At some point, we have all made these mistakes. Managing natural hair is very different to managing relaxed and it does take a little time to get the hang of it so don't worry if you're still learning.

1.     Not Moisturizing Daily

Our hair is naturally very dry. If you moisturize it in the morning, it will be dry by evening especially if it’s a very warm day and you were wearing your hair loose. 

To keep your hair soft you need to moisturize it daily with water, a good moisturizer and if it needs it, an oil or butter to seal.

2.     Thinking Protective Hairstyles Are Only For Winter

Protective styles protect your hair especially the ends from breaking and splitting. Our hair is most vulnerable when it’s flying loose rather than when it is pinned up, bunched up in a twist or in a braid.

In winter, the air can be very dry and the wind intense so protective styling helps to prevent exposure to these extreme elements. In the summer, if it’s hot but not humid your hair can also get very dry so protective styling is actually ideal for both extremes. In fact, I find my hair gets more dry and even wiry on very hot days rather than in winter.

You should use protective styling whenever the weather is too hot, too cold or windy because it helps with all extreme weather changes that make hair more vulnerable.

3.     Following Someone Else’s Regimen Without Adapting It For Your Own Hair

It’s completely normal to do this. Especially for someone who had relaxed hair for as long as I did, you don’t know what to do with natural hair. You end up following your favourite YouTuber or your best friend because you don’t know what else you should be doing.

What you should be doing is trying everything out and if it doesn’t work on your hair: changing it, adapting it or ditching it until you discover what works for you.

4.     Not Trimming

So many people in the natural hair community are so obsessed with length that they don’t trim at all. The result is that they have thick roots but if they pull a bunch of hair out they only have 5 strands at the longest length. In some cases it can look a little extreme (and even silly).

Trimming hair helps with health and growth. Neaten the ends up when they get messy or trim a little to neaten every 4 to 6 weeks as standard.

5.     Braiding & Weaving Too Often

I absolutely have nothing against braids and weaves. However, your hair does need a rest. 

If you move from one set of braids or one weave to the next without a two week gap, at least, in between, you don’t get to observe your hair’s condition.

Your hair edges could be getting thinner and thinner and the extensive plaiting may also be thinning your hair out. This was the reason I went natural to begin with. Combining braids and relaxer thinned my hair out very badly. By having a gap between braids I discovered the issue and took what was at the time the drastic measure of going natural.

6.     Prioritizing Length Over Health & Enjoying The Journey

Being natural shouldn’t be about your next length goal because that sucks the fun out of it.

Whatever length of hair you have, enjoy it. I have never had a length goal, only a desire to keep my hair healthy. Of course everyone wants to observe growth but if that is your sole focus then you won’t enjoy the days when you’re in a TWA or transitioning. Just enjoy it!

7.     Not Developing An Anti-Tangle Regimen As Hair Grows

As your natural hair grows it will get more tangles and your regimen has to change to accommodate that. Your wash routine and your night time routine especially have to account for the fact that loose strands will tend to tangle and it will drive you mad.

• How to prevent tangles?: 8 Ways To Prevent Natural Hair From Getting Tangled
  
• For detangling tips: —How To Detangle Natural Hair
  

Can you think of more treacherous mistakes that we make? Then make a comment.

This leave-in detangler is designed specifically for thin hair. 

INGREDIENTS
Heated water phase (92%)

• 10g aloe vera (10%)
  
• 3g cetrimonium chloride (3%)
  
• 2g hydrolyzed silk protein (2%)
  
• 77g very warm water (77%)
  

Cool-down phase (8%)

• 2g panthenol (2%)
  
• 2g polyquat-7 (2%)
  
• 2g olive squalane (2%)
  
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
  
• 1g fragrance oil (1%)
  

Method

1. You will need one pyrex bowl to create a bain marie (a.k.a. double boiler)
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
3. Create a bain marie. Leave on the heat for 5 minutes after all the ingredients have dissolved. If all the ingredients are liquid, leave on the heat 5 minutes after all the ingredients have heated up.
4. Stir regularly and thoroughly.
5. Take off the heat.
6. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
7. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
8. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.
   

Application

• As a leave-in detangler apply to dry hair before styling. If you feel you need a bit more moisture, add a leave-in conditioner (a.k.a. moisturizer).
• To make you your own moisturizer see nenonatural.com/DIYmoisturizers.

Storage
The shelf life of is 9 months. Store in a cool, dry place.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Moisturizer Recipes

A pre-shampoo detangler is designed to be shampooed out. If it the detangler is specifically classified as being pre-shampoo then it contains too much of one or more ingredients to be left on.

Keep in mind that some ingredients in hair products are only safe to leave-on in given concentrations and if left on for too long could damage your hair or scalp.

This is not a bad thing – conditioners are also rinse-off products for the same reason. In some of my pre-shampoo detangler recipes for instance, I include a lot of glycerin for extra moisture and softening but if they were applied as leave-on products your hair could get very dry. You don't want to leave a high concentration on glycerin on your hair

A leave-on detangler on the other hand can be safely applied and left on hair without any adverse effects.

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• The Difference Between Hair Detangler & Moisturizer
• The Difference Between Hair Detangler & Conditioner

This pre-shampoo detangler recipe is for very tangled frizzy hair. Don't forget to shampoo out after use.

Ingredients

• 20g olive squalane (20%)
  
• 74g cyclomethicone (74%)
  
• 5g panthenol (5%)
  
• 1g fragrance oil (1%)
  

Method

1. Pour all the ingredients into a bottle using a funnel
   
2. Shake to mix
   
3. Use
   

No preservative needed.

Application

• As a pre-poo detanglers apply before you shampoo your hair.
  
• To make your own shampoo see nenonatural.com/DIYshampoos.
  

Storage
The shelf life of is 9 months. Store in a cool, dry place.

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.



You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Detangler Recipes

A detangler can be a rinse-off or leave-on product.

If the detangler is designed to be rinsed off you would still need to follow it up with a conditioner because if it's been specially created for detangling then it will not contain much in the way of conditioning ingredients.

That said, a detangling conditioner is designed to be both a great rinse-off detangler and a fantastic conditioner. It does both jobs.

Such a product could be used before a shampoo as a pre-poo detangler as well as after a shampoo to condition the hair.

The pre-shampoo application would be mostly washed out by the shampoo thereby making an additional post-shampoo application necessary.

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free DIY Hair Product Recipes
• The Difference Between Hair Detangler & Moisturizer

If you have tangled tresses and an itchy scalp, look no further than this DIY detangler, it is designed just for you.

INGREDIENTS
Heated phase (90%)

• 3g incroquat CR (3%)
  
• 20g chamomile hydrosol (20%)
  
• 10g aloe vera (10%)
  
• 2g hydrolyzed silk protein (2%)
  
• 55g very warm water (55%)
  

Cool-down phase (10%)

• 2g honeyquat (2%)
  
• 4g sucragel (4%)
  
• 2g panthenol (2%)
  
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
  
• 1g peppermint essential oil (1%)
  

Method

1. You will need one pyrex bowl to create a bain marie (a.k.a. double boiler)
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
3. Create a bain marie. Leave on the heat for 5 minutes after all the ingredients have dissolved. If all the ingredients are liquid, leave on the heat 5 minutes after all the ingredients have heated up.
4. Stir regularly and thoroughly.
5. Take off the heat.
6. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
7. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
8. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.
   

Application

• As a leave-in detangler apply to dry hair before styling. If you feel you need a bit more moisture, add a leave-in conditioner (a.k.a. moisturizer).
• To make you your own moisturizer see nenonatural.com/DIYmoisturizers.

Storage
The shelf life of is 9 months. Store in a cool, dry place.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Detangler Recipes

This pre-shampoo detangler nourishes as it detangles your hair to minimize breakage - what more could a girl ask for, eh?

Heated oil phase (25%)

• 7g Incroquat CR (7%)
  
• 3g Cetrimonium chloride (3%)
  
• 5g coconut oil (5%)
  
• 10g marshmallow infusion (10%)
  

Heated water phase (69    %)

• 33g water (33%)
  
• 20g aloe vera (20%)
  
• 10g rose hydrosol (10%)
  
• 4g glycerin (4%)
  
• 2g hydrolyzed silk protein (2%)
  

Cool-down phase (6%)

• 2g cyclomethicone (2%)
  
• 2g panthenol (2%)
  
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
  
• 1g fragrance oil (1%)

Method
You will need two pyrex bowls because you will be creating two bain maries (a.k.a. double boilers)

1. Weigh out the heated oil phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
   
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into another pyrex dish.
   
3. Create a bain marie for each and heat to 70°C or at least until the water in the pot starts to boil then reduce the heat. 
   

• Leave the oil phase heating at 70°C for 20 minutes. 
  
• Put the water phase on 8 minutes later and leave it for 12 minutes. 
  
• You can have the heated water phase on for the full 20 minutes but for a 100g batch I find that you get a lot of lost product due to evaporation so I prefer to put it on a little later.
  

1. Remove both from the heat and pour the heated water phase into the heated oil phase immediately. Stir simultaneously.
   
2. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
   
3. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
   
4. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.

Application

• As a pre-poo detanglers apply before you shampoo your hair.
  
• To make your own shampoo see nenonatural.com/DIYshampoos.
  

Storage
The shelf life of is 9 months. Store in a cool, dry place.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.



You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Detangler Recipes

This is probably my favorite detangler in the range. It detangles and softens extremely well. You can watch me going ga ga over it in this video on scalp exfoliation.

Heated phase (90%)

• 3g incroquat CR (3%)
  
• 2g cetromonium chloride (2%)
  
• 20g horsetail hydrosol / extract (20%)
  
• 10g aloe vera (10%)
  
• 2g hydrolyzed silk protein (2%)
  
• 53g very warm water (53%)
  

Cool-down phase (10%)

• 2g honeyquat (2%)
  
• 4g sucragel (4%)
  
• 2g panthenol (2%)
  
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
  
• 1g fragrance oil (1%)
  

Method

1. You will need one pyrex bowl to create a bain marie (a.k.a. double boiler)
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
3. Create a bain marie. Leave on the heat for 5 minutes after all the ingredients have dissolved. If all the ingredients are liquid, leave on the heat 5 minutes after all the ingredients have heated up.
4. Stir regularly and thoroughly.
5. Take off the heat.
6. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
7. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
8. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.
   

Application

• As a leave-in detangler apply to dry hair before styling. If you feel you need a bit more moisture, add a leave-in conditioner (a.k.a. moisturizer).
• To make you your own moisturizer see nenonatural.com/DIYmoisturizers.

Storage
The shelf life of is 9 months. Store in a cool, dry place.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Detangler Recipes

A leave-in detangler is a specialized moisturizer. Some moisturizers are very good at softening hair whilst others are far better at detangling; calling a moisturizer a detangler just makes it clear that the moisturizer in question is designed to help remove tangles in hair. As such, you can expect a detangler to have a higher concentration of ingredients known to detangle hair.

How Do Detanglers Work?

Detanglers work by smoothing the hair cuticle down. This is done by other filling in gaps in damaged hair or by lowering the pH - a low pH cause the shingle-like layers of the hair cuticle to lie flat and in this position they are less likely to get caught onto neighboring hair to create a tangle.

Ingredients in hair detanglers also lubricate the surface of hair. The more lubricated the hair is the easier it is to separate already tangled strands.

Which Ingredients Detangle?

Silicones (e.g., dimethicone or cyclomethicone)

Silicones bind to the surface of hair and lubricate the hair cuticle to help with detangling.

Acidifier (e.g. citric acid)

Acidic ingredients lower the pH of a detangler. The lower pH strengthens the hydrogen bonds between keratin molecules in hair, smoothing the hair cuticle and making it easier to separate hair strands from each other.

Hydrolyzed Proteins (e.g. oat protein)

Proteins helps to repair damaged keratin by filling in any damage along the hair cuticle. This creates a smoother hair cuticle that is less prone to tangling.

Cationic compounds and polymers, e.g. BTMS

Cationic compounds also lubricate and smooth out the hair cuticle.

Carrier Oils

Oils lubricate our hair and help to fill in any gaps in dry or damaged hair. This creates softer, more pliable hair that is less likely to tangle.  

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free DIY Hair Product Recipes

Ref: Hair Detangler

This recipe is for a pre-shampoo detangler that will also soften your hair. The high content of glycerin means that you cannot use this as a leave-in product. 

Heated phase (92%)

• 3g Incroquat CR (3%)
• 2g cetromonium chloride (2%)
• 10g glycerin (10%)
• 77g very warm water (77%)
  

Cool-down phase (8%)

• 4g olive squalane (4%)
• 2g panthenol (2%)
• 1g optiphen preservative (1%)
• 1g fragrance oil (1%)
  

This has too much glycerin to be used as a leave-in detangler.

Method

1. You will need one pyrex bowl to create a bain marie (a.k.a. double boiler)
2. Weigh out the heated water phase ingredients into a pyrex dish.
3. Create a bain marie. Leave on the heat for 5 minutes after all the ingredients have dissolved. If all the ingredients are liquid, leave on the heat 5 minutes after all the ingredients have heated up.
4. Stir regularly and thoroughly.
5. Take off the heat.
6. Continue to stir gently until the mixture has cooled down and thickened.
7. Allow to cool to just more than hand hot (45°C if you want to be specific) then add the cool-down phase ingredients. To be honest 45°C is a bit more than hand but I am so scared of inactivating the cool-down phase ingredients that I would rather not risk it.
8. Allow the formulation to cool completely then bottle it up.
   

Application

• As a pre-poo detanglers apply before you shampoo your hair.
  
• To make your own shampoo see nenonatural.com/DIYshampoos.
  

Storage
The shelf life of is 9 months. Store in a cool, dry place.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.


You might also like:

• Neno Natural's Free Detangler Recipes