I guess this is the end, my friend! We finally reached the end of the 3-part #HairRoutinePrepWork post series. Well… we’re not quite done yet ’cause I still have to give you the deets, right!? 😉 In this post series, I’ve taken you through the 3 common mistakes people make when building a hair regimen and 2 things you need to know before you build it. Here’s a sum up of what we’ve covered so far:

3 Mistakes You’re Making When Building Your Natural Hair Care Routine
2 Things You Need To Know Before You Build Your Curly Hair Routine
3 Things You Need To Consider For A Stress-Free Curly Hair Routine

In today’s post, I’ll help you consider how stress-free you want your curly hair routine to be. You see, there is this misconceived idea that being natural is super hard, expensive and that wash day takes up all of your time. In all honesty, your hair routine can be as hard, as expensive and as time-consuming as you want it to be. Surprised? No need to be.

The truth is, there are people who can develop simple routines that don’t take much of their time and others who develop long and elaborate ones. The good news is if you thought you were destined to have the latter, you’re not! You decide what you want to do, but I guess we all want a stress-free hair routine, right!? So to help you do that there are three things you need to consider.

Now, before I go any further, I highly advise to go back and read the other two posts in this series, if you haven’t already. That way we can all be on the same page. Don’t forget to download your free worksheet to follow along with this post.

Now,if you’re done reading let’s get started, okay?!

1#| Lifestyle

When building a hair routine you should always consider your lifestyle. It’s important to find the time to take proper care of your hair, however, it can be hard to so with our busy work lives and trying to also fit in time for family, friends and the things we enjoy doing.

Just as there’s no point in adding this, that and the other in your hair routine and then feel like your life revolves around your hair, or that you can’t keep up with a long to-do list, there is also no point in making a hair routine so simple that you miss important steps in it, which can possibly damage your hair. Both are a big No-No.

Consider this:

If all the information out there scares you, start by incorporating new practices and products slowly. As you feel more comfortable, substitute or add up more practices, preferably a better one.

If you’re the frugal type, you can continue to be so. Buying or trying all different sorts of hair products won’t get you ‘ahead of the game’. The results you get with hair products are more connected to how you use and apply them – your technique. So focus on that. You don’t need to go broke, use what you have. In fact, if your hair journey has just started constantly changing products and hair techniques before you’re even attuned to your hair can work against you.

Be realistic about your time. Could you spend a little less time watching TV, or ‘socialising’ on social media and devote that time to taking care of your hair? Or, if you can’t abdicate your favourite sit-com, why not combine both and pre-poo, deep condition or braid your hair while you watch your favourite show?

2#| Simplicity

How simple is your hair routine? I understand the enthusiasm of wanting to do everything that is best for our curly hair and end up going all in. Yes, you build a hair routine where you try every trick in the book or everything that comes to you in a whisper. But you gotta be smart about this.

The more complicated your hair routine is the quicker you’ll burn out and, honestly, you want the time you take care of your hair to be an enjoyable one, not one that feels like just another duty in your life. I would say that to make things simple and easy, the essential parts of a natural hair routine are Cleansing, Conditioning, Deep Conditioning and Moisturising. In Shed & Rescue, I go through all this and we devise a hair regimen that suits you.

However, you can level up by including a Pre-poo before Cleansing or an oil rinse after Conditioning, for instance. But, there’s even more. You can seal your hair, you can do weekly scalp massages, tea rinses, standing upside down to increase hair growth,…

See where I’m going here?! Simple or elaborate, you decide! My advice is to start simple and as you get more skilful you add another step or technique or try another product. Be smart, don’t shoot yourself in the foot trying to do more than you can handle and get totally frustrated with your hair and your journey. (Check this post for hair regimen guidance)

3#| Frequency

Frequency ties in with points number one and two. How often you shampoo, co-wash or deep condition your hair is closely connected to your lifestyle and how simple you want your hair routine to be. While there are some hair practices in a hair routine that are best done on a monthly schedule, others must stick to a weekly or fortnightly frequency. Here’s some guidance:

Weekly or Fortnightly

Pre-Poo
Scalp Massage
Wash
Co-Wash
Conditioning
Deep Conditioning
Oil Rinse
Moisturise
Sealing
Hairstyle

Monthly

Pre-poo
Scalp Massage
Clarifying
Oil Rinse
Protein Deep Conditioner
Hair Trim (every 3 to 4 months)

There are, of course, other hair care practices you could include here and, as you can see, some can be done weekly, fortnightly or even monthly, it will depend on how simple or complex you want things to be and again how this will fit in with your lifestyle. Many of the hair care practices mentioned above, though very well known, are unnecessary. I like to discuss this in my coaching calls, your hair regimen shouldn’t stress you up.

When deciding the frequency certain hair practices will have in your hair routine think through these questions:

Does a weekly hair wash followed by moisturising and hairstyling make you feel anxious or completely confident or doable if done fortnightly?
Is the decision to have a weekly hair wash routine dependent on how simple or not it is?
Does being physically active or professionally busy determine how often your hair routine will be?

To help you with all these questions I created a free 4-page worksheet guide to help you decide how simple and how frequent your hair regimen will be. You will also find a chart that will guide your hair needs in accordance with what we talked about in the second post in this series.

It’s been fun writing the #HairRoutinePrepWork series and I hope it was helpful to you guys. Now it’s up to you to start building your hair regimen having in mind the tips I shared with you throughout this 3-part post series. I REALLY want you to start working on it today so make sure you download the free pdf! If you do, please use the #HairRoutinePrepWork hashtag and tag me (@curlyhairlounge) so that I can cheer you on wherever you like to you sprinkle your awesomeness, virtually! 😀