1. Silk/Satin Bonnet or Scarf

 I feel that this is one of the most important essentials for anyone looking to start taking better care of their hair and retaining length.

I’m going to just keep it g, I never used to cover my hair before bed. Yup, I went 21 years without protecting my hair from the harsh rough cotton pillowcases #thuglife .  Not because I didn’t  like my hair or anything I just didn’t know. Like literally didn’t know   Ignorance is bliss right? WRONG.  Ignorance is ignorance, and is what lead to my severely dry and damaged hair back then. >_>

Going to bed with something protecting you hair is key to retaining moisture and overall health. Cotton is very absorbent,  literally sucking the much needed moisture and oils from you hair overnight. Cotton is also very rough, even though it may feel soft to the touch,  its not so soft when it comes to hair. When you are asleep and move your head around,  the cotton pillowcase  does not provide a smooth surface for the hair to glide on like a silk or satin cap would, instead it has the opposite effect. The roughness of the fabric and excess friction catches the hair causing, split ends, tangles, dryness and frizz.  So remember to wrap/cover/protect your hair every night! CVS has them for like $3-4 and Sallys has them as well  for cheap.

2. Spray bottle

Another key element in any naturals hair care kit. This right here will help you to provide thirsty hair with the water and moisture it needs! I like to use a combination of filtered water (regular water is fine too), aloe vera juice, trader joes nourish spa conditioner and GSO and shake it all up and there I have my leave-in spray conditioner, and since I already had all the ingredients, a leave in for the low low cost of  $  FREE.99. These little things can be found pretty much anywhere, target, sallys, walmart etc. Moisturizing your hair should become a daily priority  I like to think of my hair as a plant, and plants need water to grow right? So whenever my hair is feeling a little dry I grab my SB and go to town. I make sure to get the ends of my hair, those are the parts that need the most TLC since they are the oldest parts of our hair.

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to get that much needed moisture!

3. A Good Moisturizing Conditioner and Shampoo

 These two things will help to get your hair clean while adding moisture.  I find this brand works well for my thick hair. The conditioner smells pretty delish and provides me with a good amount of slip when detangling. I also find it good for adding to my leave in spray mix since it doesn’t leave a lot of buildup on my hair. Only you will know what works best for your own hair though so if you have a good moisturizing shampoo and conditioner already by all means use that but I find trying and testing new conditioners mainly to be kinda fun.  🙂

4. Bobby Pins

        These lil’ bad boys are life savers when it    comes to natural hair. Face it, natural hair does what IT wants to do when IT wants to. Something I am still learning as I continue on this hair journey.  Bobby pins can help you tame your mane and achieve smoother more finished looks, or just hold that one lil bish ass hair that wont stay in place. Either way, I know I’d be MADDD frizzy without them.  If you don’t really give a ish’ about having extra fancy ones, I found the 99cent store has packs of 100 for, you guessed it 99cent. At the rate these things are lost, that’s a sttteeaaaaaalllllll. #realtalk

  5. Aloe Vera Juice

Aloe Vera juice – I really like this stuff. For me it helps detangle my hair like a mofo! I got the nastiest tangles while trying to take down my straw set (pretty much I had really bad ends that I had been laggin it on cutting so that only added to the knots, needless to say I cut them suckas and now we all good. Lesson learned)  Aloe vera juice is also believed to be a hair growth simulator and is said to soothe inflamed hair follicles. 

 6. Butterfly Clips

 Great for separating hair when attempting styles and also good for holding hair while washing and conditioning in sections. 

7.  A carrier oil

    Another  key  component in  maintaining healthy natural hair.  Carrier oils replace the oils  lost  through  routine shampooing of the hair. These oils are great for pre-poos, (meaning a process done to hair before shampooing to  keep some of  the oils on the hair that would otherwise be washed away) Carrier oils are also the most needed after you  moisturize with water. These oils help to seal in the  moisture  you just put on your. Water alone will just evaporate, the oil provides a layer  on the hair shaft essentially  trapping it in your hair.  Using carrier oils alone WILL NOT MOISTURIZE  YOUR HAIR. You must use water  BEFORE sealing with  a n oil, otherwise you are doing the opposite.   By using only oil you can create a layer  locking moisture out, so no matter how much you spray and spritz you hair it will  not be moisturized  effectively.  Here’s a list of oils at the bottom.

8.  Satin Covered Scrunchies

These are EPIC.

Its pretty much the same deal with these as the satin bonnet/scarf. The satin helps reduce breakage and tangles.

Great for buns/ponytails/pony puffs

I found these at walmart and havent seen anymore since. that sucks too because these work so well!

9. Plastic Processing Caps

Man , the bee ‘s  knees when you need to cover up a messy DC or  do  a  pre poo. A MUST  for me.  Pretty much all beauty supplys carry  these,  I saw some at walmart too.

10. Wide tooth comb

A Wide tooth comb, Even though I really advocate finger detangling, we all know that can be a major pain in the bootybuttcheeks so if you must, use a wide comb VERY GENTLY to detangle your hair.

(Remember to use your spray bottle mix to add slip when doing any detangling. )

I really love the Tangle Teezer though to detangle my hair in the shower, I find its the most efficient tool I have ever used for detangling but be careful because you could cause unnecessary breakage if used improperly or too often.

So there you have it, basic list of some of the most important tools needed to starting out a healthy natural hair care journey/routine.