Big Chop 101: A Breakdown of The Products & Tools You Need After Your Big Chop

Hey guys! How you doin'? Hope your week is going well :)

Before I went natural I did a lot of YouTube research on products I would need when I cut my hair. There were so many products being recommended and so much information about ingredients that are bad for your hair. It ended up confusing me so I just got coconut oil and conditioner to wash my hair with.

This is a breakdown of some important products and tools that you need that can help you in trying to decide what you need to get for your hair. I will give examples of products but I can't tell you which particular brand of a product to buy because, everyone's hair is different and reacts differently to different products.

1. CLEANSER

Even though a lot of people with natural hair co-wash (condition wash), we still have to cleanse after a while. Conditioner is good for washing your hair because it cleans your hair without stripping it of a lot of moisture. However, after a while you need to cleanse your scalp of oils, sweat or any product build up you may have. Shampoo can be really drying to your hair so I would advice that you either look for a shampoo that won't dry out your hair (Giovanni Deep Moisture Shampoo does this for me) or you try out other cleansers like Bentonite Clay and Rhassoul Clay.


2. CONDITIONER

This was basically what confused me the most before  I cut my hair. I was like okay I need conditioner to wash my hair but what is deep conditioner, what is leave-in? And I was supposed to buy all of them? It was just too much information.

Rinse-out Conditioner

This is really important and should be one of the first products you get. You can use this for co-washing, deep conditioning and even moisturising your hair. I haven't used rinse out conditioner to moisturise my hair before but, when I didn't really know what deep conditioning was and I didn't have a deep conditioner I used it to deep condition my hair. There are good rinse out conditioners that are cheap like v05 and Herbal Essences.


Deep Conditioner

Deep conditioning is really important for keeping your hair healthy and it helps with keeping your moisture levels up. You can read this post Deep Conditioning 101  if you're not sure what deep conditioning is or how to deep condition. It's easier to deep condition when you've just cut your hair because you don't have to twist it.
You can use your rinse out conditioner or you can use a Deep Conditioner like Cantu Deep Treatment Masque, Shea Moisture Masque, etc.

Leave-In Conditioner

A leave-in conditioner helps in moisturising your hair. It's best to use this on damp hair and after this, seal in the moisture with an oil or cream. There are so many leave-ins to choose from. I recommended Cantu leave in last week to someone because even though it doesn't really work for my hair anymore, it can still work for someone else. 

3. MOISTURISER

Leave in conditioner can come under this because it moisturises your hair. Other examples of products that moisturise hair are glycerine and aloe vera gel/juice. Glycerine works really well for some people (like me) but it doesn't work for others so keep that in mind. 


4.  SEALANTS

Sealants are what you use after moisturising your hair to seal in the moisture. Good sealants are oils and butters e.g shea butter. Oils don't moisturise your hair so don't forget that you need to moisturise your hair before using a sealant.

5. SPRAY BOTTLE

A spray bottle is a very useful hair tool. You can use it to spritz your scalp and hair with water alone or  water and any product that will moisturise your hair. You can add glycerine, aloe vera juice or conditioner for example, and any oil of your choice. You don't have to put all these products in your spray bottle so, you can start off with water and an oil and see how it goes. I always have water, glycerine and castor oil in my spray bottle.

6. SATIN SCARF, BONNET OR PILLOW 

A satin scarf, bonnet or pillow is an investment. Cotton pillowcases are seriously drying to your hair. Have you ever tried sleeping on a cotton pillowcase after oiling your scalp or moisturising your hair? The time I tried it there was a big patch of oil on my pillowcase and I bought a satin scarf the next day.

The thing about a satin scarf though, is that it can slide off your head and you'll find it at the bottom of the bed the next morning (it happened to me). If you're sure you can keep it on your head all night, that's good. I have a satin bonnet which is really awesome because it's tight and it doesn't come off. I also use a satin pillowcase for days when I want to sleep without a satin scarf or bonnet.

I hope this helps. If there's anything that's still confusing you feel free to ask in the comments section or send me an e-mail. You can also read this post on 7 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Going Natural.

Oyime :)