I understand that the journey and process to take care of your natural hair can be time-consuming especially with work, being a mom and wife, whatever you have going on etc…

I can relate as I am also managing my professional career, running 2 self-started businesses and blogs, being a mom to Elijah and BAE to Terence, etc..

But HOW do you expect to achieve a successful natural hair journey if you don’t make time for care and maintenance?

Healthy and beautiful natural hair won’t suddenly appear with the blink of an eye or by the snap of a finger.

YOU HAVE TO INVEST SOME TIME, even if it’s just for an hour or 2 per week.

Think you can make that time?

When I embarked on this journey, I had no idea what I was doing. No clue as to what I was getting myself into. Overtime, I was able to set a routine that worked perfectly with my schedule and activities.

I am also thankful for my BAE who is understanding and takes over Elijah when it’s iziKurls’ time. This is very helpful, having a partner who supports.

I’d like to share a couple of tips/advice and words of encouragement to help put you at ease if you are hesitating on embarking on your natural hair journey.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE GOING TO SAY: Some women worry about people/society’s opinion or how they will be perceived with natural hair. Who cares about what they think? You shouldn’t. It’s all about YOU and what beauty means to you, which varies from one individual to another. YOU are unique and beautiful in every way and so are your kurls. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

IS NATURAL HAIR APPROPRIATE: FIRST, let me laugh. Our natural hair is so versatile that you can rock it in so many ways: professional, casual, wild, crazy, you name it! So the answer is YES, natural hair is appropriate.

IF YOU ARE READY TO BIG CHOP, JUST DO IT: yes, JUST DO IT. Don’t let the fear of “I am not comfortable with rocking short hair” delay you from embracing your kurls. The quicker you chop your relaxed strands, the sooner you’ll be on your way to strong and healthy natural hair.

You will never know the full potential of your natural kurls if you don’t BIG CHOP!

SETTING A ROUTINE: as I mentioned earlier, we have kids, careers, husbands, responsibilities. However, I strongly believe that starting with setting a routine will help alleviate the stress and fear of embarking on this journey. This is what I do and I hope that it will help you in some way. I split my weekly “shampoo/deep conditioning/styling” routine in 2 days.

Day 1 (typically on a Saturday evening): I shampoo my hair and set my deep conditioning treatment overnight.

Day 2 (the next day): I rinse out my deep conditioning treatment and set my style for the week (twists, wash’n’go, etc…).

I’ll admit that going through the whole routine in one day can be exhausting. You don’t have to deep condition overnight like I do. You can simplify that step by using a 5-10 minute deep conditioning product.

HOW TO AVOID THE WEEKLY ROUTINE: there are so many protective styles (weaves, crochet braids, braids, kinky twists, etc…) that you can get done to allow your strands to grow a little more until you get to that comfortable place, owning your crown. I was there. I transitioned for 6 months to allow my hair to grow to about 1-2 inches, where I was then bold enough to big chop and rock my TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro). Wearing protective styles will definitely reduce your care and maintenance time.

HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR HAIR WHILE WEARING PROTECTIVE STYLES: I think that there is a big misconception with protective styles. Some think that there is no care or maintenance needed while wearing braids, crochet, weaves etc…WRONG. I always advice oiling your scalp and edges regularly with the oil of your choice (castor oil is my preference). Ensuring that your hair is moisturized while it’s braided is important as well. How do you do this? You can purchase Shea Moisture’s Coconut and Hibiscus Hold and Shine Moisture Mist and spray it on your braids, your scalp so that your strands remain nourished while under wraps.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU KEEP BRAIDS/TWISTS: To avoid serious breakage and damaged edges, I recommend keeping these protective styles for only 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, take them out, give it a rigorous shampoo and deep conditioning treatment and let your strands breathe for a week or 2. Then you can re-install your protective style.

You should think of taking your braids down when you start to notice that your edges are being pulled by the braids, hanging off from your roots. You know what I’m talking about? Right? The longer you keep them in, the more the hair on your edges will be pulled from the root. That part of our hair is the most sensitive and takes forever to grow back. In some cases, it NEVER grows back.

Who wants bald and damaged edges?

I DON’T and I’m sure you don’t either.

I hope this you find these tips helpful & feel free to share with someone who is doubtful about on embarking on this journey. I am sure that these tips will come in handy.

Remember:

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR HAIR!