A rather large part of your healthy hair journey is knowing what is good for your hair and what is not good for your hair. I’ve often observed how many women are mainly concerned about what products to use on their hair especially for the benefit of their hair growth. However, it is my belief that there are far too many people out there that unintentionally disregard the importance of having the right tools. Let me share with you my top four tools I personally utilize for my hair as well as the elements you’d need to be watchful for when making your purchases.

1) Satin Head Scarf

For me, this is the most vital tool to have even if you’re not natural. Many of us grew up seeing the women in our lives wearing the scarf but not fully understanding the importance to the health of hair. There are lots of benefits to wearing one before you go to sleep at night. Having the right kind of scarf is key to maintaining healthy hair. The scarf is not just about keeping your protective styles intact. It’s equally important to realize this tool is needed even when your hair is free of structured styles or extensions. So when buying a scarf, it should have the following qualities: a) the ability to preserve hair moisture AND b) the material is made out of satin or silk. It’s been proven that cotton scarves as extract moisture from your hair which may result in breakages. Another alternative to a scarf is a satin or silk pillowcase. This allows you the same protection without covering your style or without damaging your hair.

2)  Bobby Pins

Good things really do come in small packages! There are so much to be done with them and this is the one tool I keep with me everywhere I go. If I’m undecided on my hairstyle or simply having a bad hair day, this is what I reach for to make it all better. Of course, they’re extremely affordable and accessible pretty much anywhere. A few things to look out for when buying is the bulb and the material. The bulbs are the little round tips at the end of the pins. Most already come with a bulb, but soon or later they drop off and leave a sharp, pointy end which usually happens due to general wear and tear. These sharp ends are very bad for your hair because they will snag and sometimes lead to breakage. It’s best to just throw them away when they get to this point. Now the material may not be a real biggie for some, but for me, I find a lot of colored pins with the plastic coating peels off over time and is sometimes exacerbated by natural oils in our hair. Who want to walk around with neon coating stuck in your hair all day. Also, I’m not a big fan of glitter either. It was cute when I was 8 years-old, but all the left over residue clinging to hair strands and lingering about in my scarf, on my pillow or in my comb and brush, really isn’t worth it. Either way just choose wisely and make sure you inspect your bobby pins on a regular basis to ensure they’re still safe and intact.

3) Wide Tooth Comb

While I used wide tooth combs with my chemically relaxed hair many years ago, the benefits are indeed more greatly easily visible as a natural. Using a fine tooth comb is particularly damaging for natural hair. The reason why is because natural hair strands are very kinky and coily. Hair strands with this type of hair cannot pass through those tiny gaps between the narrow teeth of a fine tooth comb and cause hairs to become trapped and then break. By now, we’ve all learned that breakage ultimately leads to damage and hinders your goals for length retention. The wide tooth comb allows hair to pass through much more comfortably and detangle with a lot less breakage.

4) Metal Free Hair Bands

Those hairbands with metal clasps are quite notorious for snagging all types of hair. Naturals are increasingly more prone to this because hair strands are coily and fluently tangled. So keep in mind once you start tying your curly hair with hair bands, whether for styling or stretching, use those without the metal clasp. I cannot stress enough that snagging causes breakage and will most definitely impact your length retention. Also the likelihood of getting a metal free hair band tangled in your hair is increasingly less so your growing long, glamorous curls isn’t greatly affected.