Fact: There is SO much information about natural hair. From brands to publications to podcasts - we’re all bombarded with endless amounts of content about our curls, coils, and kinks. But we’re also here to tell you, that not all information is factual, which further complicates our beauty routine. 

So, we want to share a few things we’ve learned on our journeys and while building CurlMix as natural haired folks, with the hope these debunked myths will enhance your hair experience. 

MYTH: Co-washing is the best kind of cleanse for natural hair.

Naturals swear by co-washing as a way to cleanse our hair, as this method is thought to be gentler on our strands. But often, choosing co-washing happens out of fear and not having a full understanding of how cleansed hair looks and feels.

 

"Co-washes & cleansing conditioners are gentle cleansing formulas comprised mainly of conditioning agents with a small percentage of gentle surfactants." - CurlMix founder & CEO Kim Lewis

 

So while your hair may feel soft, there’s a high probability that it isn’t actually clean. When our hair is thoroughly and properly cleansed, it will feel what we at CurlMix like to describe as “squeaky clean like a dish”.

This feeling means we have a clean slate and have lifted all the product build-up accumulated from applying leave-ins, creams, oils, and butters since our last wash session. You can’t achieve this kind of cleansing using just a co-wash because they do not contain the number of surfactants necessary to remove heavy build-up from the hair.

This doesn’t mean that co-washes are harmful or should be eliminated from our routines. However, if using a co-wash, we recommend it as a bridge product, mid-way through weekly washes. Just be sure that you are using a  Clarifying Shampoo as well to cleanse at least once a month.

Myth: Expensive products are the best performing products.

This is highly debatable, but we believe hair care products should be accessible and affordable and that they should perform well, no matter the price point. 

With that being said, it is important to keep in mind that premium products with a higher price point are often highly-concentrated with the healthy ingredients our hair needs to thrive.

The higher concentrations of those ingredients mean we won't need to use a lot to get amazing results. This is in comparison with products that focus on price point over quality, which often need more product application to get great results.

We will go through products faster this way which equals visiting the beauty supply or our favorite beauty retailer 2-3 times more often.

Myth: Natural hair needs daily refreshes.

Many naturals believe our hair needs products added to it every day to keep it looking fresh. The truth is if we’re caring for our hair well on wash day by thoroughly cleansing, applying the right amount of product and water, and setting our hair - we shouldn’t have to add much.

We have a hard time believing this because there’s a lot of misinformation that labels natural hair care as super complex, but the opposite is true. Natural hair actually requires less effort!

And by less effort, we mean using fewer products on our hair to address any concerns because we’re evaluating and adjusting our techniques to cater to our hair’s needs. In return, our kinks, curls, and coils do what we want them to do.

Applying a number of products each day only causes more build-up on our hair. This can do more harm than good because we’re blocking moisture absorption which our hair needs to remain healthy and hold different styles.

This journey of understanding is continuous, so we want to keep this dialogue open and continue to share more unpopular truths over time.

And we’re even more interested in hearing from you!

So what do you think?

What have you learned about caring for your curls? Are there any parts of your hair journey that you feel confused about?

We want to hear from you, so comment down below.