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Black Men Hair Care [Best Routines & Products]

If you need Black men hair care tips, ohhhh boy! You’re in the right place my man!

I’m going to give you 4 important hair care protocols to make your maintenance, selection of the best men's hair products and daily routine a lot easier.

And quiet as it’s kept…

Lots of dudes don’t know one of the most important factors in getting the best look possible, that game-changing factor is knowing your hair type.

So let’s chop up game and discuss these Black hair care jewels for men and boys...

Black men hair care

Know Your Hair Type for Best Black Men Hair Care

It doesn’t matter if you're taking care of an Afro or a set of 360 waves, your hair type makes a difference in how to take care of it.

Black men typically have more coily type 4 hair and some (especially biracial brothers) have curly type 3 hair. As you’d guess, this differs for every Black man, depending on his genetics. Try to identify your Black hair type in the hair chart type below.

Black Men Hair Care - Hair Type Chart...Black Men Hair Care - Hair Type Chart...

As I mentioned above, most Black men’s hair will fall in between the categories of...

Type 4 — Kinky Hair: Widely known as afro-textured hair that forms very tight and small curls or tight zig-zag patterns right from the scalp.

Type 3 — Curly-to-Coiled Hair: Takes on a loose or corkscrew curl or curly hair definition and usually more susceptible to frizz.

How To Fight Dryness in Black Men Hair Care

As a Black man myself, I know that one of the biggest problems in Black men hair care is dry hair. Dryness can plague certain hairstyles such as afros, high drop fades, and frohawks. 

Why are these styles more likely to suffer dryness?

Because, while it’s easier for shorter Black hairstyles to stay moist, longer hairstyles leave your hair more exposed to the elements for a longer time and have more time to dry out when not properly cared for.

Either way, these tips for proper Black men hair care will get you on point bro...

Black Men Hair Care Tip #1: Shampoo Less Frequently!

If you shampoo everyday you are doing more harm than good.

Yes, you need to get the gunk and grease out of your hair from that wave grease styling product or hair oil, but shampoo shouldn’t be part of your daily hair care routine. Especially if you aren’t using the best shampoos for Black hair.

Why?

Well, because of one nasty chemical.

Most cheap drugstore shampoos contain SLS or sodium lauryl sulfate. It's a detergent that cleans the hair squeaky clean but unfortunately it tends to strip away the natural sebum oils that your scalp produces to protect your hair and hold in moisture.

Overexposure to SLS (i.e. shampooing day in and day out) leaves most Black men’s hair dry and brittle - you don’t want that Brillo-pad feel bro… Not a good look.

Improve Your Black Men Hair Care Routine By: Cutting down to shampoo cleansing only twice a week, preferably with a premium shampoo that doesn't contain SLS.

I suggest you try either Moroccanoil hydrating shampoo if you don’t have hair damage, if you do have hair damage from past use of chemicals or hair color dye then your better choice would be the Moroccanoil moisture repair shampoo.

Both shampoos are sulfate-free and blended with natural hair health oils and other ingredients to keep moisture in while they cleans. 

Black Men Hair Care Tip #2: Moisturize Everyday!

Your hair has a tendency to dry out across the day. Whether from dry air in the fall, indoor heating in the winter, or even dry heat in the summer of certain climates, every day is a battle to keep those locks smooth. So you have to get to the root!

Hydrating at the scalp helps keep your hair growing out softer, more moisturized and easier to style.

Improve Your Black Men Hair Care Routine By: Even when you don't shampoo (but especially after you do) use a truly hydrating rinse-out conditioner to replenish moisture to your scalp and hair.

Black Men Hair Care Tip #3: Pick Low Maintenance Styles

Sometimes it can feel like our only Black hairstyle options for men are a low caesar or the baldy. But by properly executing your Black male hair care regimen you'll have a lot more range to wear dope 360 waves, short curly styles or even longer styles based on your hair type.

Improve Your Black Men Hair Care Routine By: Find a good hairstyle that works for you or ask a trusted barber/groomer for their expert opinion. You can always go back to the low cut but you'll never know if you'll find a better look unless you do a bit of experimentation.

Black Men Hair Care Tip #4: Pick The Best Black Male Hair Products!

When it comes to most Black men's hair care items, here's the hard truth: most of what we have access to at the local dollar store or drug store is either (1) not formulated for Black men’s unique hair type or (2) full of thick grease to force coarse hair to lay flat. In either case, this can cause hair issues.

Improve Your Black Men Hair Care Routine By: When searching for the best Black male hair products for waves, curls or whatever.

Be sure you're in the ethnic hair product section, which should usually be more curly-hair friendly while carrying the best deep conditioners for Black hair, and such.

Also, do your best to avoid product options that contain mineral oil, or alcohol.

I’d advise to avoid petrolatum, but I don’t wanna be a hypocrite. When you have very coarse type 4C hair like me, a thick pomade with petroleum is about the only thing that is good for holding my hair in place and giving off that crazy shine.

Constant use can cause your hair to dry out and block out healthy hair nutrients though, so it’s a tradeoff that you’ll have to decide on. I only do 360 waves for a few months per year to avoid constant use of harmful chemicals on my hair.

If you have a looser curl pattern you can opt for a natural wave pomade solution like Cold Label Wolfin Pomade, infused with Hempseed oil to moisturize hair and give medium hold—without the greasy residue.

Consult your local barber for their recommendations as well since more and more shops are carrying trusted Black men’s hair care products.

Best Black Men’s Hair Care Products By Category:

Here are some of the best Black men’s hair care products that work well on highly-textured hair, and meet our specific needs.

You may already own some of these bad boys, or perhaps you've been shopping around for a new hair product of late. With consistent use in your Black men hair care lineup, you will see an improvement in the results of your routine.

Of course, there are many more Black men hair care products that we could list, but you’d be reading all day long. For these products, make sure to click through and read for the full product reviews left by customers.

Importance Of Leave-in Conditioner In Black Men Hair Care

One of the best curly hair tips for black male is to use a dope leave-in conditioner.

Leave-in conditioner is made with fatty acids, fatty alcohols, proteins, surfactants, plant oils, and high molecular-weight silicones. Good leave-in conditioners also often contain a high concentration of humectants that attract moisture into hair strands.

Hair softening leave-in conditioners are thick liquid solutions intended to moisturize human hair. The hair softener substance reduces breakage, dryness, and lasting damage in Black men’s hair. If you have issues with hair tangling, leave-in conditioner helps with detangling hair as well.

The ingredients of leave-in hair conditioner are important for softening hair for Black men. Some leave-in conditioners come with added biotin which helps reduce hair loss and promote hair growth for Black men.

I should also mention a good hair conditioner usually offers a combination of amino acids, B-Complex vitamins, and proteins. This Hairfinity Revitalizing Leave-in at Amazon offers just that!

You can also use a hydrating cream like Moroccanoil's award-winning Hydrating Styling Cream or any number of oils or oil blends (including sweet almond oil or coconut oil) and apply it directly to the scalp.

Be sure to distribute evenly throughout the scalp and hair for best results.

A little everyday can go a long way!

Embracing Our Differences Helps Improve Hair Care for Black Men

A Black man with coarse hair has different hair texture from a white, Asian, and even most biracial males. Our hair strands are slightly thicker than that of other ethnic hair groups.

The coarse hair texture we have is the widest and largest hair circumference of any other race. Coarse hair contains all three layers of the hair shaft — cortex, cuticle, and medulla.

The reason African American men’s hair ends up dryer than males of other races is because it’s coiled nature that makes oil transfer up and down the hair strands more difficult.

Your hair’s natural oils (like sebum), which are created on the scalp, have a harder time reaching the ends of the hair follicles on coiled hair, which causes dryness. In straight hair, it is easy for the oil to travel down the hair shaft, coating the strand with oil protection.

In fact, straight hair often gets overly greasy very quickly because of that, that’s a whole different problem that Black men don’t face much. No big deal though, it just means we have to add a little extra care to our hair care routine!

Poor hair care practices that often contribute to dry male hair include:

  • Using harsh styling products that contain harmful ingredients
  • Washing your hair way too often
  • Hair dye
  • Dying or chemically treating your hair
  • Regularly blow-drying your hair

Some of the factors listed above are environmental conditions and daily routines that play big parts of our lives. The Black men hair care tips and routine adjustment that I will suggest will promote properly hydrated, moist, softer hair for Black males.

Black Men Hair Transplants Taking Over In Hair Care World

We can't talk about Black men;s hair care without acknowledge our bald brothers out there.

There's no need to look like a cue ball or George Jefferson by the forehead anymore. Black men's hair transplants are more advance than ever. I teach you everything I know about hair transplants in this new article. Check it out bro...

Follow Editor of Black Men's Hair Care Article...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melissa Lee 

Melissa Lee is a Contributing Editor to NHP and a former owner of the BlackhairOMG website. She formed 4C Trichology Growth Services, LLC., a US based hair care consultation service. She has also contributed as a writer and consultant for various hair and beauty websites. Melissa can be followed on Twitter here.