By Charleme Salomon

Think you know everything there is to know about hair care? The truth is that there are some common myths floating around about how to take care of black hair. Learning what is fact and what is fiction will help you take better care of your hair.

Black Hair Care Truth 1: Hair loss does not have to happen when you wear weaves or braids. 

Problems with hair loss occur when your hair is pulled too tight for long periods of time. Either ask your hair care specialist to go a little looser on the scalp or alternate braids or weaves with a looser style on a regular basis. 

Black Hair Care Truth 2: Satin or silk does protect your hair.

Friction is your hair's biggest enemy. When you sleep on a smooth satin pillow or wrap your hair in a silk scarf before you retire, you are preventing the hair breakage that occurs when friction gets hold of your head. When your hair rubs against a coarse fabric while you sleep, hair breakage accelerates.

Black Hair Care Truth 3: Hair growth naturally accelerates during pregnancy.

During pregnancy, a woman's body is flooded with estrogen which places hair into a permanent growth phase for the duration. Once the pregnancy ends, hair stops growing and begins to shed in copious amounts. Those prenatal vitamins don't have anything to do with hair growth although they are great for you and the baby's overall health. 

Black Hair Care Truth 4: Black hair is more subject to breakage.

Black hair is curly and because of this, its internal structure is more subject to breakage. The tighter the curl, the drier and weaker the hair will be. That is why good hair care should be on your list of priorities.

Black Hair Care Truth 5: Having long black hair is possible. 

Many people think that black hair simply won't grow long because of the problems with breakage listed in Truth 4. However, with proper care, black hair can grow quite long. Think about how long dreadlocks can grow for starters.

Black Hair Care Truth 6: Black hair grows just as rapidly as any other type of hair.

It's true. Hair grows at an average of one-half inch each month and black hair is no exception. Because of the curls, it only seems like black hair grows slower than other types of hair.

Black Hair Care Truth 7: Natural hair can be easy to manage.

Most black women have learned how to take care of their relaxed hair and don't quite know how to take care their natural hair. The good news is that with proper care, you can alternate your styles between relaxed and natural while always looking great.

Black Hair Care Truth 8: Black hair won't dry out if it is washed more than once a week.

Water is a moisturizer and the number one cause of your hair not growing comes from product build-up so it is important that you wash your hair as needed.

Black Hair Care Truth 9: Greasing your scalp will actually dry out your hair.

In an attempt to moisturize their hair, many women go overboard with hair care products used to grease and moisturize their scalp. The bad news is that these products can actually lock moisture out of the hair follicles. Using products designed to bring moisture into the hair itself will deliver much better results.

Black Hair Care Truth 10: It is not necessary to go to the salon every week to grow your hair long. 

When you follow these truths, you can have great looking and long hair without the need to go to the salon every week. However, where's the fun in that? Why not take excellent care of your hair at home and let your stylist deliver even more outstanding results?

These hair truths might fly in the face of what you have always been told about black hair care, but they work. Regular hair care will help you grow your locks long and lush if you wish or set you up with a perky short look. Let us know which of these truths was most illuminating to you.

Charleme Salomon is a successful business owner and fashion enthusiast. She operates the website, AfricanAmericanHairStyleVideos.com, which provides helpful and up-to-date videos straight from black natural hairstyle aficionados.

Harry and I have a pregnancy photo shoot in a couple of weeks and I'm struggling to decide whether braids or an afro is best. What will look better in 30 years' time - braids or afro? Write a comment if you think something else completely.

After spending the afternoon with one of my friends yesterday helping her to understand online marketing, I got the sweetest email today. This email got me thinking that I should write more blogs and maybe upload more videos to my YouTube channel "GettingToWealthy".

Would you like it if I did more "wealth" blogs / vlogs, Marie Forleo style? Soon I'll be hobnobbing with the likes of Richard Branson, lol. Leave a comment or take the poll or both.

Note that I don't mix these posts with the hair blogs. They are all under nenonatural.com/random-thoughts.

Take the poll below to let me know what you think.

The Email I Received: 

Morning Heather,

I woke up with a question on my mind, thinking how is it that you are able to be so super productive?

Do you have a mentor that has literally guided you through and around all the pitfalls? So you've not had to waste gallons of time analysing rubbish?

It takes time to 'physically' do the work, there's only so many hours in a day!

Do you do a lot of outsourcing?

I know you mentioned a mastermind group which is great for guidance and motivation...

But I feel like I'm missing something!

How do you organise your brain from distractions, your workload...

Sorry if it feels like I'm being over curious, it's just that I've wanted to be successful for so long, years have passed, read and implemented so much stuff, got lost in the wilderness and you make it look so 'easy'!

What's the secret?

Warm regards
x

This was my reply: Productivity - How To Do More In One Day Than Most People Do In A Week!

A very interesting thing happened recently: my Pinterest following doubled from 3.5k to 7k in like 2 weeks.

It had taken me a whole year to grow to 3,500 followers so I was very surprised, I thought I had been hit by bots because many of the new followers had very few followers themselves.

I contacted Pinterest to ask and got the explanation seen in the screenshot of my email. 

Apparently as a "super pinner" they are now promoting my pages to new joiners so those people see interesting posts right away. 

I am truly chuffed & humbled. I would also be very grateful to you if you followed the Neno Natural Pinterest board. 

I share amazing hairstyles every day to inspire you and make deciding your new “do” that much easier.

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

The Neno Natural hair blog was established in May 2012 and the response has been UNBELIEVABLE. To thank email subscribers in November 2013 I gave $500 cash to one subscriber :).

This year, I will do it again but have changed the rules a little: instead of entering all subscribers into the draw, only those rated 3* or more will be entered.

How do you get a good subscriber rating of 3* or more?

It is automatically calculated by my email management tool, MailChimp. Moving up the rank is easy:

1. People who open my emails regularly are rated highly (even if they don't read anything!);
2. People who click through to blog posts get even higher ratings.

I think this entry system is fairer because the money goes to someone who actually likes the work I am doing. How do you subscribe? 

1. If you get my weekly email you already are, keep opening my emails to increase your chances of winning :)
2. If you do not get my weekly email, get the free ebook and you will:

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


Thoughts?

Natural Hair

To me, when I am talking about "natural hair" - I simply mean hair that has not been permanently straightened using some kind of a chemical ingredient, e.g. relaxer, Brazilian blow dry etc. This does not include hair straightened using temporary methods such as heat.

Natural Ingredients

I have no idea what a natural ingredient is! Natural is defined as "existing in or derived from nature; not made or caused by humankind."

If you use this definition then I think there are different degrees to which something can be natural and just calling something natural does not mean much. 

For example, a carrot is natural, yes, but if you cook it, it's less natural. The girl that eats a raw carrot is giving her body more and better nutrients than the girl who cooks the carrot first. Similarly, a carrot picked fresh off a farm is more natural than one that has been bagged for a supermarket. That bag normally has life prolonging chemicals inside it.

Of course, if we are talking about cake vs. carrot then there is no debate about what is more natural. However, even with the cake everything that goes in was natural. The flour came from wheat, the sugar from corn or sugarcane etc. If we weren't sat on our butts all day that cake wouldn't be so bad to eat either; it would be burned as energy rather than clogging up our arteries!

I am only using food as an example here because we can all relate to it. The principles can be easily applied to hair ingredients. If someone tells you something is natural ask them what they mean! The "natural" means something only if it is given a context.

Natural does not necessarily mean organic - so if that matters to you then clarify the organicness of a product; natural does not mean completely unrefined so check what, if any, refining a product went through before it reached you; natural does not mean locally grown.

Basically, outside of "natural hair" - I think the term natural means nothing if it's not given a context. 

You need to define what natural means to you and then make sure that the people you are dealing with are using the same definition, e.g. organic, eco-friendly, free of certain ingredients or inputs, grown within the country you live etc. etc. 

Finally, I want you to note that unless you have specific allergies or conditions most things that are not natural will cause you no harm whatsoever if you use them in the right amount; indeed, almost all "natural" ingredients will result in a negative reaction if you use them wrongly - even drinking too much water can kill you! 

'Nuff said! I'm out!

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Ref: Water Intoxication


You might also like: 

• Neno Natural's DIY Hair Recipes
• Should I Buy Organic Butters & Oils Instead Of Non-Organic Ones? What The Heck Does Organic Even Mean?!

This tip is from Ms. Dalton:

Pillowcases and sheets will get oil and grease on them at times. There is a quick solution for this problem:

Once you notice that oil has soiled your pillow case or sheets put baby powder (any one will do even a cheap powder); rub the powder over the stain; the talc in the powder will absorb the oil then proceed to wash. It works every time..

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


You might also like:

• Sex And Satin Bonnets - What To Do If Your Partner Hates It!
• 6 Ways To Protect Your Pillow And Bedsheets From Grease

A few have asked me to do a husband tag video in the past but I always felt a little shy about it, however, we decided to go for it. We answer the main question asked over dinner: HOW DID WE MEET? Find out how Obama(!) reconnected us.

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Dealing with other people's comments and reactions can be one of the hardest things about going natural.

It's even harder when those that are closest to you are the ones saying things that hurt your feelings. 

One of the saddest emails I got was from a lady whose husband simply didn't understand why she would want to go natural. He asked her why she would want to "look like a slave?"!! Yes, I was gob-smacked too.

Firstly, because slavery has historically transcended race although over time black people bore the brunt of it but secondly because I couldn't believe how rude and insensitive he was being.

You don't owe anyone an explanation on why you are going natural but it might help to say a little something to help them understand you a little better. I recommend the following:

• Don't get angry: respond to stupid comments with grace.
  
• Explain what chemical relaxing is: a permanent change in hair structure.
  
• Explain why you are going natural: for me it was hair breakage and thinning but it could be you just wanting to experience your natural texture; not wanting to use chemicals that make permanent changes to your hair; not wanting to be beholden to relaxer; and after a while it might just be because YOU LIKE your natural texture more than the straight-haired look!! It may surprise some but some of us actually like the afro look: it's so arty, individual and authentic!
• If you're hurt, say so: If anyone says something particularly hurtful tell them that you are hurt by their comment and explain why.
• Ultimately, the person saying the nasty stuff may be the one with the problem. If they associate an afro with slavery then they need to think about why they have this negative stereotype and revise their views!

Some people enjoy the luxury of full support from all players in their life. The rest of us, well...eventually, people begin to understand. How did you react to negativity?

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So, Harry and I go for a walk to the park and we take a route that we always avoid. We come across a bed with a note saying take it and I was like, "whatever, let someone else take it".

On the way back, over an hour later, the bed is STILL there so I decided it's fate, we have to take it! 

At first, I carried the bed's ends but they were quite heavy so we swapped and I took the base. Although it was lighter it was quite cumbersome to carry and the only place it felt comfortable was on my head. It just fell on the 'fro like a pillow! Here's how it went down!

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