Why Black Women Are Doing Away With Elaborate TikTok Hair Routines

From the larger-than-life Afros of the 1970s to the finger waves and French rolls of the 1990s, Black natural hair movements have had many iterations. And over the last decade and a half, the modern movement has been largely shaped by online communities of Black women teaching others how to care for their curls and coils.

But as the digital space has expanded, more mixed-race creators and others with looser curl patterns have begun to profit from natural hair content. Between brand sponsorships, wash-day routines that literally take all day, and the rise of TikTok, natural hair tutorials have transformed into much lengthier and more costly recommendations that not everyone can achieve on their own.

That's why some Black women are doing away with the product-heavy, ultra-complicated routines they're seeing on their FYPs and instead going back to basics — proving that viral beauty trends aren't "one size fits all" and sometimes we know our own hair best.

Zain Murdock, 25, has been natural her whole life. Raised by a mother who went to beauty school and taught her to embrace her tresses without relaxers or other chemicals, Murdock has had more than a decade to experiment with different products and routines. Although her mom instilled messages of self-love about her hair, she says getting her hair done by her mom was still a stressful and time-consuming process she didn't enjoy.

It wasn't until she started doing her hair at 12 and watching tutorials from YouTubers like Naptural85 that she started to embrace new styles and regimens. But when the natural hair community started changing online a few years ago, she began to pull away from some of the content.

"I started seeing a lot of non-Black people be a part of the so-called 'curly hair and natural hair movement,'" she says. "I'd never seen white girls say they had natural hair and have their natural hair and wash-day routines. That was when I also started noticing a bigger influx of steps and products, especially for the ones who had very loose curl patterns."

When lengthy wash-day routines come up on Murdock's For You Page on TikTok now, she typically scrolls by; they remind her of her college days, when she spent up to three hours in the shower doing her hair. She now spends about 40 minutes on wash days, styling her hair in the shower and sitting under the dryer with a good book. Her regimen of shampoo, conditioner, and gel or mousse carries her from one wash day to the next, and she opts for ponytails and slick-back buns in between when her curls start to lose their freshness. For Murdock, returning to simpler routines at the start of the pandemic not only saved her money but also helped her realize her lengthy regimens were often rooted in attempting to emulate someone else's curl pattern that wasn't natural to her own hair.

"I think my hair looks better and healthier than it used to when I had the longer routine," she says. "When I stopped trying to expect my hair to look like somebody else's, even if they had a similar curl pattern to mine, it became a lot easier, and I was able to understand the limits and possibilities of what my hair could do realistically with my skill level."

Yene Damtew is a salon owner and industry expert based in the DMV area who is largely known online for having the Obama family as some of her clientele. Though she backs some current trends — like the push for hair steaming and hydration — she doesn't believe lengthy 10-step routines are necessary for at-home care.

"I think wash routines should be simple and not overcomplicated," Demtew says. "A great two-step shampoo followed by a treatment every other wash should be part of your wash routine. Then, you should go into styling as desired. That can be in a natural style like two-strand twists, braids, or a sleek look like a blow dry, flat iron, and curl."

She recommends products like a good detangling brush, a shampoo that tackles product build-up like Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Shampoo, a leave-in conditioner like Mizani's 25 Miracle Milk Leave-In Conditioner, and a mask as needed, like the Amika Soulfood Nourishing Hair Mask. At-home wash days might take up to an hour or longer depending on the client's skill level, she adds, but it certainly shouldn't take up their whole day. She also encourages everyone to wash their hair more frequently and avoid going more than two weeks without shampooing.

As a Black woman, she understands the dreadful stereotypes women with textured hair have faced — particularly those with tighter curl patterns, who may have been taught that their hair is unruly or too difficult to manage. She hopes that by educating her clients and being sympathetic to the hair trauma many have faced, clients won't feel held hostage by their hair but view hair care as a part of their self-care routines.

For Mae Stone, growing up in the humidity of Texas made it difficult for her to wear her hair straightened. Stone got her first relaxer at 11 and didn't go back to natural until the 10th grade, but that time set her on a long journey of learning to love her hair and finding a solid routine that worked for her. Now in her 30s and based in Los Angeles, she's come to embrace her natural hair, thanks to experimenting with different products.

"I love my hair," Stone says. "I love it a lot. It took me some time. I think that it sucks, but it almost feels like a rite of passage for a lot of Black girls. I think what aided in me growing and loving my hair was the different products that were available to me."

But her new, simple routine came after she gave trendy and longer routines a try. After using two types of shampoos and conditioner, curling creams, oils and diffusing, the steps became too time-consuming for her and didn't give her the results she was necessarily looking for.

"The less products I use now, I feel like the better and the healthier and shinier my hair is," she says. "I had to understand my hair changed depending on the climate that I was in. Being back out in Dallas is a little bit more humid, but out here [Los Angeles] is very dry, so I had to learn how to focus more on hydrating and nourishing products for my hair."

Stone has her wash routine down to 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the style, and touches up her curls with a bit of conditioner or gel throughout the week.

Like Stone, Quani Burnett also had a relaxer for about 13 years. When her mother gave her her first relaxer at just 5 years old because her mom felt it was too hard to manage, it had a large impact on her relationship with her hair. In college, she did the big chop and started over, growing out her hair and getting to experience it in its natural state for the first time as an adult.

"I think Black women, particularly, we've had so many rules and confinements placed against us and our hair that I think autonomy is just a big thing that we want with our hair," she says. "So for me, it's been exploring getting silk presses and braids, trying new things with my hair."

In college, she would sleep with deep conditioners in her hair overnight, not realizing the hazards of leaving your hair wet for prolonged periods. She also tried out online trends she didn't realize were unhelpful at the time, like lathering her hair in coconut oil from root to end.

Burnett has now simplified her routine, spending less than $30 every couple of months on hair care, and has focused on the science behind textured hair. Burnett, who holds a doctorate in physical therapy, says she is a nerd for science and became heavily interested in educating herself. Now, she's formulating her own products with a chemist for her pre-launched brand Soft Rows.

"The ethos of the brand is to explore the vastness and the versatility of textured hair. Because, as everyone says, textured hair is not a monolith," she says. "We really aim to evolve the feeling of caring for your hair from a chore to a self-care practice."

All three women and their decades-long journeys with their hair have proven that sometimes less truly is more.

And, as Demtew reminds us, "A lot of the information on the internet isn't from licensed professionals. Our hair thrived 10 to 20 years ago, and we didn't have elaborate hair routines. I think we need to go back to the basics."

Sierra Lyons is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist covering race, politics, faith, justice, and their intersections. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and HuffPost, among others. She has previously worked for NPR, The 74, and The American Prospect.