patterns throughout their hair. There are so many different factors that make our hair unique such as hair density, hair strand thickness, porosity, and curl pattern.
I used to do full henna/coconut milk applications weekly when I first started using henna for a few months then monthly there after for about 3 1/2 years. I never had extreme curl loosening which altered my hair in any negative way. Now I mainly use henna for the rich color that is gives my hair and use it every few months. It is important to learn your hair’s needs and create a hair care regimen that best suits your hair specifically. You may be interested in this article on henna and coconut milk which has been the best henna mix that I’ve ever tried.
Best wishes!
Jennifer says
Do you find that you need to keep your hair off your face so as to keep it from breaking out? I find that my face gets greasy from my hair and it’s products.
Dawn Michelle says
Hi Jennifer,
I don’t use store bought hair products and also stopped using shea butter on my hair after I realized that it was breaking me out. This was a major disappointment since I LOVE shea butter so much, but it breaks me out and is high in oleic acid. I only use leave-in oils that are high in linoleic oils for my hair and skin now. I have more information on these types of oils here. I’m posting my 2014 hair regimen tomorrow so you can see what I’m currently using. <3