Your hair tips are the oldest section of hair and therefore the most vulnerable to breakage, split ends and fraying. To stop this from happening you need to give the tips extra moisture. Even when your hair is in braids or twists hydrate the ends at least every other day with a hair cream or a leave-in conditioner.
New growth is much less vulnerable to dryness because sebum (the oil naturally produced by the scalp) can travel part of the way up the hair shaft. In addition, new growth is stronger and more resistant and protected from the elements.
In contrast, hair ends are more exposed and the kinks, curls and coils of natural black hair make it difficult for sebum to travel all the way to the tips. Here are some solutions:
Although new growth is less vulnerable, I personally encourage my hair to grow by massaging our essential oil infused hair oil, Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator, into the scalp. Even if you have braids with extra hair/mesh attached, treat the plaits as though they were your hair by spritzing daily and applying a leave-in condition conditioner, oil and cream regularly. Your ends will thank you by not breaking off!
Thin vs. thick hair
Loose hair vs. plaits/braids/wigs
Moisture vs. protein deficiency
I didn't realise there was so much to know about leave-in conditioners! Scroll down for quick links to the above-mentioned leave-in conditioners you might want to try!
Overall, glycerine is great when applied to natural hair and can provide many benefits. However, there is one key fact you should remember when you use glycerine and two relatively minor ones. Key disadvantage Glycerine is affected by weather conditions especially heat and humidity so the results you get in summer may be different to those achieved during winter. It is better to use glycerine when it is normal to mildly humid and when the temperature is quite warm not hot. This is because when the weather is very dry there isn't enough water in the general environment for the glycerin in your hair to attract; it might compensate for this by actually taking much needed moisture out of your hair and therefore drying it out! If it is very humid, glycerine might attract so much water to your hair causing it to frizz! Other disadvantages
Those are the key disadvantages of glycerine for hair application. Overall, keep in mind that spring and autumn are good months for glycerine, the heights of summer and winter are not. Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair. Ref. blackgirllonghair You might also like: What Is Glycerine? Why's It Good For Natural Hair?
Glycerine or glycerin (or even Glycerol) is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, sticky, thickish sugar alcohol that is widely used in hair and body products. It can either be obtained from natural sources or be produced synthetically.
Natural glycerin is derived from fats and oil such as coconut oil or palm oil. It can also be made from animal fat so if you are concerned about that you should look for “vegetable glycerin”. Synthetic glycerin is derived from petroleum. Most glycerin worldwide comes from natural sources. Glycerine is hygroscopic, this means that it can attract and hold water molecules from the surrounding environment. This also means it is a humectant, it helps to retain moisture. The key benefits of glycerine for hair are:
When included in a product glycerin increases the viscosity of the formulation, i.e. it makes a watery blend thicker. It can also help improve the lather of a shampoo.
Interestingly, did you know that if glycerin is left in an open unsealed jar or container it would continue too attract water molecules until it contained 20% water? I find that fascinating! Glycerin can draw moisture out of hair so it is ideal to keep the volume of glycerin in any leave-on formulation under 10%, 5% and under is even better. If you are going to be rinsing the product off as with a shampoo or conditioner then you can add more if you wish.
Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.
You might also like: The Disadvantages Of Glycerine For Natural Hair? Ref. wisegeek, wikipedia, blackgirllonghair
I find that whipped, creamy butters are much more effective for application on dry hair. And firmer, unwhipped shea butters that haven't been blended with water are better for sealing in moisture after you've just washed your hair. Here are products I have used and like and a few that I would like to use:
1. Leave-in conditioners
I didn't realise until recently that leave-in conditioners are just another type of moisturiser. You can apply most of them to your dry hair daily after you've spritzed your hair with water. My two favourite leave-in conditioners are currently:
2. Darcy's Botanicals Avocado and Honey Twisting Cream
A great product. So good on my hair that I have two YouTube videos on it! Watch them:
3. Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter
This is next on my "hit list" - all the ingredients are natural and it's coming in at $14 for an 8 oz (230 ml) jar. Slightly expensive but sometimes there are sales on the product allowing you to obtain it for just $7. That said $14 isn't bad at all given it should last a long while. I would like to try the entire Beautiful Textures range. 4. Oyin Handmade Whipped Shea Butter This is another one on the hit list. It's only $10 for 4 oz. or $16 for 8 oz. on Amazon.com. At that price it is definitely worth a try especially as Oyin consistently get rave customer reviews. 5. Palmers Coconut Oil Hair Milk, 8.5 oz At just shy of $5 on Amazon.com this product is definitely on the cheap side for natural hair products. If you have thin hair it appears to be light so it shouldn't weigh your curls down. 8.5 ounces should last at least four months if only one person is using the bottle. If you are in the UK and looking for moisturisers, check out this blog.
Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.
I washed my hair 6 hours ago and it's still wet!
Granted, I have been wearing a beany hat all day and it is in plaits but even when it's loose my hair does take a long time to dry. The key driver of the rate at which hair dries is its porosity. Porosity refers to how easily water and other chemicals can diffuse into and out of hair. If the outer layer of the hair fibre, the cuticle, is very tightly bound and lies very flat the hair is not very porous. This type of hair is quite resistant to the entry and exit of chemicals including water. If the cuticle layer of hair has been damaged, it's weak and much more porous. Porous hair dries much more quickly than non-porous hair. Porous hair once moisturised loses that moisture much more quickly than hair that is not porous.
Other environmental and external factors influence the rate at which hair dries:
According to The Science of Black Hair, an intensely hot blow dry for a short period of time (10 - 20 minutes) is far more damaging than much milder heat application for a longer period of time, e.g. sitting under a hooded dryer for 45 minutes. Keep these factors in mind when you want your to dry fast! How to Keep Natural Hair Moisturised for 4 to 5 days Without Reapplying a Butter, Pomade or Cream2/2/2013
I discovered this routine quite by accident. My hair was already feeling very dry when I did it.
Product used: Avocado & Honey Twisting Cream by Darcy's Botanicals What I did: I had been finger combing my hair for a month and it was MASSIVELY tangled. Section by section I moisturised using the cream, finger detangled first then detangled further using a wide tooth comb. I sealed the cream in using Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator then I twisted and bantu knot each section. I left the twists in over night. The next day, my hair wasn't well twisted, probably because it was too dry to begin with, so I didn't wear it in a twist out. I undid each plait and loosened the section with water. My hair was plump and soft and for the next four days straight that's what I did each morning to re-soften the hair and improve manageability. I didn't even re-twist before bed. I got some shrinkage but nothing major. Lesson: if you find the right cream and hydrate your hair with it properly you should be able retain the moisture. I found that this technique works a lot better when I twist the hair as soon I moisturise, perhaps the good stuff soaks through overnight making it easier to keep hold of the moisture.
Relaxing before the Christmas festivities
The LOC method and the LCO method are two common methods for moisturising hair used by people with naturally curly, coily or kinky hair.
In the LOC method, liquid is applied first, then oil, then cream. In the LCO method, liquid is applied first, then cream and oil is applied last. Each layer is applied successively so as to seal or lock in the previous layer.
What works better? Should you use the LOC method or the LCO method?
Try both and then go for what works best. Here's a good strategy: LOC one half of your head and LCO the other half, that way you'll be able to distinguish which side retains more moisture over a 3 to 5 day period. Personally, I like the LCO method. You might also like: 13 Top Tips for Keeping Natural Black Hair Moisturised - No More Dry Hair!
Trying to decide on an oil? Which oil you go for should depend on what you want to use it for!
For the scalp, e.g. if your scalp is dry You need something that is light, so it doesn't clog up the pores and very rich in Vitamin E to nourish the scalp :
Pre-shampoo treatment You need an oil whose fatty acids can penetrate the hair fibre. Why? According to the Science of Black Hair, hair swells when it is wet and shrinks when it is dry. This constant swelling and shrinking is called hygral fatigue; overtime it weakens the hair fibre thereby making it more vulnerable to breakage. You can avoid hygral fatigue by applying an oil that is high in saturated fatty acids and/or monounsaturated fatty acids before the shampoo. These types of fatty acids can penetrate the hair shaft so that when you wash the hair, the hair fibre doesn't swell as much and is therefore less prone to weakening from hygral fatigue. The best oils (from the one with the highest content of saturated fats and/or monounsaturates):
Sealing in moisture
Polyunsaturated fatty acids are too large to penetrate hair's cuticle layer. Most of them bind to the outside of hair and stop moisture from escaping. Whilst the "pre-shampoo oils" mostly work by strengthening hair from the inside, oils high in polyunsaturated fatty acids operate from outside the cuticle layer of hair.
The best oils (from the one with the highest content of polyunsaturated fatty acids are): Castor oil (89%) Flaxseed oil (73%) Grapeseed oil (70%) Shelf-life Note that most oils should keep well for a year plus except flaxseed oil whose shelf life is only 6 months! You can prolong the life of flaxseed oil by keeping it in the fridge. Some oils have an almost indefinite shelf life, e.g. castor oil and jojoba. How about this whole acid/alkaline thing? For the most part, oils are weakly acidic. However, even if the oil is weakly alkaline it doesn't mean it will cause you any harm. Try it and decide whether or not your hair agrees with it. But ... oils make my hair dry! If you think an oil is drying your hair out it could mean you're using it wrongly. Remember oils are NOT moisturisers. Oil and water repel each other so to get the benefit of an oil use a proper moisturiser first, e.g. leave-in conditioner and oil should follow after that. You might also like: The supersonic benefits of argan oil on natural black hair 6 fabulous benefits of avocado oil on natural hair 8 Benefits of Castor oil for natural hair & a warning! 6 top benefits of coconut oil - a MUST for every natural hair regimen! 8 great benefits of jojoba oil on natural hair 5 benefits of sweet almond oil on natural hair Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair. References: Investigation of Penetration Abilities of Various Oils; Acid/alkaline chart (Natural Health Center), LookChem; NaturallyThinking; Balance pH diet; GardenOfWisdom;
Keeping black hair moisturised is our biggest challenge. If you follow most of the below tips you will help to keep your hair soft and hydrated. Hydrated hair breaks less.
1. Wash your hair at least weekly.
Water is the supreme moisturiser. When you wet your hair the water molecules actually penetrate the hair shaft and make the hair softer and more elastic. Moisture = hydration, hydration = water, hydrated hair = less breakage. 2. Use a shampoo and conditioner within the same product line or test the pH of your chosen shampoo and conditioner to ensure they complement each other. Conditioner is meant to be more acidic than shampoo. The lower pH of the final product used in the cleaning process (typically the conditioner) helps to seal off the hair; sealing the hair means hair cuticles are smoothed down and moisture is held in better. A shampoo and conditioner within the same product line will be developed with this requirement in mind. For example, the shampoo of one brand may have a pH of 4.5 and the conditioner 3.5 meaning that your hair is properly sealed off. But if you then go and use a conditioner of another brand whose pH is 5.0, this sealing off process won't happen properly.
3. Deep condition every week.
Deep conditioners contain moisture-boosting elements and proteins that a) strengthen the hair cuticle and b) enhance the hair strand's moisture. I didn't know this until recently but not all conditioners are made equal. There are five main types:
The weaker types (e.g. instant conditioners) are designed for daily use, some are designed for weekly use, e.g. deep conditioners and some shouldn't be used more than once a month (e.g. those very high in protein).
4. Finish every wash off with a cold rinse
Washing your hair with warm water helps to dislodge dirt and oil. It also increases the hair's porosity i.e. the cuticles open up so that all the good stuff from your shampoo and conditioner is easily absorbed. Rinsing your hair in cold water at the end of the washing process will help to flatten the cuticle and lock in moisture. I also do this when I wash my face. It helped to clear up my acne. 5. Apply a moisturiser to your hair before you apply any oil. Oil is not a moisturiser. Oil and water do not mix hence oil, if at all used, needs to be applied last so that it stops moisture from escaping. Oil is fantastic at locking in moisture. In terms of applying hair products (leave-in moisturisers, creams, oils), you need to figure our which order keeps your hair most moisturised: LOC Method or LCO Method.
6. Buy a good moisturiser.
Moisturisers can be water-based or oil-based. In oil-based moisturisers water and oil are blended using "emuslifiers"; emulsifiers stop the water and oil from separating. A shea butter based moisturiser is the best option in my opinion. A buttery one works best on wet hair and a creamy one is fantastic for dry hair. 7. Avoid petrolatum, petroleum and mineral oils. Although they are great for sealing in moisture, they provide no additional benefit. That said, if you have a moisturiser where one of these appears low down the list of ingredients, it means they don't form a major part of the moisturiser. According to The Science of Black Hair, "as a rule of thumb, these sealants should never be listed in the top five ingredients of any moisturiser you use".
8. Seal-in the moisture with a good oil.
Great oils for sealing moisture within the hair cuticle (most to least preferred):
9. Drink lots of water. A lot of hydration operates from the inside out.
10. If you have a dry scalp massage a small amount of oil onto it regularly.
Keeping a dry scalp moisturised will ensure that the scalp's environment is conducive for hair growth and is efficiently supplying hair with oil (sebum) to help in the hydration of hair. The best oil you can apply to your scalp? Jojoba. Jojoba is very similar in structure to sebum (the oil produced by the scalp) and as such is my oil of choice. 11. Spritz your hair with water twice a day. This will help to keep it hydrated. Note that if your hair is damaged or if you have a build up of minerals on your hair (e.g. from hard water) or if you're using a product high in petrolatum/petroleum/mineral oil, water will find it hard to penetrate to the cuticle.
12. Sleep with a satin bonnet at night and/or use a satin pillow case
Cotton absorbs the moisture from your hair a lot more than satin does. In addition, satin fibres are smoother than cotton ones so you're less vulnerable to breakage with satin. 13. Wear protective hairstyles when the weather is harsh. If it's very hot or windy your hair will dry out VERY quickly.
Reference: The Science of Black Hair by Audrey Davis-Sivasothy
You might also like:
Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair. |
I now blog about wealth creation - so if you have any money questions meet me there, you can do all sorts of cool things like leave me a voicemail.
By Heather Katsonga-Woodward
I was a natural hair blogger and mixtress living between London & Chicago from 2012 to 2017. I always thought I was 4C but some say 4B; images below - you decide! Heather xx Categories
All
Archives
November 2016
|