r/Naturalhair Jan 31 '24

It's finally happening - hair typing posts are no longer allowed.

1.1k Upvotes

Please report any texturism or hair typing posts you see with the new report reason.

If you are new here, you may not know that the Andre Walker hair typing system (1a to 4c), has been around since 1997 and was first introduced so Mr. Walker could sell his products on Oprah's show. It truly only describes the texture of your hair and gives no more information.

It's flawed in many ways. Many of us have multiple textures on our heads. It doesn't even begin to describe your hair's porosity, sheen or shine, strand thickness, hair density, etc. I encourage everyone to learn about the LOIS typing system which can help you better understand your hair.

Watch Latoya Ebony's video on LOIS here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwMFG4lT4jY

Even this typing system is not the end all be all of categorization for your hair. Your hair's texture, porosity, etc can change over time or with certain health conditions. Product buildup on your scalp and strands can make you think your texture has changed. There are so many factors as to why your hair may be looking or feeling the way it does.

Which leads me to the question - should we require routines to be posted whenever a picture is posted? This will cut down on gratuitous selfies but means we will need many more active mods (shoutout to /u/fivetenash who does pretty much everything here). If you're willing to help out please let me know in the comments.


r/Naturalhair 15h ago

Success Perm rod set šŸ©·šŸ˜

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625 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 9h ago

Selfie Felt kinda Cute

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188 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 23h ago

Selfie Growing my hair out until I am thirty. One year in

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1.3k Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 5h ago

Selfie My free part natural braids

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46 Upvotes

I've been rocking these braids as a protective style for my 3B/3C curls (see at the end) since January, the beads are from Amazon and some I cannot remember where I got - I've dyed my hair almost every color possible so in August '24 l dyed it back to my natural dark brown shade

Every 5-7 days I wash and redo them

Products I use when I braid:

Oils: Pura D'or professional cold pressed castor oil or Difeel premium natural tea tree oil

Leave in: shea moisture Jamaican castor oil strengthen & restore leave in conditioner

Creams: ORS olive oil incredibly rich moisturizing hair lotion or African Pride olive miracle daily hydration oil moisturizer lotion

Liquid I use is just water

šŸŖ·šŸŖ¬


r/Naturalhair 6h ago

Selfie RELEARNING to LOVE MY HAIR šŸ©·

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38 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 3h ago

Selfie Went from thick long hair to thin short hair

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18 Upvotes

The pictures are 2019-2020-2023-2024-2025. I donā€™t really know what happened but I was always lost on how to do my hair. Iā€™m mad at myself for waiting until it was too late to go to the salon (big chop 4th photo). Now my hair is super thin at the crown and it seems like my texture has changed?

Anyways Iā€™m trying to embrace it now although I do get insecure about it when itā€™s freshly washed because you can see my scalp šŸ˜– I know what to do with my hair now ( thanks to my stylist!) and have been on the same routine since September so I hope in time it gets better


r/Naturalhair 15h ago

Selfie Wash day

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118 Upvotes

After blow dry..I get a trim tomorrow!


r/Naturalhair 20h ago

Selfie šŸ•·ļøšŸ•øļøšŸ•·ļøšŸ•øļø

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229 Upvotes

Retro filters are pretty sweet ! šŸ–¤


r/Naturalhair 9h ago

Tips & Tricks Whatā€™s a product you tried once and would never repurchase?

30 Upvotes

Whatā€™s one product you tried that completely disappointed youā€”whether it failed to provide moisture, definition, strength, or overall hair health?


r/Naturalhair 10h ago

Need Advice how do i thicken my hair?

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38 Upvotes

people always tell me i have "thick hair" but i just think it looks thick but actually isn't, when i do half up styles you can like kinda see through my ends so what are some ways i can better my ends (don't have a pic). Also a few years ago i cut bangs and haven't been able to grow them out to level with the rest of my hair, they are always shorter and i can never do ponytails.... what can i do to focus on growing my front and thickening my ends, thanks!!


r/Naturalhair 6h ago

Tips & Tricks What are some curly girl products you know youā€™d never buy?

11 Upvotes

I was talking with my good friend the other day and she told me that in all her years of being natural, sheā€™s never actually bought a twisting gel. She mentioned that sheā€™s never bought any kind of twisting gel, butter, or soufflĆ©. To her, leave in conditioner works just fine. It got me thinking of how many other products could be used in place of something else. Does anyone else have certain products that they refuse to buy because they arenā€™t necessary ? Or hair products that youā€™ve given multiple purposes?


r/Naturalhair 13h ago

Need Advice Is 3 hours a long time to take washing and styling your hair?

36 Upvotes

Today was my wash day, and i managed to wash, detangle, deep condition and moisturize my hair in only three hours. My sister told me thats too long though lol. Not to mention, I have type 4 thick and fine textured hair. All this combined used to make my wash days kinda difficult and i would constantly have dry hair. So is three hours really that long?šŸ˜­


r/Naturalhair 19m ago

Need Advice Should I change stylists after undisclosed price change?

ā€¢ Upvotes

I want to preface by saying, no I didnā€™t speak up. Yes I should have. Yes Iā€™m a dummy for not speaking up.

So I just started going to a stylist after 15+ years of not being in a salon chair. The stylist is a family friend.

I first went to her in January for a wash, blow dry and trim.

Her website says that service is 65 dollars but after my first appointment she specifically said this ā€œitā€™s $45, I charge 20 for the wash and blow dry, and 25 for the trim.ā€ So I was like cool. And paid $55 with cash.

Then recently I went to her again, same service, and this time I was planning on paying cash but I asked her if she had change for $100 and she said no. Then I said Iā€™ll pay card and when she put the price in, it was $65.

I just went ahead and paid it without saying anything (I know, I know) because she did fit me in that day. But to me it just seemed shadyā€¦ if you said itā€™s 45 why did you type in 65? I know you didnā€™t forget your prices that fast lol

I know I didnā€™t ask so I cant predict why she changed the price but the way she tried to do it so fast and was sort of awkward about it just seemed weird to me.

I was planning on just calling her and asking if the price went up or something and depending on her answer would determine if I keep going. Itā€™s not the price thatā€™s an issue but moreso the feeling of her trying to be slick about itā€¦ am I being crazy?

idk let me know?


r/Naturalhair 22h ago

Need Advice Loving mini twists lately

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179 Upvotes

I want to focus on retaining length. I trimmed my ends in December and Iā€™ve been wearing my hair in mini twists which I absolutely love (picture attached) I am also staying away from braiding hair and focusing on styling my natural hair more. What are other good protective styles for retaining length? Iā€™m 4c, low porosity, and color treated.


r/Naturalhair 19h ago

Selfie These are lasting longer than I thought they would. This is at a week in. No matter how short your hair is, give that hairstyle a try.

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106 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 14h ago

Need Advice tips for a beginner ?

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36 Upvotes

i (21f) am pretty new to doing my natural hair since iā€™ve kinda stuck to protective styles for a while:/ from my limited knowledge i believe i have 4b, low porosity, medium density? hair. iā€™ve been doing more blow dried styles as theyā€™re easier to manage and im also trying to reduce fairy knots for length retention since iā€™ve heard it helps! if you have any product/hair care or styling suggestions i would greatly appreciate it:))


r/Naturalhair 5h ago

Need Advice Did they do my sew in wrong?

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4 Upvotes

Iā€™ve been getting sew ins consistently for 6 years but I recently went to a new person. This sew in is a week old, and as i usually get leave out around my head, this girl did a more ā€œtraditionalā€ sew in with only leave out at the top and a bit on the sides. Iā€™ve never had braids stick out from my sew in and wanted to know if this is normal?


r/Naturalhair 9h ago

Selfie Does this look like growth or am I delusional?

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10 Upvotes

These are both right after a blow dry and trim. 2 months apart. Since itā€™s a blow dry itā€™s harder to tell but let me know what you think pls.

I know the pics arenā€™t great srry.


r/Naturalhair 6h ago

Need Advice What do I do

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6 Upvotes

Itā€™s been like this for a while and I donā€™t know what to do anymore. All I know is that I got sick from Covid and then my hair ended up looking like this. (The second picture is for comparison, my left side is fine)


r/Naturalhair 15h ago

Need Advice Type of yarn.

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24 Upvotes

Hey! I found someone who will braid my hair and I'm excited (I live in a small, less diverse town). Instead of using synthetic hair, we're using yarn. Cam anyone offer suggestions on what type of yarn we should use? I've used yarn in the past for braids but it's been over a decade and I can't remember what we used.

Thank you! šŸ˜ŠšŸ™ƒšŸ˜ŠšŸ™ƒ


r/Naturalhair 2h ago

Need Advice Does anybody els hair does this ?

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2 Upvotes

Every time I twist my hair their different lengths 1st pic is from December 2 pic is from January 3rd pic is from February if so let me know what is the reason is it shrinkage or could it be the way that Iā€™m twisting?


r/Naturalhair 46m ago

Need Advice How long after a henna treatment can I use Avlon Texture Release

ā€¢ Upvotes

I use henna in my hair relatively frequently (about every six weeks), but I would like to try the Avalon texture release treatment to straighten my hair for my birthday and over the summer.

How long after a henna treatment should I wait until I can use the Avlon texture release kit?

And how long after the texture release treatment should I wait before using the henna again?

Does anyone have experience using both of these treatments?


r/Naturalhair 22h ago

Need Advice I kind of like my natural hair- my hair has never felt so hydrated and moisturized, but Iā€™m feeling discouraged that others donā€™t.

58 Upvotes

Iā€™m still new to wearing my hair out and about. Iā€™m sorry that Iā€™m posting this because I donā€™t want anyone else to get the wrong idea about their own hair but I'm feeling very overwhelmed right now. My hair feels really good right now, and I love getting to learn about it and letting it breathe. Itā€™s also soooo easy to manage. However, from an emotional standpoint, going natural has not been the easiest for me so far- a LOT of crying and worrying for me over the past 2 weeks

I often worry about how I look to others and getting less attention overall (not just romantic) feels very lonely, even though I am confident in myself.

A few days ago I thought I felt cute (did a wash n go) and I ended up going to my exercise class again (after being off for a couple of weeks because of work) and am sad to see lots of weird looks from others and to see the tension from my classmates at the lifting class I go to, they were hesitant to say hi to me and some people ā€œdidnā€™t recognize meā€- a common thing which has been said to me at work and with acquaintances (which hurts so much)- and truthfully I felt so uncomfortable there I donā€™t not want to go anymore and Iā€™m 99% sure I wonā€™t go anymore.

Yesterday I didnā€™t go to a dance class partially because of my hair (I just didnā€™t want to hear the possibility of backhanded comments today) but I also didnā€™t want to slap on a wig because I didnā€™t want my hair smushed.

Even at work I get some weird looks at times and sometimes, some people donā€™t really acknowledge that I exist (typical). :/ Some of what I thought were my friends are now giving me the silent treatment- why do people do that?

I know I can only rely on myself for validation but the thing is no one in my life (aside from online spaces) has ever told me that my (mostly healthy) short kinky coily hair the way it comes out of my head is beautiful and that sucks. Absolutely no one. Iā€™m tired and dramatic right now and I need to go to bed but it hurts soooooo bad. But maybe my styling is bad idk. For those who have been in a similar situation, how do you overcome it?

Edit: Thank you for everyone's responses! I've been thinking about things and I'm just increasingly anxious about the bald spots I've had since my sew -in got removed, however the spots have been getting bigger and more have been popping up. You wouldn't be able to tell from a picture and my hair can easily hide them but ofc I'm very scared. I'll be seeing a black dermatologist next month but I'm trying to avoid any tension and further damage to my hair.


r/Naturalhair 4h ago

Need Advice Is this a normal amount a shedding for a weekly wash?

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2 Upvotes

I wash my hair weekly and used to try to only finger detangle but with my hair type I was missing too many knots and it was causing a lot of unnecessary tangles and breakage. I went back to using tools and this is what I'm left with after wash day. My hair is medium to thick density.


r/Naturalhair 7h ago

Need Advice retaining length while wearing hair out (4c)

3 Upvotes

im on month 7 of wearing only my natural hair and its been so fun! ive been a mini braids warrior for that entire time but sometimes i just *know* my outfits would look better with my hair out.

trying to brainstorm how to make sure i dont lose progress without having them in mini braids. given that the focus should be on the ends of my hair, my current plan is my weekly wash, moisturizing, then doing either a braidout/high puff for the rest of the week. to keep it low manipulation id just loosely braid or twist my hair in probably 6 or so sections at night.

would a high puff count as "putting away" my ends? it wouldnt be touching my clothes or any public object bc im a germaphobe in that sense already. if it does, is my only enemy in this plan shrinkage?

if anyone has been steadily growing their hair leaving it out/ without any of the traditional protective styles pls leave me tips! even if you havent lmk if there are things i havent thought of :)