This is one area of hair management where everyone seems to have a strong opinion. Personally, my opinion is a little more tempered because I believe everyone is the queen of their own kink, curls and coils; once you've tried a few things, you'll know what your hair will accept and what it will not.
To comb or not to comb? I comb weekly during my deep condition using a Neno Natural wide-tooth comb. A wide-tooth comb is much gentler on hair and the Neno Natural wide-tooth comb is specifically designed not to snag and break hair. How to Comb? Before combing hair it's always best to dampen it and add a little detangler or moisturiser or conditioner. This is called plasticizing the hair. Combing dry brittle hair leads to more snagging than necessary. I finger comb and detangle first starting at the tips. If you effectively detangle the tips first you meet less resistance higher up and hence less hair breakage.
Why not just finger comb and abandon combs all-together?
I tried that for about the month and my hair was the most tangled it has ever been and it start looking very unhealthy. The thinner your hair or looser your curls are, the easier it is to stop combing but mine is just too thick and compact for a no-comb regime. How about the denman brush? I've used it once in over two years of being natural and I thought it was okay. I didn't get massive breakage but I did have more hair on the brush than normal. It was at the end of that no-comb month that I used the denman brush so it may well have just been shed hairs that had not been properly released. Where can you get a set of our awesome detangling wide-tooth combs? Amazon or NenoNatural.com. Each pack contains three combs: one green, one pink, one blue; just as in the picture above. You'll love it.
I actually only discovered this important fact in year two of being natural: the order in which you apply products impacts how long hair retains moisture.
Some people see more moisture retention with the LOC method, others with the LCO method. L stands for liquid - this can either be just water, hydrosol or water that has been "fortified" with herbs and extracts that are believed to be good for hair. O stands for oil - any vegetable butter or oils should do. I use Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator. See my free whipped butters course if you want to make your own. C stands for cream - creamy vegetable butter-based hair moisturisers or leave-in conditioners are ideal here. If you have thin hair just use a small amount. LOC Method:
LCO Method:
Try both methods a few times to see what works best for you. Some people actually use one method on half of their head and the other method on the second half to test it out properly. The problem then becomes remembering which half got which treatment! Remember, more moisture retention means your hair doesn't get dry and brittle. If your hair is not dry and brittle it is much less likely to break and you will retain more length. Simples :) Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair. You might also like: How To Reduce Your Natural Hair's Porosity?
The Queen of Kinks conditioner can be used for full routine wash, that is, detangle + shampoo + deep condition + moisturize with a different product application at each stage.
Alternatively, if you’re pressed for time or if your hair isn’t that dirty you can detangle your hair, twist it to section, let it sit then rinse, moisturize and go in one easy step. Because the detangler and conditioner are one product you save on time. It’s super convenient as you will see in the below video. Essentially, you are co-washing and deep conditioning at the same time:
To stop your hair from drying out, you need to stop moisture leaking out of your hair and into the environment. One way to do this is to make sure your cuticle closes properly after you wash your hair.
Here's how you can do that:
If you are not using products of the same brand or line just get pH paper and ensure the conditioner you use is more acidic than the shampoo. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14; if the conditioner has a lower pH number than the shampoo, it's compatible. What if the conditioner has a higher pH than the shampoo? Either:
Remember, more moisture retention means your hair doesn't get dry and brittle. If your hair is not dry and brittle it is much less likely to break and you will retain more length. You might also like: Hair Growth Tip 5 - How to Use Products To Stop Your Hair Drying Out
Note 1 (10-Nov): the Kindle book is no longer free (Amazon only allow 5 free days per quarter) but the insane giveaway is still on, read on...
Note 2 (11-Nov): we've expanded entry. If you've reviewed any Queen of Kinks product send a link to the review. We are getting so many rave reviews that we feel those people deserve giveaway entries.
For the third year running the $500 giveaway is on!
This time around we won’t be giving away cash but the newly launched and highly anticipated Queen of Kinks Product Line. We will be sending out 3 full boxes of the super nourishing Queen of Kinks box set (worth $119.99 each) and 5 fantastic tubes of the popular Detangler/Conditioners (worth $29.99 each). This means there will be 8 lucky winners in total. Start: Sunday 8 November 2015 (Sunday) Close: Midnight on 13 November 2015 (Friday) Winners announced: Sunday 15th November live on YouTube . How To Enter
The Paperback is up at a super-discounted price.
How to collect the link to your review:
On Sunday 15th November, 8 winners will be announced at 4pm EST / 1pm PST / 9pm London / 3pm Chicago time on a live on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kDSddWI0Aw8 Entry open to citizens of all countries: your prize will be shipped anywhere. However, if your local customs charge you a fee or duty, you will be responsible for paying that yourself. By entering the Giveaway you are agreeing to this condition. Click to get the book on Amazon - there is no other way to get the book!
Rather than specifying a conditioner or a range of conditioners it's useful to know what a good conditioner should make your hair feel like.
I'm not listing specific products here because the products you can find in one state/region/district may be different to those found another. As you try this and that conditioner you will know you are onto a winner if the conditioner:
How will you know if your feels nourished? You'll just know! Your hair will feel different compared to the way it feels when you use other conditioners. Different heads of hair Keep in mind at all times that what works on one person may not work for you EVEN IF you seem to have the same type of hair. This was one of the first mistakes I made as a newbie natural. I just used the same products that my favourite YouTuber used for ages ignoring the fact that they weren't all great on my hair - seems obvious but it wasn't to me!! For a variety of conditioners you might want to try see nenonatural.com/products. Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair. You might also like: 5 types of conditioner for natural hair and a frizz-free tip!
If you have been following NenoNatural.com for a while you may have heard me complain about my itchy scalp! My itchy scalps is what led to all these blogs on how to reduce or prevent itching!
I've finally discovered what the problem was. Seriously, I had latterly been talking to my hubby about seeing a specialist because it was getting so bad. At first I thought it was grapeseed oil because the itchiness coincided with the first time I used it. Then I thought it may be a food allergy but I couldn't figure out what precisely. Then I went home to my country Malawi and noticed that my scalp wasn't itching and at this point I thought the British weather was the culprit, I began contemplating buying a one-way ticket back to the Warm Heart of Africa! It's a small tragedy that led to the discovery of the real culprit: our bathtub started leaking so upon our return we started using our separate shower and this shower doesn't have a water filter. Two weeks into our return I realized the itching hadn't returned and the only thing that was different is that I wasn't using the shower hose with a filter - so the filter was it! One of the chemicals in the filter must make my scalp itch but it normally happens a few days after my wash, probably when the power of the peppermint essential oil that I add to my conditioner wears off! If you have an itchy scalp and you use a shower filter try not using it for a month to see whether it's the problem. Keep in mind that it may not be; just because I'm allergic to something in my shower filter it doesn't mean you'll be!
We are keen to provide the content that you want. Because of you we've gone from a blog all about Heather's hair journey to a website with the most diverse collection of natural hair stories.
When we started creating DIY Hair Recipes, most of you said you just wanted a ready-to-buy high quality product line and two years later, it's here. Now, we want to know what else we can do for you. Please answer the poll below and make a comment too to be entered into a draw for a boxed set of Queen of Kinks, Curls & Coils hair products.
Product questions are way up there in terms of FAQs that I get. In this blog, I will tell you what to look for in a shampoo rather than which shampoo to buy because product availability varies from country to country and from one state or district to another.
What are you looking for? Foremost: you are looking for a shampoo that cleans your hair but does not strip it too much of much needed oils. Next: sulfates are very strong detergents so they do tend to strip black hair too much. Sulfates in themselves are not dangerous or harmful to health they are just "too effective" at cleaning. This is okay for greasy Caucasian and Asian hair but not generally for black hair. So what to do? Firstly, look for a sulfate free shampoo. In many places these are still very hard to find because sulfates are the commercial standard for shampoos. If you cannot find a sulfate-free shampoo, people have tended to take one of two paths:
We've been profiling 2 to 3 Queens for almost 2 years now and it's time for some kings!
Entry is easy! Email your answers to the below questions to us and attach a minimum of 15 to 20 good quality photos showing you and your hairstyles - any and all styles are welcome, from classic 'fros to braided hair. We will not publish your profile if you send low quality photos or too few photos. People will relate to you much better and love you through your photos. Format: in your response please have the question first and then the answer below it, don't send just the answers because we publish your profile with both so it makes our lives easier, please see the current Queens of Kinks.
Email your answers and photos to features@nenonatural.com. Note: by sending your pictures to Neno Natural you agree to have them shared on this blog and on our social networks. |
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
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