How to Protect Your 4C Curls the Organic Haircare Way

How to Protect Your 4C Curls the Organic Haircare Way

If you’re the owner of 4c curls, you’ll know that they can look beautiful, but they can also take a lot of work to nourish and care for.  4c hair is naturally brittle, easily damaged and can frizz easily.

Many very curly-haired men and women have found that switching to organic hair care helps keep their curls defined, shining and less breakable.   

Sadly, lots of you have suggested that you’re not sure which products are organic and which you most need, so we’ve asked our experts all the questions you need to get it right!

 What are 4c Curls

Your curl relates to how your follicles impact the shape of the hair on your head.

The flatter the follicle, the curlier your hair; It also matters how your curls are shaped; are they bendy, kinky, or rounded? 

Coily hair, which is often Afro-textured, is very dry and spongy in texture. It may be very fine, and quite soft, but it can also be coarse and wiry.

The strands tend to be very tightly curled with very small curls, prone to a lot of shrinkage (which means it looks much shorter when wet).  They can easily get very coarse and break with little effort.

What is Certified Organic Hair Care and Why is it Best to Protect my 4c Curls?

When you choose certified organic hair care, it means that your hair products – shampoo, conditioner, styling products etc, are all at least 95% plant-based. 

This means that your hair is cared for without relying on some of the very harsh ingredients typically turning up in mainstream shampoo and conditioners.

Given the natural breakability of 4c curls, you should especially look to avoid:

Hydrogen Peroxide:

Hydrogen Peroxide is used to lighten hair. It’s permanent and actively changes the chemical makeup of your hair.  It puts even very strong hair under massive stress and poses particular challenges for 4c curls.

Parabens:

Parabens are powerful preservatives, used in hair care to extend its life.  Parabens have the effect of further drying your hair, irritating the scalp, and causing frizz.  We use a carefully tested balance of natural ingredients to avoid having to use parabens.

Sulphates:

Sulphates are harsh degreasers (also used to clear engine oil if you want a comparison).  They’re put in shampoos to give you that ‘squeaky clean’ feeling.  Sadly, they also strip the hair of natural oils from the scalp that keep it flexible and moist. 

This leads to overproduction of scalp grease, coupled with very dry ends.  If your 4c hair is almost unmanageable without conditioner, this is almost certainly why.

Ammonia:

Ammonia is put into hair dye and works by fluffing up the cuticle.  It’s super-drying on the hair and honestly, if you’re a 4c hair type, you’re best avoiding it entirely as the damage can take months to repair.

Silicones:

Silicones are a type of plastic, which you’ll find in conditioners, serums and anything designed to get the hair to feel ‘slippy’ or add shine.

The problem is they build up on the hair at times, causing it to lose definition and shine, and be weighed down.  Your curls go from springy to lank.

They can only be shifted using a harsh shampoo so the whole broken hair cycle starts over.

If you’re looking for organic, you can’t just trust something that says ‘organic’, always look for a proper certification which proves the provenance of the ingredients.  We use the Soil Association because of their stringent codes, which means you can trust our formulations to not have the chemicals listed above.

Can I Dye my 4c Curls without Damage?

If you’re actively avoiding peroxide, ammonia, and harsh sulphates, you might think you can’t dye your hair (or have any fun at all) but you’d be wrong.

4c Hair is the type that benefits the most by the switch to natural colours, like Henna, which has been around since the Egyptians.

Henna offers huge benefits to both the hair and scalp, and if coupled with indigo can add beautiful, deep colour without breakage.

We’d always advise using a natural hair oil after colouring – even Henna can lead to a little extra dryness, but just warm some organic argan oil through the ends and you’re good to grow!

For a full guide to how henna can help your 4c hair, visit our guide here.

How to get the best 4c Curl Definition with Organic Hair Care

You can try co-washing (which means washing with conditioner, instead of shampoo), or switch to an organic hair treatment like Amla.

Amla, which comes from a gooseberry-like plant, is a miracle powder for curly hair.  Simply mix a teaspoon with a little water, yoghurt, or hair oil, and coat your hair, before leaving for at least three minutes. 

Rinse, and then finish with a little extra oil and within a couple of weeks your hair will BOUNCE with vitality.

If your hair is falling out, you might want to try a weekly additional treatment of bhringaraj, which has ayurvedic properties and works to stop hair fall and premature greying. 

For more advice on protecting your 4c hair with organic hair care, chat to our hair experts today