A guide to finding (and loving) your natural hair

It can feel scary to embrace your natural hair, but when you get there, it’s totally freeing. It took me a while to discover mine, and I’m a professional! But once I did, my life became so much easier and my hair was so much healthier.

When stylists talk about “natural hair”, what we mean is non-chemically treated hair that lets your original pattern of waves, coils, curls, or straightness show. Uncovering it can be the most difficult part. 

Most people (me included) spend years heat-styling, over-brushing, using the wrong products and too much of them, and chasing trends. When you do that for long enough, your hair forgets how it sat originally. Your routine feels like a safety blanket, but it can also be a time consuming, expensive trap. In trying to control your hair, your hair controls you.

This is where we – your stylists – come in.  

The fastest and easiest way to uncover how your hair wants to sit naturally is to work with a professional hairdresser. While you can grow out highlights or a perm by yourself, it can be a long process, with an awkward mid-stage that sends you back onto your old styling habits. 

If you’re just starting your natural texture journey, the transition from your old look might be uncomfortable. So I usually recommend a restyle, something better suited to your hair’s underlying texture and movement, plus products to help you get through it. For example, if you have thick hair and you’re growing out a pixie, I’ll texturise it and recommend a strong-hold wax so you don’t look like you have a bowl on your head.

Wash your hair and let it air dry before your appointment. That way, we can see how it moves and behaves. We’ll inspect it to see its natural wave, curl, density and growth pattern. It’s a bit like checking under the bonnet of a car. And trust me, no two are the same. 

Each day from there your hair is going to look better, healthier and more like you. It can take a few months, but eventually it’ll recover from all the damage. It’ll fall into place more effortlessly and need less product. It’ll be easier to work with and incorporate it into your personal style. Your good hair days became more normal than occasional. It’s all about working smarter, not harder – you aren’t straightening or blow-drying it all the time, because you’re not fighting against how it should look. It’s also cheaper because you’re not spending so much on product. A lot of my clients only need an appropriate shampoo and conditioner once they learn to embrace their real hair. And at most, maybe one styling product to enhance their look. 

Now you know what type of hair you have, you can start to play with different cuts. When looking for inspiration images, search by your hair type (I’ll type in ‘Asian hair’, ‘wavy’ and ‘straight fringe’). If you have a style in mind, add that too, so you can see how it will sit with your hair, rather than falling in love with a look that might not work. You might want a wolf cut, a mullet, or a shag, but it’s your wolf cut, mullet or shag. 

It can be a process, but when people wear their hair naturally, I feel like they always look their best. And it’s hard not to love your hair when you look that good.