Natural hair can be a chore to upkeep. Whether you have loose waves or tight coils, it can take hours upon hours to achieve the perfect style. Often items, it can feel as if your hair is speaking a different language than the rest of your body. This list of must-have hair tools can be useful for all curl types in helping to maintain your beautiful crown of textured tresses and cutting the time it takes to do your hair in half.
1. Spray Bottle.
Whether you are styling your hair or refreshing day old curls, you NEED a spray bottle close by to give that extra boost of moisture. The great thing about spray bottles: they can be found just about anywhere (and for a low price)! You can grab one just like this one from your local beauty supply, or purchase a continuous mist bottle off Amazon for under $10. The dollar store even offers an excess of spray bottles in a variety of super cute colors!
2. Detangling Brush.
Natural hair often has a mind of its own, so a detangling brush to tame those tangly tresses can cut your wash day in half. Be cautious when shopping for detangling brushes, though; you’ll want to select a brush with soft bristles so they don’t tug on the hair strands. Celebrity hairstylist Felicia Leatherwood, whose styled people like Issa Rae, Ava Duvernay, Skai Jackson, and Nicole Ari Parker, offers a salon quality detangling brush (pictured here). It has widely spaced, flexible bristles that make it easy for the brush to glide through hair, and you can find it right here in our shop!
3. Wide Tooth Comb.
Some prefer a wide tooth comb to a detangling brush, and it works just as well as to detangle coils and curls alike. While it doesn’t work as well to define curls, you can gently use it to comb through tangly hair from tip to root for more manageable hair. Best part, wide tooth combs are extremely affordable; you can get one in any color of your choosing from the beauty supply store for $5 or less!
4. Edge Brush.
Edge control alone only goes so far but, paired with an edge brush, your hair game is ultimately elevated. Use a brush alone to lay your edges, or get a dual edge brush with a comb to create any curve, swoop, or edge style of your choosing.
5. Hair Pick.
Third day hairstyles are usually full of volume, however those first day fresh curls may need a little help to achieve a voluminous look. A pick is the greatest tool to give your styles a little body and break up those parts in your hair after taking out a fresh twist out. Hair picks also come in all sizes to accommodate short coils and long curls alike. Best of all, you can find them at your local beauty supply store ranging for around $1; that’s one dollar bill!
6. Heat Protectant.
If you own any type of heat styling tool, you need a good heat protectant to protect your curls. Even if you don’t apply heat to your hair often, just straightening or curling your hair consistently for a week could damage your ends and hurt your curls (especially if your hair is not trained to withstand it). Even though it will not stop heat damage from happening, it will protect against the harsh elements of heat styling. You can find heat protection products, like this one from OGX, for under $10; your favorite hair company probably sells one of its own!
7. Elastic Bands.
Elastic bands are an essential part of any hair collection. They can be used to stretch your hair after a wash day, to wear simple ponytails, or to create neat and parted twists or braid styles for children. It is important to get the bands without the metal bar on them, since these can get stuck in natural curls and contribute to tangles and breakage. Unfortunately, anyone with natural hair can testify that elastic bands always break (especially with thicker hair) or get misplaced, so you’ll definitely need to grab a couple of packs. Thank goodness they are so inexpensive!
8. Microfiber Towel.
You learn pretty early on in the natural hair community to use a cotton T-shirt for drying your hair on wash day, since regular cotton towels can create frizz. However, if you wash your hair often, you’ll find the problem of constantly having to wash soaking wet t-shirts before they stink up the laundry. Microfiber towels are totally safe for natural curls, absorbing excess moisture without all that friction.
