What is the perfect routine for textured hair?

With an expected growth in this market projected to reach USD15.6bn by 2031 [2] and the trend towards hair inclusivity, many brands want to diversify their offer. Textured hair consumers have a specific routine for enhancing their hair and specific needs.

What are the best products as a routine for textured hair?

Compared to straight hair consumers, textured hair consumers use more products in their hair care routine : 4 to 6 as an average. There are some specific styling products to define and fix curls and coils in their routine. Below, Seppic gives some insights about standard routines suitable for textured hair.

– Create a wash day routine: from shampoo to styling

The washing routine varies from person to person, but people with textured hair wash their hair much less regularly than those with straight hair (once per week on average). Their hair tends to grease less quickly, and the washing routine is much more time-consuming.

They will use moisturizing sulfate-free shampoo for regular use. Once a month or after a specific long-term hairstyle, they can use a clarifying shampoo. Clarifying shampoo is a product that deeply cleanses the hair. It is formulated with unique ingredients designed to remove impurities, oil, dirt, product buildup, and other residues from the scalp and hair shaft. They are usually more concentrated than regular ones and feature higher pH levels, making them more effective at cleansing but too aggressive for regular use.

Then a nourishing rinse-off mask will be applied per section and leave for 20 to 30 minutes. Repairing masks, with their rich composition of moisturizing ingredients provide intense, long-lasting hydration.

To redefine curls, they will use a leave-on cream conditioner and sheath hair with a foam or a jelly. With a scrunching movement or with fingers, curls will form naturally. After air or diffuser dry, some will use a serum or an oil on the length for shine and reduce frizz.

– Propose a refresh routine: moisturizing and styling products

In between washing routines, curls sag, tangle and become less defined. Wetting textured hair every day can lead to over-drying the hair follicles, leading to potential breakage. To style curls, it’s better to use a spray bottle with water or better: a curl refresher to enhance curls between wash days. Thanks to various products such as curl reactivating sprays, anti-frizz oils, dry shampoos, curl creams and of course jellies, consumers manage to maintain beautiful curls.

What are the challenges and needs of textured hair?

For many consumers with textured hair, the ideal hair care products give bouncy and defined curls for natural style with a long-lasting definition for longer intervals between shampoos as wash day routine is quite long and demanding. Of course, hydration and frizz control are mandatory claims.

– Respect sensitive scalp and hair

The quantity of products applied, the difficult progression of sebum towards the points, detangling, ... all these daily actions sensitize the scalp and hair fiber of textured hair. As a result, it is more sensitive than straight hair and prone to breakage. It is therefore essential for formulators to create hair products that are well tolerated and non-aggressive.

To formulate a shampoo suitable for textured hair, we need to adapt it for gentle cleansing and avoid further drying of the already sensitized fiber. The ideal shampoo should therefore have an intermediate cleansing level to remove residues without drying out the fiber.

– Offer hydration to the hair

Moisturization is the key to keeping curls in tip-top shape. As we have seen, textured hair is prone to dryness because of a non homogeneous sebum repartition and to a higher fiber porosity. Textured hair can be more damaged and dry compared to straight hair. A formulator developing a range of products for textured hair needs to include at least one ingredient in each product to help retain or even reinforce the hair’s internal moisture.

– Improve curls and coils definition

The final expectation of textured hair consumers from their hair care routine is to obtain beautiful natural curls. It means manageable well defined bouncy curls or coils with no frizz. Formulators have to use effective ingredients in conditioning and style maintenance.

For several years now, Seppic has been carrying out objective tests on type 3 hair to demonstrate the effectiveness of its specialty ingredients in controlling volume, anti-frizz effect and curl definition over time and under mechanical stress such as EmogreenTM HP40, SimulquatTM HC 305 or XylishineTM C. On the strength of its results and to support formulators in this challenge, Seppic has created a routine of six illustrative formulas answering to the needs of consumers with wavy to coily hair. Each formula has been tested in laboratories and the complete routine has been validated with hairdressers on hair type 2C to 4a.