7 Natural Hair YouTube Hacks for Newbies

I decided to finally try it. After comfortably relying on protective styles to keep my hair out of sight and out of mind, I decided to watch a shit ton of YouTube tutorials and try to achieve a natural style from home. In case you didn’t know, I am not beauty-inclined. I know the most basic of basics about makeup and hair and avoid having to do either for myself if I can afford to.

This weekend, I decided to save my coins and a lengthy trip to the African braiding spot in lieu of a home salon experience. I decided to think of it as an exciting black, millennial Sunday experience. I feel like the girls in the web series I watch/ blogs I follow are always having these elaborate and indulgent hair care Sundays, and I was ready to join their tribe.

Welp, I learned that becoming a member of that tribe is not with its initiations. Here’s five things I learned on my Hair Tender Love & Care day that can help ease your way into this club.

Set A Limit For The Number of Videos You Watch

As anyone who has ever aimlessly been on YouTube knows, you can easily get sucked into a vortex of videos that finds you leagues away from your starting point. This phenomenon is magnified when you’re trying to select the tutorial that will determine whether or not your coworkers are quietly clowning you on Monday morning. I kept seeing more and more options and examples underneath the videos I was watching that looked shorter (“Does shorter video mean easier process?”), matched my hair type better (“My ‘baby hair’ not gonna look like that…”), had a cuter outcome (“Oooh! I like the varying sizes better than the uniform.”), and so on it goes.

Settle on the style you want to try and tell yourself you’ll watch no more than 5 videos. After you know what you want the result to be, the products tend to vary more often than the methods. Once you’ve watched 2-3, you’ve more or less seen it all. f you watch too many, you run the risk of feeling overwhelmed by all of the products and methods. I decided to pick up a couple of things from each one and put it all together to create a version that made the most sense for my skill level.

Skipping Ahead Is Your Friend

Some of these videos are long. I’m talking 11 minutes-type long. Nobody has that kinda time when they’re about to watch 6+ videos in one sitting. As beautiful as these stylists are and as dope as their music can sometimes be, once you get the gist, skip ahead to the next phase. Ten times outta nine there is nothing groundbreaking in those 40 seconds of watching them moisturize their hair. You can get especially loose with it once you’ve watched a few and have a better idea of the process.

Here are the things to look out for in each video: which products were used, how much product is used, specific method of curling/twisting/manipulating hair. Usually, each of those pieces of data took at most a minute to cover.

Practice Before Settling On A Style

This is one I wish I had done that I’m suggesting to you now. You don’t have to do your whole head or even use the products, but practice the motion.

It looks really simple and easy on the videos because, usually, these people have been doing their hair for sometime before they decide to record themselves. They have had plenty of practice moving in that way so it looks fluid and easy. But when you go to replicate, your hair does not want to move that way, your hand refuses to twist in that way and you get frustrated. It will take awhile for the motion to feel natural, so practice a bit to see if your hands can get comfortable in those positions.

Make A List Before You Go to the Beauty Supply 

I love the beauty supply store. It makes me happy to be surrounded by the endless numbers of options. It automatically makes me feel more confident about my hairstyling abilities than I should, and that feels nice. In any case, it also makes my eyes bigger than my wallet. I went into that store yesterday with “a general idea of what I needed” and spent $45 on about 9 items, a full four of which I really did not need. Had I made a definitive list, I wouldn’t have gotten all, “Ooh, I should get this cause maybe I can use it to…” Save yourself: make a list and stick to it.

Like I said before, the products in the videos will vary widely. Look into them before you leave. Decide which product seems best suited for your hair and had the results that you liked the most. This also gives you an opportunity to price check.  I would suggest picking something you think you’ll be able to use even if the style you’re trying doesn’t work out, that way you don’t waste money.

Another good tip is to check your at home inventory before you go. I remembered to do so this time, but I’ve forgotten before and been pissed when I purchased something I already had at home.

Add About 2 hours Onto Whatever the Expected Completion Time Is

Bruh. BRUUUUUUH. Hair care takes a lot of time. There are so many cotdamned steps! Shampoo twice. Add deep condition. Get out. Sit under dryer with deep condition. Get back in shower. Rinse. Dry with t-shirt. Put cream on your hair….That is like, maybe 1/3 of the fucking process!

I called myself fancy wanting to do a perm rod set my first time up to bat. Not only that, I decide I’m going to mix it with flex rods and alternate sizes of the perm rods because I saw one of the YouTubers do it.

Why I always gotta be extra, Lord?

Even with my little bit of hair, it took much longer than expected for me to finish the whole process. Just be prepared to spend the whole day on your hair. Seriously. Especially if you factor in drying time.

Invest In A Snug Sleep Cap

If you’re one of those hair ninjas who detect a sliding head scarf midsnooze, you can skip this one. However, if you’re one of those change positions 35 times, knocked tf out sleepers like me, grab one of those fancy sleep caps.  The one with the thick elastic band. That was one of my worthwhile purchases from my beauty supply spree. When I tell you that thing did not move, it may as well have been welded on. This is especially important with curls and twist outs as any friction with your pillow can cause frizz, or worse, unravelling. Plus, it shouldn’t break the bank–I copped mine for under $5.

In the Morning, Beat Your Face First

I noticed a curious trend when during my YouTube cram session: everyone had an immaculately beat face for when they woke up and it was time to take their curls down. I figured, “Better way to advertise the final look.” So, to fully experience the way of the naturalista, I put on a little eye makeup and a lip. And you know what I realized?

You put on the makeup to boost your morale when you take down all the curlers.

At first, it will look like you’ve failed. It will look like you did all that work for nothing. Like you missed out on half of your sleep due to the discomfort of the curlers for no reason. Don’t worry, it gets better!  Once you start to separate all of those curls, you’ll go from, “Omg, wtf is plan B??” to taking indulgent selfies (and your face will already be on & ready!)

All jokes aside, it was a nice confidence booster to feel pretty beforehand as I was facing the insecurity of a new style. Makeup isn’t required, but it definitely reminded me of my fly as I confronted uncertainty about my hair.

I hope these tips help you with your YouTube tutorial journey! Honestly, I’m the worst when it comes to doing hair, so if I can do it, you really should go ahead and try it out. You might surprise yourself!