Caring for Natural Hair During the Pandemic
For the natural hair community, the health of their curls, coils, and kinks is extremely important. Caring for their hair can be a part of their daily, weekly, or monthly routine. They rely on things like beauty stores and stylists to help them along their natural hair journey and maintaining the health of their hair.
How the Pandemic has affected Natural Hair Care
The pandemic has altered the lives of many immensely. Many changes have been made to our everyday routines, including how we care for our hair. Many salons and stores shut down as mandated per CDC guidelines. Preventing many from getting haircuts, treatments, and products to care for their natural hair causing them to begin to take matters into their own hands.
My experience caring for my natural hair in the pandemic is very similar. Due to the pandemic, I resulted to doing at-home trims and trying DIYs. Many of the beauty stores around me were forced to shut down and the local grocery stores that were allowed to stay open did not carry many products that catered to natural hair. I did not have access to many of the beloved products I purchase often to care for my hair. As anyone else would do, I ran to YouTube, Pinterest, and Tik Tok to find recipes for DIY leave-ins, gels, and deep conditioners to keep my curls moisturized and bouncy. There was a lot of trial and error while trying to recreate the new DIY recipes I found online. However, to my surprise, I found a few recipes that work wonders on my curls and I still use them today even after the lockdown was lifted.
The pandemic has inspired me and many others to learn new tricks and tips to care for our natural hair during times like now. It has brought out the creative side in many of us and did not stop us from maintaining the health of our amazing curls. I would like to share some of the new recipes that I have learned during this year-long experience:
DIY Shea Butter Leave-in
If your hair needs loads of moisture this is the perfect DIY leave-in for you. It is designed to deeply moisturize your locks and lock in the moisture as well. Shea butter contains fatty acids and vitamins great for softening, moisturizing, and adding shine to your hair. Meanwhile, coconut milk soothes the scalp preventing hair loss and dandruff.
Ingredients:
- 3 tsp. Shea Butter
- 3 tsp. Jojoba Oil
- ½ cup of Coconut Milk
Directions:
- Place the shea butter in a glass container and place it in boiling water until it melts.
- Slowly mix in the coconut milk
- Add 3 tsp. of jojoba oil
- Place mixture into a spray bottle
- Optional: Instead of placing in a spray bottle. You can whip up the mixture to create a smooth, fluffy cream.
DIY Flaxseed Gel
Flaxseed gel is known for creating beautiful defined, bouncy curls. Flaxseeds are rich in omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin e. These are known to nourish and improve the health of your scalp. Promoting hair growth, moisture, and improving the strength of your hair.
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup of flaxseeds
- 2 cups of water
- ¼ cup of aloe vera gel
- 15 drops of avocado oil
- 3 drops of lavender essential oil
Directions:
- Place the flaxseeds and water in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Boil for 6-8 minutes. Mix the flaxseeds and water often to prevent the flaxseeds from sticking to the pan
- Keep boiling until the mixture becomes a slimy, gel-like texture. Once achieved, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Once cooled, use a pantyhose to line the rim of a large measuring cup. Pour the mixture from the pot into the large measuring cup.
- Squeeze the pantyhose to strain the remaining gel into the container.
- Add in the aloe vera gel, avocado oil, and lavender essential oil and mix well.
- Pour contents into a container and place in the fridge
The flaxseed gel can last up to 2 weeks. You can add preservatives to increase the longevity of the gel.
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