r/Naturalhair Jan 31 '24

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

1.3k 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 12h ago

Selfie I tried a braid and curl

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995 Upvotes

I think this may be my signature hairstyle from now on. And don’t mind my crooked glasses lol.


r/Naturalhair 4h ago

Success My hair progress over about a year an a half

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140 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 5h ago

Need Advice Should I style my hair like this for school tomorrow?

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137 Upvotes

I've been having my hair straightened since I was in elementary school, and I've been wanting to wear my natural hair out for a few years now, but I'm extremely self conscious and I worry that someone will make fun of my hair or say that it looks unkempt or messy. The picture is my hair freshly washed with a couple products for moisture and curl definition. I wish I was one of those people that felt confident with their natural hair, but since I've literally never left the house with my hair styled like this, I'm very nervous. I am now a high school senior, and I really want to wear my hair like this to school tomorrow. Please let me know if I should, or if it looks bad. Just please be honest so I don't embarrass myself😵‍💫 All advice is appreciated.


r/Naturalhair 15h ago

Need Advice I did fulani braids for the first time 2 days ago and I've been wearing a beanie ever since.

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283 Upvotes

I usually do normal cornrows but I decided to give this style a go. It looked dope in a picture I saw but in reality it makes me feel like I'm trying to look like a school girl.

Am I correct with this assessment or am I just over thinking this?


r/Naturalhair 7h ago

Selfie To all my regular gel curly girlies with long hair, y'all have a strength I don't understand. Y'all win

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42 Upvotes

Reddit gets on my nerves but anyway, all y'all curly girlies who take the time to detangle, gel, and diffuse your hair are troopers. I tried it because I didn't want to spend hours twisting since I have a lot of hair. Mistakes were made and I look cute but still! Idk how y'all do it and I already wash my hair once a week because I workout daily. I should have done the twists even with my silk press upcomingggg


r/Naturalhair 7h ago

Review I fear the new Pattern straightener is worth the hype

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33 Upvotes

Results on my 3C hair, it is silked DOWN. I have never been able to get my hair as silky with my normal straightener, this looks like I just walked out of a salon! Worth the $120 in my opinion.


r/Naturalhair 23h ago

Need Advice big chop!

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383 Upvotes

hi all! i recently big chopped (at home) and i’m learning how to care for my natural hair for the first time in forever!! i’m biracial and my hair is the thickest and kinky/coilyist out of my sisters…and my mom didn’t know what to do with my hair. i got relaxers growing up, tried braids at one point, then went natural but fried my hair to a crisp every day in middle/high school. in college i discovered the keratin treatment (which honestly, had my hair in a decent state) but would always wear it straight. fast forward to now…i did a lot of coloring in the new year, then went to my hairstylist of 7 years and she completely fried my hair off with bleach. I had asked for a light brown color (pictured above) and left blonde. i went to a new stylist for a color correction and she cut a lot off and toned it down a bit. i was going back to get it toned down for a few months (april-august) and then i got a bob. the bob was awful…1/4 of my hair was my natural texture and the rest was straight damaged and breaking off still, despite treatment after treatment and product after product. i was trying to style it and got so fed up i ended up cutting all the straight pieces off!! at first it felt so freeing but now i’m dealing with some regret (which i heard is normal). i just keep trying to tell myself that this is probably what was best ( i was honestly just slicking my hair back everyday bc i wasn’t able to camouflage the two textures) and now i can grow healthy strong hair. I am tiredddd of spending money on my hair!!! i am ready to just leave it in its natural state and embrace my curls. i’ve been wearing a lot of silk scarves as i go to the gym at least 4x a week and sweat absolute buckets. i’m also still pretty self conscious of my hair as i did this last week. this is the first time i am styling my curls in…years…so if anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated! i am looking into a curly hair salon in my city bc it’s definitely uneven in some parts…and they’ll be able to give me some recommendations as well. i am excited for this journey!!


r/Naturalhair 24m ago

Selfie Content suggestions ⭐️

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Upvotes

I took a break from social media to focus on nursing school. Give me videos suggestions please.
@anajanaturals @anajashania


r/Naturalhair 14h ago

Need Advice Anyone else use Innersense?

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21 Upvotes

My curls have loved Innersense curl products for a couple years now. I bought the giant wholesale size curl shampoo, conditioner and curl memory gel.

I finally ran out and am debating between shelling out another $100ish to replace them or switching it up.

Anyone move from Innersense to other products as good or better?


r/Naturalhair 5h ago

Need Advice Recommend organic brand & leave in conditioner please

3 Upvotes

I'm trying to find a brand that is a 100% organic like organigrow but that isn't organigrow lol. Or if not a brand that at least most ingredients are organic

Also recommend me a leave in conditioner or a good hydrating cream, I'm not conditioning my hair right now because it's short but I still want to use a cream or leave in that hydrates and moisturizes it a lot.

My texture is 4a


r/Naturalhair 21h ago

Selfie Wearing my hair in a braidout today

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54 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Need Advice Products stopped working after going gray.

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786 Upvotes

One thing nobody warned me about going gray… some of my tried & true hair products just stopped working for me. 😭 I have a whole stash of products, and the gray is like, NOPE.
Anyone else?!


r/Naturalhair 9h ago

Need Advice Need Advice

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6 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with my hair regrowth and a specific scalp spot, and I’d appreciate some community feedback.

I have 4C hair and previously used a hair sponge quite heavily, which I now realize caused a lot of friction and pulling. Back around May, I noticed patchy and thinner areas towards the back of my head. Picking at an irritated spot turned it into a deep bleeding wound.

Between July and August, that spot completely closed up, became smooth skin, and tiny baby hairs were actually starting to sprout back. I have also been supplementing Iron, D3 (my levels were at 14 nmol/L), and B12 since July.

Today, September 1st, that exact same spot suddenly flared back up into a small scab on its own without me picking it. It feels tender and painful.

I previously saw a dermatologist who confirmed bacterial folliculitis, ruled out major permanent scarring conditions, and put me on Doxycycline 100mg daily. The patchy areas at the back don’t seem to be growing as fast as the rest of my head, and my long-term goal is to grow a full afro.

My main questions for the sub are:

  1. Does the back look like normal delayed regrowth (like Telogen Effluvium after trauma) or breakage from the sponge friction?
  2. What could cause a spot that was smooth skin for two months to suddenly flare into a scab again while taking oral antibiotics? Could it be a deep-rooted follicle infection?
  3. Since tiny baby hairs were sprouting before today's flare, does it look like those follicles are still alive and will recover?
  4. Has anyone dealing with recurrent folliculitis successfully grown out an afro without triggering more flares?

(Attached photos: Before vs. Current view of the back and scab)

(Last 2 pics are from today)


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Selfie Glad I’ve found this beautiful page

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107 Upvotes

r/Naturalhair 15h ago

Need Advice Denman d38 or tangle teezer?

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15 Upvotes

I'm currently on the search for a new brush to compliment my Unbrush during wash days. Yes, i use 2 brushes during my washdays. Since the Unbrush is very gentle i follow up with a more thorough detangler to get the tangles out as best as possible. I love my unbrush and that one isn't going anywhere and i've been using the naturally curly tangle teezer for 4c hair as my follow-up brush for almost 2 years now but i feel like it often times rips and snags my hair out because the bristles are stiffer and now that some of the bristles at the top are bent it's even worse. So i thought it's the perfect time to try out a new one

I've been contemplating between the denman d38 brush (1st picture) and the straight to curly large kind of the tangle teezer (2nd picture) bcs the denman one is so raved about and the tangle teezer is obviously also super popular for a reason but that maybe i just need a more gentle version. I know there's one for fine & fragile hair but i feel like that one might not be thorough enough for me because i have fine but also high density 4c hair.

Which one would you choose and why? If you tried both, which of the two did you prefer and why? I struggle with tangling and breakage so how did they perform in that aspect?


r/Naturalhair 1h ago

Need Advice Product to revitalize day 5 curls?

Upvotes

I need a routine that could hold me off one or two more days before wash, that doesn’t feel weighed down or “cakey”. I have a mix of loose and much more coily and I don’t mind washing my hair as soon as it’s looking worse for wear, but I’ve recently been swimming once a week, and that day is when I wash my hair. The problem is I swim on Thursdays, so by Monday or Tuesday my hair is just a dry mess. After I wash my hair I pretty much just blow dry and twist with a butter and don’t use any other products, and the following day when I take out the twists I get big bouncy curls.

My work is a bit labor intensive, and I sweat a lot because of it, and I live in a hot and humid city, so just my day to day sweats out the curls, and leaves my hair frizzy. I’d love a light weight product that I can apply to “DRY” few day old hair, that I can maybe twist the night before and give it a little more life and longevity, I only need it to last 1-2 days. Every product I’ve looked up, if they’re not just a water based “refresher” has instructions that they should be applied on clean damp hair. Any suggestions?


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Success I did boho twists on my natural hair!

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164 Upvotes

I love them so much!! Gonna do more extension-free protective styles.💕💕


r/Naturalhair 6h ago

Need Advice Curly pixie maintenance

2 Upvotes

for those of you who wear short curly pixies, how often do you get it cut and are you getting it cut on curly or blown out hair? I go every 6 weeks, but that means I spend two weeks hating it because it too short. I’m guessing I could get less cut off if I went more often. Also, she cuts on blown out hair and so I’m wondering if she’s underestimating my shrinkage. weeks 3-6 my hair looks great as it grows out.


r/Naturalhair 2h ago

Need Advice Hair stylist in NYC!

1 Upvotes

Im not sure if this is the right subreddit for this question but as the title suggests im looking for a black stylist in nyc to do my big chop so far im not having any luck searching tiktok hopefully u guys have some recommendations.


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Success Took Braids down and Did Wash and Go

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320 Upvotes

I did a wash and go yesterday. I tried the ECO Style Texture Edit Koily line in my hair. I think it turned out pretty well. I used the butter, cream, and the serum in that order. I’ll see how it lasts during the week but currently it is light, soft, and shiny.
I also used the Queen Helene Cholesterol conditioner and I was really impressed. I know it’s an older product but I had never used it before and it performed really well.


r/Naturalhair 14h ago

Need Advice HELP PLS

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5 Upvotes

It’s been almost a year and my hair is not budging. I’ve been trying to take iron supplements and chopping it but I’m at my wits end.


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Need Advice How do I make my curls more defined for wash and go's?

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44 Upvotes

I've been wearing an afro this summer because it's just easier to manage but I would like to shift to wash and go's. The first two pics are examples of what I thought I would see? The fifth photo (sorry it's out of order!) is freshly washed, the third is after I used African Pride Moisture Miracle Curling Cream and the last is what it looked like about 80% dry. Idk I felt like maybe it would be more defined? Any tips? Do I need to use a different product or method?

Ps: please mind my lucky holed shirt and my big ole forehead 🤣


r/Naturalhair 11h ago

Need Advice Ffs puffy blow out

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2 Upvotes

Somone pls tell me I can straighten it still💔


r/Naturalhair 1d ago

Need Advice I’ve worn wigs for over half my life

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104 Upvotes

I have been wearing wigs since a freshman in high school. Literally no one has seen my natural hair since. Now that I’m getting older, I really want to start embracing my curls but I’m just not comfortable walking like this outside yet. I did a big chop Jan 2025 because I didn’t take care of my hair properly and now I do… Don’t mind my goofy face expression but I just wanted to post this in hopes that it’ll be the first step in this journey. If anyone else has gone through this or just has tips to encourage my natural hair transition, I would really appreciate it!