Building a Hair Regimen - Part 2

So you've gone through all the questions outlined in Part 1 of this post and you've made your notes, now you can begin developing your hair regimen! This next step will take a little bit of effort, but only for a while, eventually when everything is figured out it will just become part of your lifestyle. 

Break down your regimen into the main areas or categories you believe fall into your daily hair care routine. These categories can vary based on each individual though there are some categories which are common to all hair types, whether your hair is natural or relaxed, a 'loose nappy' or wear locs, whether your hair is naturally curly or naturally straight. Categories include: cleansing, moisturizing, styling, touch-ups, etc. When you have your categories, based on the notes you made previously, you can make decisions about what you'll do in each category. Let's do an example...

Let's say you've made these notes: "I'm a no-fuss, no-frills kind of person, but I still like to look good and be fashionable. I do have some ability when it comes to styling my own hair though I could use some practice especially for more elaborate styles. I'm a young professional, and I need to be polished when I go to the office, since it's a fairly formal corporate setting. I wear my hair in its naturally coily state, it's about shoulder length and I've set a hair-goal to reach armpit-length by my next nappiversary. My hair is coarse, coily and prone to dryness, but it is thick and strong and in good condition."

The four categories you've decided on are: Cleansing & Deep Conditioning, Moisturizing, Styling, Length Retention. So your regimen can now begin to take shape:

a solid hair regimen helps promote discipline and
consistency - healthy hair is the ultimate end result

"Cleansing & Deep Conditioning - I will wash and deep condition every weekend. I will use a moisturizing deep-conditioner to aid with my dryness issues. My shampoo is really drying, I need to explore alternatives or treat hair with coconut oil before shampooing." 

"Styling - I will refresh or re-do hairstyles each weekend to keep my hair neat for work. The styles I am best at doing are twists and flattwists. These will be my staple styles with some professionally done braids when I need a break from styling. I will style my hair with flax seed gel which works well to keep my styles neat all week"

Just go from one category to the next and make notes based on what you currently do or would like to do. During this period you will have to experiment with different techniques and even different products until you find exactly what fits into your lifestyle and what works best for your hair. After this 'trial period' is over you'll have a solid hair regimen, supported by a strong product arsenal. It takes some effort, but it's worth it in the end in the quest for healthy hair!