"Do" Moisturize Your Hair!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Kinky, coiled, or coarse African American hair needs to be moisturized on the regular. moisture provides the hair with more elasticity, it hydrates the hair shaft, helps prevent breakage & spilt ends, and of course combat the source of dryness! Whether your natural, relaxed, or have chemically processed hair, a lightweight moisturizer is needed to soften and replaced lost moisture. The amount of times you apply your water based moisturizer to your hair, strictly depends on how well your hair is able to retain moisture. It is best to moisturize the hair once or twice per day. For example, I apply my moisturizer (Wave Nouveau) 2x daily, once in the morning and once at night and then seal with an oil (Safflower oil). I find that my hair is a lot more moist overall when adding this to my daily maintenance.


A good moisturizer will not contain alcohol and protein. These ingredients tend to make the hair dry and hard. Also, look out for Mineral oil, petrolatum or lanolin! These products are not good because they don't penetrate the hair. The first ingredient must be WATER not an OIL. Some products might say Water, Purified Water or Aqua as the first ingredient and thats good! Water is natures best moisturizer.

Remember, oil is NOT A MOISTURIZER. It helps seals in the water based moisturizer. If no moisture is applied to the hair, the oil will just coat and sit on top of the hair.


Examples of water based moisturizers:
Lusters S-curl No drip, Care Free Curl Gold Instant Activator, Wave Nouveau Moistuizing Finshing Lotion, Organic Root Stimulator (ORS) olive oil & carrot oil etc.


Examples of the oils you can use to seal in the moisture:
Extra Virgin Coconut oil, Extra Virgin Olive oil, Castor oil, Jojoba oil etc.


A little oil goes a long way! apply a quarter size amount of oil to the ends of your hair and then work your way up. Your ends need the most moisture to be locked in, so start there that way you won't forget! You will also notice that your hair will have incredible shine =)

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9 comments

  1. If coconut and jojoba are able to penetrate the hair shaft wouldn't it moisturize?

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  2. Good question! I believe that they (oils) penetrate the hair shaft to a certain point, however, Oils are not supposed to moisturize, they lubricate and keep the hair soft. Here is a question someone asked Cathy Howse on her website:

    Is an oil considered moisturizing? (I'm not talking about petroleum based grease).

    An oil is NOT a moisturizer! Oils seal in moisture if moisture is there but only coats the hair when it is just layed on the hair without heat!

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  3. Some peole's hair actually likes oil based moisturizers better than water based. I happen to like both....not sure which my hair likes best.

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  4. not sure about oil being a mositurizer but i was wondering about coconut oil as a conditioner. it works so well on my hair but i apply it then wash it out and my hair feels soft. so am i locking out water then puting water on the oil?? what do you think?

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  5. @ Anonymous - If you are using it as a prepoo then thats different. If you are using it on dry hair and then shampooing it out, that is fine. Only Water based moisturizers moisturize the hair.

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  6. Wave Noveau has hydrolyed wheat protein. Is this ok to use as a moisturizer, while using Mega Tek?

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  7. Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein is fine to use with Mega Tek. You should also use moisturizing deep conditioners while using Mega Tek (a lot of protein).

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  8. hey thanks for your post. just a question, what do you think of Elasta QP Mango Butter as a water based moisturizer? im a newbie so I really appreciate your response. thanks

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  9. You have beautiful hair. i've noticed you've referenced something hair care tips from Cathy Howse. I love Cathy Howse's guidance on maintaining black hair. I've noticed she's stopped relaxing some time ago - will you be considering doing the same?

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