Dry hair is probably the number one issue for naturals. The reason is pretty simple: sebum, the oil naturally produced by all scalps, has trouble sliding down the contours of kinks, coils and curls.
The solution? Wash your hair at least every 7 to 10 days and moisturise daily. Washing is beneficial for hair because it:
If water is so essential to hair why shouldn't you wash daily? It's simple, because:
What if you want to wash your hair more often than weekly? I suggest you co-wash between the main, weekly wash and deep condition. A weekly wash won't strip your hair as much as a daily one would but of course you'll still get the problem of tangles and knots. Tangling is a huge problem for some and not so much for others. Detangle and section your hair before you wash it to manage the tangle and knot situation. How can you keep hair hydrated between washes? By spritzing it with a water bottle and re-moisturising it. If you don't wash your hair at least every 7 to 10 days you will find that it gets very dry and brittle even with the spritzing. Spritzing is not a substitute for the weekly wash but a complement to it. Moisture promotes growth, assists with length retention, and acts as a damage protectant so keep your hair well moisturised.
Yes and no.
Braids can be good for black hair if you follow the necessary precautions to ensure they're done when your hair is strongest and healthiest. I tackle the optimal conditions for braiding hair in: Hair Growth Tip 16 - Braids That Increase Natural Hair Growth If you don't take these precautions you will incur lots of unnecessary hair breakage and thinning edges from strain and general dryness. In addition, I should add that by mixing relaxed hair with braiding I damaged my own hair. I didn't know that it is best to choose one or the other. If you want to wear braids regularly it's best to stop relaxing hair altogether. You might also like:
Co-washing simply refers to washing your hair with conditioner. When you co-wash your hair you do not use any shampoo at all.
Deep conditioner is a specific type of conditioner. It is very rich in ingredients that nourish hair. Deep conditioners are not designed for daily use. The five main types of conditioner are:
Not all conditioners are made equal! Some are designed for daily use, others for weekly use and yet others for less than weekly use. If you wash your hair more than once a week then you need to keep a deep conditioner for use once a week and an instant conditioner or cream-rinse conditioner to use in between.
Many people who work out frequently wash their hair just as frequently because of the sweat. This could just be because you feel dirty, stinky or because you think sweat might harm your hair. Here are the facts.
What is in sweat? We sweat through two different glands:
Both glands produce sweat containing water and the minerals: sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. In addition, the apocrine glands also produce lactate, urea, bicarbonate and other substances which are attractive to odour causing bacteria. Importantly, note that the exact composition of sweat varies according to what you've been eating and drinking, why you're sweating and how long you've been sweating. This is why one person might produce stinky sweat whilst another person produces odourless sweat. Is sweat in any way bad or damaging to either your hair or your scalp? No. Some of the constituents in sweat have skin moisturising properties. (Lactate and urea are found in many skin lotions.) Indeed, some evidence suggests that sweat may actually keep you healthy by helping to ward off certain microorganisms. What if your hair stinks after exercise? Does it really? After you've showered and dressed asked an independent but honest party to check if your hair smells bad, you'll find that it doesn't. If you feel you definitely need a wash between your weekly was & deep condition, then just co-wash. What do I do after exercise? I jog 5 kilometres twice a week. I sometimes do strength training but I'm not very regular with that. My hair is normally in an updo so I just neaten it up after exercise and continue as normal. At night, I massage my scalp with Neno Natural's Hair Growth Stimulator because some of the essential oils in it, particularly lavender and thyme, have cleansing and antibacterial properties. Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair. You might also like: How To Protect Natural Hair When You Exercise Outdoors Reference:
The Science of Black Hair by Audrey Davis-Sivasothy argues that baking soda is generally too abrasive to be used as a regular shampoo for natural black hair.
If you have thin hair fibres, I wouldn't go near it. However, if you have thick hair and lots of build up a baking soda shampoo rinse may be just the perfect solution for you instead of buying a clarifying shampoo. The recipe is in: how to make a baking soda shampoo rinse. pH and baking soda Baking soda has a pH of 9. It's weakly alkaline. Hair has a pH of 4.0 - 5.5 so if you use this formula you have to follow it with a deep condition or at a minimum an ACV rinse or a lemon rinse. Conditioners, ACV and lemon are all acidic and will help to rebalance the pH of your hair as well as close up your hair cuticle which open up under alkaline conditions. If you just do a baking soda shampoo rinse without following it with something acidic your hair cuticle won't close, the pH will remain out of balance and this could lead to scalp conditions including dandruff and itchiness plus your hair will look dull, instead of shiny. Have I ever tried baking soda? No, whilst I don't want to say I never will, I am not interested in trying it mostly because of the pH. I also have a lot of homemade hair recipes which I prefer to use instead. Get your FREE ebook on How To Grow Long, Healthy Natural Kinky or Curly Hair. You might also like: Baking Soda Shampoo To Clarify Natural Hair
One of the most annoying questions I was ever asked was "Why do you (i.e. black people) need to have different products anyway? Why can't everyone just use the same products?" - what was annoying wasn't the questions itself but the fact that the person didn't even let me answer. They just continued talking and every time I interjected with "Can I answer your question?" They just talked over me and ignored me. I was still annoyed about 2 months after the incident! I know, that's ridiculous - other people's stupidity should never impact one's emotions like that.
Anyhow, if you cut through the hair strand of someone with naturally straight hair you would find that the cross-section is round. Curly hair on the other hand has a flattened oval or elliptical cross section, this however is only one difference. It is the feature that gives our hair it's very curly shape. In addition, African/African-American hair:
The fewer the number of layer the more chemicals can be used to change the hair - so a person with a 7-layer cuticle will take chemicals more easily than a person with an 11-layer cuticle; remember those people who complain that their hair just doesn't take relaxer? They probably have a thicker cuticle layer. That said, flatter (elliptical) hair strands are easier to treat with chemicals so black hair may ultimately be easier to chemically manipulate. In summary, besides the curl that you see, different hair types have varied structural and chemical features that impact how products work with the hair. This is why different hair types needs slightly different products.
I had never heard of Emu Oil until a few weeks ago when someone wrote to me asking about it. I decided to carry out some research. My sources are at the bottom of this blog.
What is an emu? An emu is an indigenous flightless Australian bird. The moment I read this description I thought of a chicken so I googled for images and voila – see the images that are part of this blog. It looks more like an ostrich than a chicken. Where do they harvest emu oil from? The emu bird’s back is made of a thick layer of fat (adipose tissue) designed to protect it from the Australian sun as well as cushioning during an attack. When this fat is extracted it is distilled to remove proteins, bacteria and other particles leaving emu oil as it is commercially sold. This is an important difference compared to all other oils I have ever used or written about – they are all vegetable oils,on the other hand, emu is derived from an animal. What does emu oil look like? The exact colour and consistency of emu oil depends on the bird’s diet. It’s a white/off-white solid at low temperatures but quickly melts at temperatures above 22°C (72°F) to form a yellow liquid. The viscosity of emu oil at any given temperature varies depending on the diet of the bird it was harvested from.
What characteristics does emu oil have?
According to online sources it’s:
For those that have thin or thinning hair the last benefit makes emu oil especially attractive. Unfortunately, many of the claimed benefits are empirical not scientific. Emu oil has not been scientifically tested rigorously enough to make the claims therefore its risks and benefits are currently not that well understood. The biggest proponents of emu oil’s health benefits sell it so it’s hard to tell how genuine their claims are. Emu oil has been fraudulently promoted as a health supplement when it shouldn’t be due to a lack of data backing up claims of any health benefits. According to the FDA website, “FDA determined that a pure emu oil product marketed to treat or cure a wide range of diseases was an unapproved drug. Its marketer had never submitted to FDA data to support the product's safe and effective use.” Should you try emu oil on your hair and skin? Why not? It probably won’t do you any harm so it could be worth a try to see whether your hair benefits from it. As with any oil, you would have to use it for a few months to notice a difference, if any. Where can you get emu oil? There are a variety of online sources selling it but I can’t prove how genuine their emu oil is. If you’ve ever used emu oil and have an opinion on it, please share! References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_oil http://www.emu-oil-well.co.uk/faq Emu Oil: The Secret to Cate Blanchett's flawless complexion?
by Xotica Hair
If you are looking for a unique way to switch up your hair, it may be time to try out hair shadowing. Hair shadowing is a temporary hair coloring technique where a product (hair shadow or chalk) is applied on top of your hair creating a highly pigmented appearance without the aid of bleach or other damaging chemicals. Because of its textured nature, hair shadowing works great on natural hair or on Xotica's natural hair extensions. There are several types of hair shadows (or hair chalks) depending on your desired budget or look. These products come in powdered, liquid and spray forms, ranging from $6-$12 a container. Regular drugstore eyeshadows work just as well as products made specifically for hair shadowing, and they can start as low as $1 a container. Whatever method you use, it is important your hair (or extensions), is clean, dry and conditioned. Well-conditioned strands make applying the shadow a smoother process, and because the shadows and chalks are drying, you want to retain as much moisture as possible. To begin, if you are using a shadow, place a small section of your hair between the shadow in its container and your finger, and slowly pull the shadow down the length of your hair. If you are using a spray, apply like any other hair spray. This method can get messy, however, so apply outside if possible. Finally, if you are using a liquid, squeeze the product onto gloved hands and smooth down the length of your hair. If using either the liquid or spray methods, you may want to only color the portion of your hair that won't touch your clothing, reducing the risk of transfer. *Keep in mind, these are general instructions. Make sure to read and follow the specific instruction on the product you choose for the best results. By itself, hair shadows typically last 1-2 days, but can be lengthed for up to five days by sealing the color with a curl paste or pomade. After applying the color, and optionally the paste set the color with a diffuser. At night, bring your hair up into a pineapple. Add brightly colored shadows to your clip-in extensions for a quick edgy look for a festival or a girl's night out. Or try subtle brown or blonde highlights for a wedding or date night look. With hair shadowing, you can create an endless bevy of beautiful looks for multiple occasions, all without bleaching or damaging your hair or your extensions. So let your creativity fly and get to shadowing! Xotica Hair
The shininess of hair is determined by the way light reflects off of hair strands. Your hair type has an impact on the way this reflection works.
Some products that are in conditioners (both leave-in and rinse-off) are designed to be washed off during your next shampoo. So, if you are on a co-wash only regime or only ever use weaker, sulfate-free shampoos you need to be careful about the ingredients in your hair products. If the shampoo is too weak some ingredients in your products simply won't wash off and they will accumulate on your strands with each successive application of your conditioner. If you like your shampoo but know it's weak use a stronger one every 4 weeks to remove build up. Now, this doesn't mean those chemicals are bad at all but that you have exceeded the amount that should be on your hair strand for them to give you their good benefits. A good example is silicones. Silicones actually have great benefits for hair, e.g. detangling, reducing frizz and boosting shine but some silicones can wash away with water while others will only wash off with a sufficiently strong shampoo. If you co-wash only you definitely need to know which silicones will wash off and which one will not so that you can avoid silicones that don't dissolve without a shampoo. Why not just stop using all products with silicones? You could absolutely do this but this would mean you also miss out on their benefits, especially their function as detangler, y'all know how tangled our curls get. Personally, I think the best solution is to improve your knowledge of silicones. Check out the following blogs.
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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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