By stufflovely
By Choya Randolph
As a natural, you may not want your hair squeaky clean. That may sound dirty but that excessive cleanliness will rob your hair of some much needed moisture. Our kinky hair texture makes it hard for our natural hair oils to coat our hair. This is why we tend to struggle with dry hair and those with straight hair tend to struggle with oily hair.
For my new naturals, we combat this by not washing our hair everyday and leaning towards shampoos that don’t strip our hair of all of its moisture. We also do our best to put that hydration back in our hair by using conditioners, creams, and oils. But sometimes that isn’t enough and we have to go that extra step to keep our hair hydrated. If your hair is in need of some extra love, then “prepooing” may be for you.
Prepooing is exactly like its name. It’s the process of prepping your hair for a shampoo. To do this, you apply a treatment to your hair. I know treatment may sound like another expensive product to buy but you can actually prepoo using only oil. The point of prepooing is to add a layer of protection to the hair before shampooing. Oils are great at sealing and protecting our hair.
Before hopping in the shower to shampoo, you should always detangle. To hold yourself accountable for when you feel like skipping the detangling step, prepoo. When detangling your hair, simply add an oil of your choice to the hair to give it that protection. It’s that simple.
If you really want to reap the benefits of a prepoo, incorporate heat by putting a shower cap over your head and letting those oils really seep into your hair follicles. This may sound counterproductive but trust me, you will begin to see a difference. After letting it sit in your hair for 15-30 minutes, follow your usual wash day regimen.
Though prepooing may sound like it prolongs your wash day, remember it’s not something you have to do every wash day. You can incorporate it in every other wash day and still reap the benefits. It gives your hair a boost of moisture which leads to long term hydration and health. It also encourages us lazy naturals to detangle properly. This will combat breakage and retain length. So give your hair some extra love by adding the prepoo step to your next wash day!
