Monthly
• Protective styling is very important for natural hair growth. Try to keep your hair away for a least 3 weeks out of every month. If you are not into weaves or wigs*, you can do this by twisting your hair and wearing the twists for two weeks before releasing them for a twist out on the third week. That way you are keeping your detangling sessions to just 1 a month!
• Do your hot oil or other treatments like the caramel treatment or henna.
• Naturals tend to be quite heavy handed with oils* and also tend to avoid shampoos in favor of co-washing so if you start noticing a flaky scalp you may want to clarify your hair at this point.
• Redo the perimetre and parting sections of braided or twisted styles monthly. You don’t have to redo your entire head of hair but taking down and re-braiding or re-twisting the perimetre sections allows your braided styles to look freshly done for the duration of the style.
6-8 Weeks
• Hard protein treatments for naturals are on a ‘needs must’ basis. Black hair in it’s stucture is inherently weaker than other hair types so it does tend to need a helping hand in the strength department. Some naturals may be able to maintain a good moisture protein balance just with alternating their conditioners weekly but others will find that they do better with an Aphogee every 8 weeks or so. If you have every lifted color from your hair with bleach or peroxide however, protein treatments are a must!
• For weave wearers, I would strongly suggest that you take them down and re-do them monthly. This allows you to give your hair and scalp a good cleaning, get rid of shed hair and prevents matting which inevitably leads to more breakage when left unchecked.
• If it is too time consuming or expensive to re-do braided styles monthly don’t let them go over the 8 week mark because matting will almost certainly happen which could lead to a major setback.
12+ Weeks
• Hair color – If you regularly use hair colorants that contain peroxide or ammonia; for the same reason as with relaxers you will want to wait until you have a fair bit of hair growth before retouching them obviously to avoid double processing your hair and weakening it. Of course if you are using herbal colorants like henna*, you can touch up your roots monthly if you wish.
Occasionally
• Although I am pro-choice when it comes to how you want to wear your natural hair, and some natural ladies prefer to wear it straight, I am also well aware that it is counterproductive to give the green light on regular use of heated tools. If you are a veteran and you have conclusively demonstrated an ability to retain length while using heated tools regularly, then carry on! If things start to go a bit wrong in your regimen though, heat should be the first thing you should remove.
• A final word on heat, (and you are going to have to take my word on this ;)) you will find that as your hair grows longer, it will become harder and harder to go through the process of straightening your hair with any form of regularity. Eventually for the sake of saving time (and sanity) you will probably find that you want to use heat only a few times a year to check length or for a special occasion.
If you missed the long healthy relaxed hair pyramid, check it out here.
Tion Walker says
So co washing isn’t a good idea if you want to retain length in the long run? im confused
BlackHairInformation.com says
Co washing is added manipulation which in the great scheme of things could work against you. Still it’s great for some and they retain fine, it’s just not something I would be comfortable recommending across the board.
Tion Walker says
Oh I see.
Elizabeth Regina Matthews says
i appreciate this very much, thank you.
Mrsdanaya Hudson Mspsy says
The original pyramid had relaxer at the 12+ mark too.
Jewelz Jew-Jew Saunders Cda says
There are two, this one is natural and there is a relaxed pyramid also
BlackHairInformation.com says
Yep, no relaxer for the natural hair pyramid 🙂
Elizabeth Clermont says
Amazing! I love this pyramid…very helpful!
Christy Thornton says
This wouldn’t work for my hair. It’s great for my daughter. All ebony hair is not the same so some require different regimen.
Smallbit Jasper says
whats GHE?
Elise Cromwell says
I think its green house effect
Nicole N. Brown says
Love this, cool idea…can be modified to fit your regimen; just a guide…
MarKeisha Reis says
I like to rinse my hair black every 6 weeks or so. Is rinsing better than coloring or no?…
BlackHairInformation.com says
Yes, if you mean the rinses sans peroxide hen they are fine.
Olivia C. Jenkins says
Shouldn’t you trim more frequently ?
Cb Sampson says
I LOVE THIS IT IS SO RIGHT GOOD HAIR HABITS CREATE BEAUTIFUL HAIR
Mihaily Pieternella says
Does anyone know what GHE is?
Christine Nandomondo Newa says
Thank you..
Quandra L. Sherman says
I need this!