7 Ways to Avoid Your Natural Hair from Breaking

Hair breakage is one of the plagues of natural hair.  We have unfortunately all dealt with  it in some capacity.  Even if growth is not a primary goal for you, it can still be very frustrating to have stands of hair breaking off all the time.  Here are seven ways to fight hair breakage:

1. Avoid heat.  High heat will damage your hair, which will lead to breakage. Curling irons, blow dryers and flat irons may give you the style that you want, but they can cause irreversible damage.   There are alternatives to these heating tools, such as curl formers.

2. Keep your hair well moisturized. The best way to moisturize your hair is the L.O.C. Method, which stands for liquid, oil, cream.  Start with damp hair, add some jojoba oil and then shea butter to your hair, for example.  Or, you could use a leave-in conditioner.  When you keep your hair moisturized, it is much less susceptible to breakage.

3. Stop using a towel to dry your hair.  Terry cloth is simply too rough.  Instead, gently pat your hair dry with an old T-shirt. Also, consider investing in a satin pillowcase or a satin scarf for when you sleep, which won’t absorb the oils out of your hair like cotton does.

4. Be careful with your accessories.  Don’t use rubber bands to tie your hair back, and don’t tie your puffs, buns or braids too tightly.

5. Apply coconut oil to you hair before washing.  Washing your hair puts your strands under a lot of stress, with swelling, shrinking and water evaporation. Applying coconut oil beforehand greatly reduces this stress, which will lead to less breakage. Apply coconut oil the night before you intend on washing your hair for best results.

6. Avoid products that contain alcohol.  They will eventually dry out your hair.

7. Leave your hair alone.  So many of us are guilty of it – fingers constantly in your hair, untwisting and retwisting two-strand twists, yanking away at those fragile strands.   Remember that LOW manipulation is best, and many naturals need really, really low manipulation to avoid breakage.