Breakage. Dryness. Slow growth. Unmanageable hair. These are all issues that can be remedied by properly and consistently moisturizing your hair. But curly and natural hair is prone to dryness, so this isn’t as easy as it sounds. If you’re struggling to keep your hair moisturized, we have seven must-know strategies for keeping your hair moisturized on a daily basis.

1. Water is moisture.

You can’t hydrate your hair without water. In fact, you may already use a range of products and conditioners to moisturize your hair, but a true moisturizer will have water listed as one of the first two ingredients. If your product contains much other than water, it simply isn’t moisturizing your hair.

2. Seal in moisture with an anti-humectant.

Remember in chemistry class, how oil and water don’t mix? This helps illustrate the concept of “anti-humectants.” An anti-humectant is any product, like oil, that repels water. If you moisturize your hair in the morning, throughout the day that moisture will evaporate and get absorbed into the environment. But if that moisture is coated with an anti-humectant, the moisture won’t want to pass through the oil. It will remain sealed into your hair!

This is why oils and other anti-humectants are so important for curly hair. They seal moisture into your hair strands and slow down the process of your hair drying out. That’s science!

3. Trim your ends!

Trim your hair regularly to get rid of split ends, brittle ends, and single strand knots. Split ends dry out quickly and can be the most dry part of your hair, so keeping them in check will help your hair grow and retain moisture in the long run.

4. Stop heat-treating your hair.

Avoid heat at all costs when it comes to your curly hair. Flat irons and blow dryers are designed to strip the moisture out of your hair, leaving it dry- and once it’s gone, it takes a while for natural oils to re-moisturize your hair. If you must dry your hair with a blow dryer, use the coolest setting- and avoid using these tools every day.

5. Don’t touch your hair.

Keep your hands OUT of your hair! The moisture balance of your hair is delicate, and touching your curls can cause sebum, the oil produced by your scalp, to absorb into your skin. This leaves your hair dry, so stop touching your curls and coils!

6. Cover your hair with silk or satin.

Do you wake up with your hair feeling dry and frizzy? At night, cover your hair with a silk or satin bonnet or scarf to retain moisture while you sleep. Silk is an animal protein fiber, while satin is a fiber weave. There are differences between the two, but either one will prevent moisture loss overnight, along with normal snags and split ends from friction. Your hair will thank you when you wake up in the morning? Here are some additional tips on how to keep your hair moisturized at night.

7. Deep condition regularly.

Finally, one of the most important ways to moisturize natural hair is a consistent deep conditioning routine. Natural deep conditioners sit in your hair long enough to penetrate the strands, packing your hair with the moisture and nutrients it needs to thrive. Rinse after 20-40 minutes, style with your normal products, enjoy the results… and repeat every two weeks! Within a few cycles, you should notice your hair feeling softer and more moisturized.