I have 4C hair and I love it.

I find it quite disappointing when I see some people with 4C hair struggling to accept it as something that is beautiful and deserving of admiration. There was a post a while ago on CurlyNikki.com where a girl outright said, and I paraphrase: 

"I envy people with 3C, 4A and 4B hair because it's nice and curly. I hate my hair because it's ugly and kinky. I can't go natural because I don't want to show this mess to the world"!

I was stunned because clearly the girl hates her hair and secondly, by sharing that level of hate she makes other 4C girls start to think that there is something wrong with our hair. I just shrugged it off and thought, "Whatever", clearly there are deeper problems here than just hair...this brings me on to the all-important topic of curl pattern!

I get loads of emails from people asking why their curl pattern isn't "developing" or whether they should big chop again to get a "better curl pattern". Here are the facts on curl pattern:

• Your curl pattern is determined by genes. 
• Some people's hair is curly, other people have kinky hair. You cannot change that.
• Although you cannot change your curl pattern at all EVER you can manipulate it with styling techniques.
  
• Curly and kinky hair types are both cool and beautiful.

What styles look good with kinky hair?
The classic afro, afro puffs and styles using scarves. Seriously, curly is not better than kinky and vice versa. Just accept what God gave you and learn to love it if you don't already.

If you have kinky hair how can you make it look more curly?
You can plait, twist it or use curling rods.

If you have curly hair how can you make it look more kinky?
You can't.

Hope this helps!

When people talk about vitamin D deficiency they often talk about the health of teeth and bones. Vitamin D is required to absorb calcium and calcium is need for bone and teeth formation. However, vitamin D is also crucial for healthy hair.

What's the impact of not having enough vitamin D?

Hair and nails are relatively non-essential compared to organs like the liver, teeth and bones. 

If your body is deficient in anything, it delivers the requisite nutrients to the most important organs first and if nothing is left after that for hair, nails and other less important bodily functions then tough!

How does a deficiency in vitamin D cause hair loss?

Hair growth involves three phases:

• Anagen phase: hair grows
  
• Catagen phase: hair stops growing
  
• Telogen phase: hair reaches its 'dead' state
  

A deficiency in vitamin D causes a change in these phases with one or more being hindered or very short.

It's normal to lose 50 - 100 hairs per days so when you see a few hairs on your comb it's not usually a cause for concern, more than this and you should look into your overall health.

Which foods are rich in vitamin D?

• Pure cod liver oil (a tablespoon gives you 340% of your RDA)
• Fish especially salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines
• Milk 
  
• Mushroom
  
• Egg yolks - so don't remove that bit when you are eating, you've been warned :)
  

How else can you get vitamin D?

1. Spend more time in the sun. 

Vitamin D is naturally created by the body when one is exposed to sunlight. The amount of time you need to spend in the sun varies from person to person. The darker your skin, the more time you need to spend in the sun. A fair skinned white person can get all the sun they need in about 10-15 minutes of exposure to sun without any sunscreen on.

2. Take a supplement.

Because I live in cold, wet, cloudy London I decided this was necessary when I realised that my nails were looking cracked and unhealthy. I take a drugstore variety skin, hair and nails multivitamin (currently Boots) because it's far cheaper than the branded ones. On offer, I got 3 packs of 90 pills each for c.£22 when the 3 packs of a designer brand with 60 pills per bottle were going for £60 - also on offer! Thanks but no.

Apparently, having either too much or too little vitamin D can also lead to hair loss so getting the balance right is important. This is the best recovery-from-hair-loss story involving vitamin D that I have found on the internet.

I talk about vitamin D here but ultimately having a balanced diet make a big difference to your overall health including the health of your hair. 

Other important nutrients for hair:

• Vitamin A
  
• Iron
  
• Protein
  

Also on diets, note that crash or liquid protein diets can lead to hair loss! So, when you want to lose weight using one of these methods keep in mind that you are more than likely choosing thinness over beautiful hair. The best solution is to permanently change to a better diet with gradual weight loss. I'll choose my hair any day!

Have you checked out Neno Natural's Haircare Store.

Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.

I’ve always enjoyed swimming. Whenever I want a swim I make it coincide with my hair washday, usually Sunday. The rest of the week I jog.

Unfortunately, after about 18 weeks of pregnancy, jogging became tough for me so I started swimming more regularly.

Having to detangle and wash my hair carefully 2 to 3 times a week was never going to work with my lifestyle so I started wearing lots of cornrow styles. In fact, I actually started earlier in my pregnancy than that because I was frequently too tired for my hair in the first 3 months of pregnancy.

Anyhow, if you wear protective cornrow hairstyles you’ll be able to maintain the style for at least four weeks before it starts looking tatty and after your swim you only need 5 minutes to clean it.

Wash Routine For Regular Swimmers

After every swim I used the mild but effective Queen of Kinks Shampoo and I followed up with the conditioner. I let the conditioner sit whilst I showered and rinsed it off last, just before I left the shower.

My hair air-dried and later on I moisturized with the Queen of Kinks Moisturizer plus a thin layer of the oil treatment.

After 7 months of this, my hair is still in great condition. It is so low effort and works perfectly for the busy, regular swimmer.

You could also try regularly twisting your hair but frankly that will require a little more maintenance and touching up than cornrow styles.

Other styles that are good include, TWAs especially very short ones because they tend to be low-maintenance and flat twists, although they are less durable than cornrows.

​Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair.

In my last blog I talked about whether or not Hair Grows Thicker & Faster In Pregnancy.

It turned out that hair might grow thicker and/or faster but after delivery 40-50% of women experience Telogen Effluvium, or simply post partum hair loss. Telogen Effluvium can happen 1 to 5 months after pregnancy but is most common around the 3-month point following delivery.

What can you do about post partum hair loss?


Not much, you can:

• Ride it out - it will stop eventually.
• If you want to, shave all your hair off – this gives you some sort of power in that you are “choosing” to lose your hair and I know many naturals that choose to do this with great effect.
• Treat your hair with even greater reverence during this period of shedding so you don’t lose even more hair than is necessary.
• Avoid excessive manipulation of hair: too much braiding, blow drying and use of heat will only make your shedding worse. Go for more protective styles.
• Avoid relaxers and even texturizers – they won’t help matters at all.
• According to WhatToExpect.com breastfeeding can delay the onset of this post partum hair shedding but when you wean your baby eventually, it will happen – geez, the never-ending benefits of breastfeeding. Just when you thought there couldn’t be another one!

Do you know of any other solutions to post partum hair loss? Please share your experiences in the comments section.

References:

• Does Hair Grow Thicker & Faster In Pregnancy, NenoNatural.com
• Pregnancy & Hair Loss, AmericanPregnancy.org
• Postpartum Hair Loss, WhatToExpect.com
  
• Postpartum hair loss, BabyCenter.com