Healthy Hair Techniques

Many of you wonderful ladies and some gentlemen have asked me about my hair techniques to maintain the thickness and health.  I provided the different healthy techniques that has helped me throughout my hair journey and I hope it helps you too. 

 

Although I had a few set backs (post partum shedding, dry colored breaking hair), following these steps helped me get my hair whipped back into shape.

 

 

 

Airdry - I airdry after applying my spray leave ins and/or moisturizing leave in. I also tie the front of my hair down to keep the edges flat while the rest of the hair is loose to dry.

Protective Styles - Styles that will hide the ends away and help you retain length. My favorite styles are buns, french braids and anything that will keep my hair above the neck.

Low manipulation - I try to leave my hair alone.  I would style my hair in simple styles such as buns or braids.  I basically tie my hair down in the evening and gently use my fingers to redo the style.  No need for a comb and as a result, you have less stress to your scalp.

 

Avoid tight hair styles - Tight hair styles will not only give you a migraine, but will add unecessary stress to your hair and scalp.  Results to tight hair styles are breakage, weak hair and loss of edges over time is called traction alopecia, something people do suffer from as a result of the things mentioned above.

 

Brushing with a soft brush - I don't brush my hair a lot and do not recommend it either.  Brushing with a hard brush can cause more damage in the long run than making those fly aways look slick around the head. Using a hard brush can again, cause breakage and damage such as split ends. A soft brush is more gentle on the hair.

 

Relaxer Stretching - I already have a blog post and video about my relaxer stretching routine along with the benefits.  What a relaxer does, it alters the hair structure of the hair where some of its' properties are lost.  If you are constantly relaxing your NG (new growth) every 4 weeks, you don't have enough of it to see in order to relax.  Therefore, you are subjected to overlapping which will cause weak and over processed hair.

 

Using a Wide Tooth Comb - Using a fine tooth comb will snag your hair and pull.  A wise tooth comb will separate the hair more gently.  If you do use a fine tooth comb, use a wide tooth comb first to remove the bulk of the tangles that you may have.

 

Combing from ends to scalp (roots) - This technique saved many of us from so much grief and saved us so much more hair!  If you start combing from the top and bring it down, the tangles within will compress onto one another, create more tangles and knotting will occur.  Starting from the bottom will remove the tangles almost effortlessly as you work your way up.

 

Detangle with conditioner - In this detangling video, I share how easy it is to manage my hair after being in a style that caused a matted mess.  I use an inexpensive conditioner such as VO5 and finger detangle away prior to washing my hair.  This techniques has also worked wonders on my daughter's natural hair too.

 

Moisturize - I moisturize my hair ends and edges very often, almost every day.  I use oil with my shampoos and conditioners when I was and/or deep condition.  When I prepoo, I oil my scalp and it provides adequate moisture that will lessen the amount of dryness.

 

Satin Scarf - I sleep with one 95% of the time.  Honestly, the other times are because of laziness...  We are all human :-)!

 

Patience with your hair - I can not emphasize this enough!  If you are not patient, you can do more damage to your hair.  Frustration bring a slew of things such as pulling, ripping and using tools incorrectly thinking they will provide faster results.  Allow enough time to style your hair, come up with ideas for your hair and/or find style or technique that makes it easier to do and change to the next.

 

Low Heat - It is good to see how much heat your hair can handle...but when using heat tools, start with a medium setting and use heat protector AT ALL TIMES!  With a blow dryer, I allow my hair to dry to about 75% or more and then blow dry.  Please note, do not use flat or curling irons on wet hair.

 

Protein treatments - This is to reinforce strength to the hair.  When your hair has been exposed to many elements or if you have reached to a point where you neglected your hair, this is a good way to go.  Another thing I want to add; if your hair happens to be weak prior to an expected relaxer treatment, a protein treatment is a good way to put in the strength into your hair atleast a week prior.

 

Exercise, proper diet, water and mental health - Exercise as simple as walking can get your blood circulating throughout the body.  And remember that blood carries nutrients along with oxygen to give your vital organs what it needs to function.  Proper diet has to do with healthy eating such as more vegetables, fruits and different ways to cook the foods you love to eat. 

 

Water is definitely essential.  Since water provides oxygen throughout your body, it also helps cleanse it too.  Not only for your hair, but for your body as a whole. 

 

And mental health, I added this here because a lot of us go through a lot of stress. 

Whatever goes on in the inside always reflects on the outside sooner or later.  When I say stress, I mean our life style, things that may be depressing and consume us.  Find some time for a mental break...devotion, reading, exercising, spending time with loved ones, a day trip...anything that will calm your mind from a few hours to a day.  We need to be healthy all around, not just our hair too.

 

I hope this information benefits some or all...also check out My Hair Regimen for questions you may have. 

 

Feel free to ask questions add what has helped you....I love to learn new things!

 

And as always, God bless!

Relaxer Stretching and Tips

I usually relax my new growth (NG) about anywhere between every 12-16 weeks.  The longest I have stretched was up to 17 weeks.  Now...I am currently at 28 weeks into my stretch.  From keeping the hair well moisturized to figuring out how to style it, it has been extremely challenging.  I have experienced mostly tangling which I have managed to conquer.  Without the use of a great conditioner, wide tooth comb and having patience...the stretch would have ended a long time ago.

Photo taken end of April 2012

 *****************

Relaxing 4-6 weeks seems to be the norm for many relaxed women to get a touch-up, the new growth (NG) that is... The average growth of hair for many of us happens to be half an inch per month.  If you calculate this with the amount of 4-6 weeks of getting a touch-up, there is not much NG to relax.  Most likely there will be overlapping of the relaxer which can cause a slew of things that can deteriorate the health of the hair.  We are talking about dry, brittle, breakage, thin and over processed hair. 

Remember that the new growth is stronger than the relaxed hair because it is "virgin" (without any chemical treatment).  The area where the relaxed hair and natural hair meets is called the Line of Demarcation (or Demarcation Line) and happens to be the weakest.  Without the proper care of the two textures combined, the hair can easily break off in that area causing short hairs to stick out every which way.   

Stretching is a great way to alleviate the above mentioned issues.  Maximizing the amount of time between touch-ups can benefit many.  The more NG there is, the more one can see where the relaxer should be applied during the next touch-up session.  This means the less experience of overlapping, over processed hair and much thicker hair.  Always remember that you will be dealing with two different hair textures.  To some it will be frustrating and to some it will be a breeze to manage.  Be prepared and embrace the process along the way. 

A good thing sometimes can be a bad thing for some.  Stretching may not work for everyone.  Some experience more shedding, severe breakage and the hair tangles a lot, causing knots.  When that happens, it is an indication that stretching is not working.

Moisture is extremely important during the time between touch-ups...anytime.  Co-washes (washing the hair with a moisturizing conditioner),  Prepoos (oil treatment) and deep conditioning will keep the hair manageable and soft.  

Protein treatments are extremely important to balance the hair's strength with the moisture.  This can be done on a monthly basis to ensure that the hair is strong enough to withstand the stretching.  Be cautious with the amount of protein that is used.  Too much of protein can cause the hair to feel dry and cause the hair to break.  Using a moisturizing conditioner afterwards will keep everything balanced and it is a must. 

Protective styling and low manipulation is a great way to maintain the hair during stretches.  The less the hair is messed with, the less breakage and stress to the hair strands.  Some protective styles that can help during stretches are braids, weaves, buns, roller sets, rod sets, etc.  Braid outs works great too and the advantage of this is because the NG and the processed hair blends well together.  This in turn also lessens the amount of tangling. 

Here are some tips has helped me during my stretch:

• I pre-poo before wash day by oiling my scalp and NG, put on a plastic cap and satin scarf overnight.
• Use a wide tooth comb to detangle with conditioner while sectioning the hair.
• Protein treatments are done monthly to reinforce the strength of my hair.
• I do a black tea rinse every so often to slow down the shedding.
• Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. I use either diluted conditioner mixed with coconut oil to spray my NG or Herbal Essence's Long Term Relationship Leave In.
• I wash my hair in sections in the shower, wash each one using my fingers in a downward motion to free the shed hair and to keep the hair from re-tangling.
• I co-wash more than I shampoo, shampooing can be drying if done too often.
• I deep condition with a moisturizing conditioner and oil after shampooing.
• Protective styling is a must for me because it keeps my hands out of my hair every day.
• Patience - without it, I would not be able to go through this stretch and cause more damage to my hair. 

Hope some of these things help you during your stretch.  What are tips that you can also share, what experiences have you encountered that you learned from?

Thanks for reading and God bless!