I first wrote about this in 2013 and frankly, I was a little over the top in terms of keeping your precious strands protected. If the weather is moderate or even raining, it won't suffer at all from exposure to the elements.

If it's very cold, however, try to wear some sort of head gear. The winter cold dries hair out. Your strands of hair don't like floating through cold air freely. If you jog outside, like I do, tie a scarf over your head before you hit the pavement. 

I used to wear a scarf even in the summer because running creates resistance between your hair and the air but I've decided this isn't all that damaging. Having a TWA right now makes it even less concerning.

If you prefer to wear a scarf even in the summer, go ahead. You won't feel much hotter with the scarf on but it does provide some protection esepcially if you have very thin hair strands that break easily.

If you don't have a scarf available twist your hair or tie it back if it's long enough. Your strands fair better when they are bunched up together in a twist or a plait rather than when they "float through the air".

If you go to a gym, obviously this isn't going to be a problem. I usually prefer outdoor exercise and commit to it even when it's very cold outside. I have jogged in light snow, rain and at -4 degrees celsius, you get used to it.

When to wash your hair

I don't think you need to wash your hair after every single work out but I frequently co-wash with the Queen of Kinks Conditioner.

I don't get smelly hair (according to my husband) if I leave it unwashed after exercise for a couple of days but I know you might or at least just feel uncomfortable and self-conscious when you don't wash your hair after a workout.

If you prefer a wash after every single work out, co-wash rather than shampoo for a gentler clean and shampoo once or twice a week only.

If your hair is flat ironed it will get frizzy after a jog but that's not a problem for the many naturals that avoid heat.

The answer will annoy you! It depends. Some hair types are stronger and can take more heat than others but there are some general rules that apply to all hair types.

Firstly, when you apply heat to your hair it loses both water and protein. In order to straighten hair, the bonds within each fibre have to break. 

This same bond breakage also happens when hair is chemically relaxed. However, whereas chemical relaxers break the bonds in hair permanently, heat usually breaks the bonds temporarily and the process is reversed by immersing the hair in water.

So what does heat damage look like? 

Heat damage normally happens to some bits of hair and not others so when you wash it there are some odd straight hairs here and there mixed in with the curly hair. The straight hairs are the heat damaged hair fibres - that hair will not curl back.

The regularity with which you can use heat depends on:

• Hair texture: some textures can tolerate heat much better than others;
• Hair condition: hair that has been well conditioned and is in a good state of repair deals with heat much better than damaged or weak hair.

Heat damage is cumulative: the more you use heat, the worse the state of your hair gets. Just because your hair dealt with heat well this week, it doesn't mean it will do well next week. 

Blow drying and pressing increases the incidence of split ends and general breakage so if you use heat regularly you can expect to have to trim more regularly.

Overall, even if you have thick course hair I would recommend that you use heat only once a week at the most. If your hair is fine, once or twice a month is plenty.

An alternative to direct heat application is to use hair rollers or curl formers and apply heat at a safe distance using a hooded dryer as the preferred option and a blow dryer as a next-best option. 

Direct application including blow drying using dryers with a comb is much more damaging than applying heat from a distance.

Importantly, before applying heat ensure your hair has been washed, deep conditioned and moisturized adequately. You can get the Queen of Kinks product line on Amazon USA and Amazon UK. If you're Prime Member you'll get it super fast.

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


Ref: The Science of Black Hair, pages 168 - 170

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.

By Sherry Harris​

​For your body to perform optimally and stay healthy, you need to take in the right nutrients on a daily basis. Just like your body, your hair too needs a daily dose of vital minerals for it to grow properly. Otherwise,your hair will grow dull and, within time, start breaking.
 
One of the vital, but little talked about, minerals that your hair needs to obtain and remain healthy are magnesium. In this article, we will discuss why magnesium is needed for your hair to grow properly.It also provides tips on how you can incorporate this mineral into your daily life. Lets get started!
 
It Great For Your Body Cells
 
Magnesium comes fourth on the list of most abundant minerals in the body. The mineral is an essential electrolyte responsible for more than 300 biochemical reactions. This naturally occurring substance basically works to help body cells produce and store energy. So, you might be wondering what does that have to do with hair growth.
 
Well, it means that without any magnesium in your body all of your body cells would die. All of the cells in your body including those lining the hair follicles, therefore, need the right supply of magnesium for them to remain healthy.

It Is Very Nourishing For Your Scalp
 
Hair loss is a chain reaction that ends with an inflamed scalp. As long as the scalp is healthy then the hair strands attached to it remains healthy.
 
Magnesium is known to detoxify and cleanse the dermis and this also applies to the scalp. It is also very effective in relieving and treating allergic reactions. Keep in mind; some of these reactions have been known to lead to excessive hair loss. By using magnesium oil on your scalp, you are virtually guaranteeing that you are not only nourishing your hair follicles, but also ensuring that your scalp stays healthy.
 
So what can you do to ensure that you get enough magnesium to promote hair growth?
 
Your first course of action should be to incorporate magnesium rich foods in your diet. What type of foods? So, glad you asked.

• Spinach
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Seaweed
• Sunflower Seeds

 
Eating these foods and other foods rich in magnesium on a daily basis ensures that your body gets a constant supply of this important nutrient. Because cooking and refining lead to magnesium loss, it is always advisable to eat the magnesium rich foods raw whenever possible.

​Another good option would be to apply magnesium oil to your scalp and hair. If you are particularly concerned about your hair due to hair loss, you might want to not only apply magnesium oil to your hair and scalp. Step it up a notch and be sureto eat a magnesium rich diet because it will work great for your hair.
 
It is worth noting that because your hair is not served by major blood vessels it is highly likely that your hair is not getting enough magnesium. How do you know for sure? Well, if your hairlooks frail, is growing slowly or even greying faster or prematurely, then you might not be getting enough magnesium.
 
Other Health Benefits of Magnesium
 

• It has been found to promote scalp health
• It addresses problems like dandruff and hair graying
• It is effective in slowing balding and restoring hair health

 
If you have always wondered why magnesium is needed for your hair to grow, now you have your answer. It is up to you now to take the right steps and ensure that your hair and bodyget enough magnesium on a daily basis.If you follow this advice, you will enjoy good health and a long and healthy mane as well.

Washing your hair under a shower is highly convenient for many because tangling can be minimised. 

Keeping hair strands dangling dowanwards prevents the tangling that occurs when you lean over a bathtub then stand back up. In addition, you can have a shower at the same.

One problem.

Black hair can be very delicate so if your shower produces water at a very high pressure delicate hairs will break.

Have you ever seen dirty walls and garden floors being cleaned using a strong jet of water? That shows just how powerful water under pressure can be.

If your shower's pressure can be adjusted, lower it a little bit when your head is under the shower just to make sure you don't incur unnecessary breakage.

If you walk into your local hair shop you will probably find three main types of shampoo none of which are suitable for fragile black hair. 

You see, for the most part shampoos are designed by people with type 1 or 2 hair (typically Caucasians and Asians) for their type of hair. Their key problem is greasy hair, very curly hair's key problem is dry hair - you cannot solve these two problems with the same product!

The main function of shampoo is to clean hair. It is a detergent. The difference between shampoo different shampoos is the strength of the detergent. The key types of shampoo:

1. Regular, commercial shampoo 

• Use sulfates as the key ingredient, e.g. ammonium lauryl or laureth sulfates (ALS) / sodium lauryl or laureth sulfates (SLS).
• These chemicals are too harsh for black hair because along with dirt they remove good, natural oils that black hair need to stay soft.

2. Clarifying shampoo

• Stronger than regular, commercial shampoos
• Designed to remove heavy product build up from thick greases, gels and pomades
• Even if you use very heavy products on your hair, you shouldn't be using clarifying shampoos more than once a month according to The Science of Black Hair

3. Chelating shampoos

• Stronger than regular, commercial shampoos AND clarifying shampoos
• Designed to remove mineral deposits that are sitting on hair
• Whilst clarifying shampoos just remove dirt from the surface of hair, chelating shampoo affect the hair's bond structure.
• If at all, this very strong shampoos should only be used every 4 to 6 weeks by those living in a hard water area

The better shampoos for black hair

• Cocomidopropyl betaine is a gentler cleanser and more suitable for black hair.
• Sulfate-free shampoos. That said, not all sulfate-free shampoos are equally good for black hair but that's a topic for another blog!

You've heard it said before, braids are a protective hair style and if you braid your hair it will grow better and faster.

That's true but only to a certain extent - if you don't braid your hair in the right way you will lose hair!

When it comes to braids you need to keep the following things in mind:

Braiding your hair will lead to breakage if:

• The braids are tiny
• You neglect your hair while it’s in braids

To ensure your hair does grow when it is braided do the following:

• Deep condition your hair very thoroughly before braiding
• Detangle your hair well before you go to the stylist as she will be less patient with detangling your hair for you; if your hair is all tangled she will break more of it than you would
• Make sure you don’t put a large hair extension on a small patch of hair. The pulling impact could lead to breakage
• Plait your hair without using extensions, e.g. by doing corn rows or single plaits and twists with your own hair only
• If you do use extensions, consider corn rowing the hair on the front edge. It tends to be more prone to breakage
• Ensure you treat your hair just as well in braids as you do when it’s not. This means washing, deep conditioning and moisturizing every 7 to 1o days
• Continue to spritz it with water twice daily. This will ensure that when you unbraid the hair it’s not dry and brittle
• When you take the braids out give your hair a break. I think two weeks is a decent enough time to assess the state of your hair before putting on a new set of braids.

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


You might also like:

• How To Prepare Natural Hair For Braiding & Weaving
• I Wear A Cotton Wig Cap Regularly, Am I Damaging My Natural Hair?
• 4 Tips On How To Take Care Of Natural Hair In Braids Or Cornrows

Eating a healthy balanced diet is one of the biggest factors impacting the health and growth rate of hair.

Hair is mostly composed of protein and also needs vitamins and minerals to grow. These nutrients are taken directly from the food that you eat. 

If your diet is deficient in any minerals and vitamins it's your hair (and nails) that will suffer.

How does that work?

Well, your body has to prioritise where its resources go. Hair (and nails) come very low down in your body's list of priorities. Your body will give the nutrients and minerals available to the organs first (liver, kidney etc.) and to vital body functions like maintaining a heart beat, digestion and so on before hair and nails get a look in. I think that makes sense...

What should your diet be rich in to encourage healthy hair growth?

Proteins plus the vitamins and minerals that go into making protein, this includes:

• Iron
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin B and
• Relatively smaller amounts of selenium, copper, zinc and magnesium

Can you just take a supplement to make up for a poor diet?

Supplements will not make up for an atrocious diet. That said, if you have a healthy diet and decided to take a vitamin supplement to make up for possible deficiencies, e.g. inadequate vitamin D from the sun in winter then a supplement will help.

It's very hard to have dietary deficiencies if you live in a developed country but companies that make vitamins will prey on any insecurity you might have and encourage you to buy them. Keep that in mind.

Personally, I do take vitamins sometimes but I don't take them religiously because I usually forget to.

Any other notes?

Yes - if you're on a diet and shed a lot of weight over a short period of time you may incur increased rates of hair loss. When your weight stabilizes this hair should grow back. Keep this in mind next time you want to take drastic measures to lose weight.

If you will be dieting it's important to choose the most nutritious foods within your calorie allowance to ensure you're getting the vitamins you need. 100 calories of raw, fresh carrots will do your hair a lot more good than 100 calories of chocolate.

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

You might also like:

• Iron And Hair Growth - Critical Must-Know Information
• Could Your Hair Be Thinning Because You're Not Eating Enough Protein?
• 13 Best Foods For Natural Hair Growth And Strength

Embedded in the scalp are arteries that bring oxygen and nutrients to hair follicles thereby promoting the growth of healthy, long hair.

Because the scalp is so thin massaging it definitely helps to promote blood flow to it. Massaging the scalp is even more effective if you use a good oil to do it. Oils that have essentials oils like Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator are the best because the essential oils that make up the oil actively promote hair growth.

How should you massage the scalp and for how long?

Rub the scalp using the flats of your fingers (not your fingernails) for 2 to 5 minutes. That's plenty of time.

How often should you massage the scalp?

Everyday is ideal but that may be impractical for many so every other day should do it.

When should you massage your scalp?

Massage your scalp at convenient time for you, for instance:

• On wash days as you shampoo and condition your hair
  
• In the evening when you're watching TV or before you go to bed as you twist it
  
• In the morning before you style it 
  

By Xotica Hair

Have bundles and bundles of natural hair extensions but no clue what kind of style you want?
Or maybe you’ve tried a few and are looking for something different. Whatever the case, we’ve got five amazing styles that are perfect for bringing out the best in your natural hair extensions and, will get you compliments wherever you go. 

1. Top Bun

​For a style that takes less than a few minutes to complete and allows you to really show of your natural hair, try out the many variations of the Top Bun.

Xotica Hair is one of the companies that offers quality natural hair extensions for you to achieve this look.

​Using their Afro Kinky Curl 4B/4C Texture Clip Ins, you can make your bun more voluminous and get the top bun you want with little effort.

2. Twist Up-do with Looped Bang

​Natural hair extensions look amazing twisted and styles that feature twists combined with innovative styling, go over really well.

The Twist Up-Do with Looped Bang, gives you a cool bang that loops into your up-do, creating a chic effect.

​This hairstyle is easy to do, won’t take lots of time, and is great if you need a look that goes from day to night. 

3. Goddess Braid

​This hairstyle’s name sounds as ethereal as it is and for those that like a straighter look, this one could be for you.

Using Xotica Hair’s Kinky Straight Clip Ins, this look—which can be achieved by braiding or twisting—becomes one that can last for days on end. It’s neat, looks great, and if you don’t straighten your hair, a closure can be used underneath. Additionally, this hairstyle looks is great for the boardroom or elegant event, and will bring out the goddess in you.

4. The Fishtail Fantasy

​Thinking that you can’t achieve classic styles with natural hair extensions? Think again.

The Fishtail Fantasy is a classic style that can be worn either as a side look or with the plait flowing down the back and, it goes well with all face shapes.

​As the name suggests, it looks kind of like a fishtail and this large braid is usually accompanied by a cool chignon,that you can tease and style as you desire. 

5. Loose and Flowing (Coarse Yaki)

Leaving hair Loose and Flowing is always a favourite and using Xotica Hair’s Coarse Yaki Clip Ins, achieving this look is a breeze.

​Not only does hair look thick and healthy but this hairstyle frames the face in a flattering way and can be worn for casual or more formal occasions. 

Check out Xotica Hair to get the best in natural hair extensions and more hairstyle ideas here: www.xoticahair.com
​