3 Mistakes To Avoid When Doing Hair At Home

3 Mistakes To Avoid When Doing Your Hair At Home

It took me some time.  I took some determination, but after the foolishness that led me to do my own hair at home, I have learned so much and I want to share what I know.  If you want to know why I escaped the salon and became a DIY’er, read Why I Learned To Maintain My Short Hair At Home.

I love showing other women how to manage their short hair at home.  Part of that process that is very important to me, is being honest about the cons of it all. Learning to master at-home styling is a marathon, not a sprint.  That run to the finish line will be paved with many bumps.  Some of the bumps will be small, discrete and easily hurdled. Others, though … the damn OTHERS … they are big, ugly and will leave you exposed because everyone will be able to see that you did not know what the hell you were doing and you straight jacked up your hair.

Not to be discouraged, ladies.  Anyone who does hair, has made major mistakes.  Yes, mistakes, plural, more than one of them, probably a lot of them, not a little bit…you get the idea. Even professional stylists were not perfect at their craft when they initially began doing hair.  Keep this in mind and be kind to yourself as you learn.  It will take you some time, there is no way around it.  So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Below are mistakes I have made on my own head as I taught myself how to manage my short hair at home. My hope is that by sharing my mistakes, I will help you get to the finish line with fewer bumps and bruises than I had to endure.  So, below are 3 mistakes to avoid when doing hair at home.

NUMBER 1: Over processing. Relaxing your hair at home may be a more advanced step.  Not everyone will feel comfortable relaxing their hair at home, and many ladies will still opt to go in to see their stylist for chemical processes.  I get it and for so many women, I totally agree that you should NOT relax your hair at home.

For the ones who want to wild out, myself included of course, then let’s proceed with caution. You want to stretch the time between relaxers as much as you can.  Relaxing short hair is tricky simply by virtue of the fact that the hair is short and the possibility of overlapping product is high because there is a smaller space to work with.  Overuse of the amount of relaxer, relaxing too soon, and not taking precautions to protect the strands of hair that you don’t want the relaxer applied to, will likely cause over processing. Contrary to what you may have heard or what lies you may want to tell yourself, there is no fix for over processed hair.  Yes, you can apply products which may cause your hair to mimic the traits of healthy hair, but underneath, your bare hair is still over processed.  Sorry, boo.  It is what it is. Watch this tutorial At Home Relaxer for tips on how I apply my relaxer.

NUMBER 2: Skipping the deep conditioner. I know, I know, I know.  The evil stylists only want you to get a deep conditioning treatment because they can charge extra for it. Boo hoo, poor you.  Get yourself together honey!  The fact of the matter is that yes, stylists do charge you extra for it, but your hair needs deep conditioning.  The strands of your hair have been compromised by the chemical that is used to straighten it.  There are no two ways around that. I was natural for over 4 years and I understand the difference between virgin hair and relaxed hair.  Your hair can only be so ‘healthy’ when it is relaxed, simply because you have caused (minimal) damage by chemically straightening it.  Give me one second and let me climb down from my soap box.  Ok, there, that’s better. Now back to the subject at hand.  Deep conditioning helps to maintain the strength of the strands of hair on your head.  Without it, your hair will slowly degrade, to a point where it is very unhealthy.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  If you stop being lazy, and just do a deep conditioning treatment, everything will work out, I promise.  So please do incorporate deep conditioning into your regimen.

NUMBER 3: Cutting when you’re NOT ready.  Cutting your own short hair at home is scary.  To be honest, not everyone will be able to master this step.  What it takes to do it well, and then to do it consistently well, just ain’t for everybody.  With that being said, if you are not ready or you are regularly scalping yourself and walking around looking like a mango seed, then my dear, you may just want to be realistic about the ability of your fingers to hold the scissors juuuuust so, and head on back to your local stylist, barber or Hair Cuttery, for a sprucing up.  There is no shame in knowing, acknowledging and bowing down to your limitations.  Don’t feel bad about any aspect of your hair care that you feel the need to hand over to a professional that is trained to do what you are struggling to do.  It’s ok and no one will judge you here.  If you are determined to master it, and you want a walk through of the process, watch How To Cut Your Own Hair At Home.

 I have made all of the mistakes above.  I learned from each one of them, too. If this post helps someone avoid some or even one, of the pitfalls of doing your own short hair at home, then I have done a good deed.  And for my good deed, I will accept karmic payments in the form of amazing shoes, makeup and bottles of NAIROBI wrapp foam.  Please and thank you.

Have I left anything out?  Do you have specific questions about something I didn’t include in this post?  If so, don’t be shy, leave it in the comments and I will get back to you ASAP.

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