6 Ways to Avoid Setbacks on Your Natural Hair Journey

The setback.  Your stylist cuts off much more hair than you anticipated.  Your first time at flat-ironing results in permanently straight, heat-damaged strands.  Your attempt at a henna treatment leaves your hair brittle and breaking.
Many of us have heard “horror stories” about a setback that stunted a hair care journey.  Some of us have actually experienced one in the past and never want to experience one again.  Whichever boat you’re in, the following six steps can help you avoid a future setback:

1. Speak up at the salon

Before you allow the stylist to touch your hair, voice your preferences.  Do you want heat used on your hair or not?  If so, what level of heat?  Do you want a trim?  If so, how many inches?  I have heard so many stories about clients leaving a salon with heat damage or more hair cut off than desired.  I, myself, experienced a setback years ago – breakage and a cut – after a visit to a popular salon.  Just because your stylists are professionals or the salon is well known, does not mean that your hair is invincible to experiencing a setback.  Speak up to your stylist and be assertive while you are at it.  Let your stylist know your limits when it comes to your hair.  Do not be passive.

2. Care for your hair yourself

Sometimes, the best way to avoid a setback is to care for your hair yourself, or to become a do-it-yourselfer (DIYer).  I know that, for me, this was the best decision I made for my hair.  The reality is, that while stylists are trained to style and care for hair, they may not know how to style and care for “your” hair.  Each individual’s tresses are unique to that person.  What works for me may not work for you, and vise versa.  When it comes to our own hair, sometimes we know it better than anyone else.  This is all the more reason why caring for your hair yourself may be a better option for you.

3. Do a strand test or a section test

Unfortunately, doing a strand test (or even a section test) is underrated.  When it comes to damage from heat or chemicals, some setbacks can be avoided by merely doing such a test.  In order to reduce the possibility of heat damage, try experimenting on one small section near the back of your hair first.  Then wet that section and see if it reverts successfully.  If it does, then chances are you are good to go ahead with the rest of your hair.  If not, then you can easily disguise that section and have avoided a possible disaster to the rest of your hair.  For color, try dyeing a small section of hair and seeing whether breakage or texture change occurs in the weeks or months to come.  If not, then chances are you are fine to color the rest of your hair.  If so, then you, again, have avoided a potential setback.

4. Do your “own” research

I emphasize “own” because the World Wide Web is not free from misinformation.  Just because a particular hair care guru says, “shea oil is bad for the hair,” does not mean his or her statement is true.  Doing your own research can decrease your chances of experiencing certain setbacks.
Additionally, learn all you need to know about a technique or product before trying it.  If you want to use heat, learn what temperature ranges are dangerous for the hair.  If you want to try co-washing, learn what conditioner types are unsafe to leave on the hair.  When it comes to products, familiarize yourself with the ingredients label in relation to what substances your hair likes and dislikes.

5. Be patient

Patience is extremely important when it comes to progressing in your hair care journey and avoiding setbacks.  If you detangle your hair in a hurry, you can potentially experience more breakage than if you were to take your time.  If you turn to high, direct heat in order to avoid hours of air-drying your hair, you can potentially experience split ends from heat usage.  If you skimp on your deep conditioning routine in order to rush to a party, you can potentially experience breakage in the days to come.  Practicing patience is key.

6. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

Translation: If your regimen and products are working for you, then why try to change them?  Sometimes, it is best to stick with what works and leave it at that. Say your hair flourishes with water, glycerin, castor oil, and inexpensive conditioners. Why change what your hair loves? Stick with what works.
These are just some of the many ways to avoid a setback in your hair care journey.
Have you ever experienced a setback?  If so, what did you learn?

Hair Growth Tips for Black Men

 Learn how to avoid breakage and boost your hair health and you'll have longer hair in no time!



Many black men want to grow their hair longer but have trouble doing so. There are many reasons why it can be challenging for black men to grow hair. Although black hair grows just as fast as other types of hair — roughly a half inch each month — it is often very curly, fragile, brittle, and dry. This makes black hair susceptible to breaking, and the more it breaks, the shorter it seems.
While genes and diet play an important role in how long hair grows, how you care for your hair may play an even larger role in growing black hair. Here are the latest hair growth tips for black men.

• Trim off damaged and split ends regularly, as they will interfere with the hair growth process.
• Keep hair clean. Clean hair and a clean scalp help hair grow faster. When hair is dirty, the dirt clogs the hair follicles, which makes it more difficult for hair to grow. But try not to shampoo every day, as black men’s hair is easily damaged, and daily shampoos can actually cause breakage. Cleanse with conditioner instead.
• Use the right shampoo for your black hair type. Not all black men’s hair is alike.
• Rinse hair only with lukewarm water. Hot water dries the hair and makes it brittle.
• Condition your hair every day. Each time you shampoo, use a conditioner afterward to soften and detangle the hair.
• Deep condition every other week. At least twice a month, use a deep conditioner that contains protein to strengthen the hair. Try a hot oil treatment with olive oil to intensely moisten the hair follicles.
• Be gentle with your hair when it’s wet. Don’t pull, tug, twist, comb, or be rough with your hair in any way.
• Never use chemical treatments on your hair. Despite making curly hair look longer, relaxers also slow the growth of black men’s hair.
• Avoid hot hair-care products. Heat from hot irons, blow-dryers, and other appliances damages the hair. Set your blow-dryer on a low temperature setting.
• Protect hair from heat damage by applying a protein lotion before you dry.
• Lubricate your hair. Applying a moisturizer to the hair can greatly reduce the amount of split ends and breakage and promote growth. But be sure to use only a little so your hair doesn’t become oily.
• Massage your scalp every day. Massaging the scalp circulates blood and brings nutrients to the scalp. Place both hands on the head and move your fingers in slow, circular movements. Your scalp should feel warm and tingly — that’s how you know the blood is flowing to the scalp, helping hair grow.
• Add vitamin B supplements to your diet, as vitamin B has been shown to help increase the rate of hair growth.
• Bone up on protein either by eating a high protein diet filled with meat, fish, eggs, avocados, nuts, and beans, or by adding protein supplements to your drinks, as protein strengthens hair and encourages growth.
• Increase your folic acid intake. Folic acid is critical to hair health and growth. You can easily eat a diet high in folic acid by making soybeans, green vegetables, and carrots a part of your daily menu.

By following these simple tips, black men can easily grow their hair to get any look they want.

If someone were to ask me what is the number one challenge with natural hair my answer would be maintaining appropriate moisture levels. This topic has been covered extensively but dry hair is the the number one complaint of many natural women I hear from and it warrants further discussion.
There has been a lot of confusion about what moisture actually is, how to moisturize hair and what ingredients should be included in an effective moisturizer. Products containing emollients such as mineral oil and petroleum, natural oils and butters as well as silicones have been marketed as moisturizers. Women have used these products with no relief to their dry hair. Brittleness has continued with ensuing breakage. Because of this we need to take a deeper look into this concept of moisturizing our hair, dissect the formulas and really understand what makes a product an effective moisturizer.

What is Moisture?
Moisture is a property of water and this element makes the best moisturizer. Hydration contributes to the pliability and elasticity of the hair. Because water can quickly enter and exit the hair it’s difficult for it to remain moisturized for long periods of time with just water. Factor in conditions such as high porosity and chemical damage and keeping the hair hydrated seems as though it’s a losing battle. This is where an effective moisturizer is crucial.





What Makes a Good Moisturizer “Good”?
A good moisturizer will hydrate and nourish the hair deeply within the hair shaft. Water-based products are necessary. Anything anhydrous or without water such as a 100% oil-based product will not be an effective moisturizer. This is because oils and waxes DO NOT moisturize. Oils replace lost lipids from the hair, nourish it and can create a barrier to seal in moisture but they do not moisturize. Therefore using an oil-based product with the hopes of moisturizing the hair will be an exercise in futility and will likely result in dry hair especially if there is no moisture in the hair shaft. Therefore a proper moisturizing product will contain humectants and emollients to draw water into the hair and occlusives to keep it there.

Humectants Can Be a Curly Girl’s Best Friend
I absolutely love humectants. I think that if they are used correctly, they can effectively improve moisture levels in the hair for days before remoisturizing is necessary. When it comes to skin, the essential components to skin moisturization are humectants, emolliency and occlusiveness. If we extrapolate these principles to hair care we find the same thing. Exactly what is a humectant? Humectants attract water from the surroundings by absorption into the hair, and adsorption onto the hair, at defined conditions, which include temperature and humidity.

Glycerin is probably one of the most popular and well-known humectants because it’s very effective and relatively inexpensive. It can absorb its own weight in water over 3 days. However, many naturals avoid products with glycerin because it can leave their hair feeling dry or looking frizzy. As a result, many natural hair care companies are manufacturing products that are “glycerin free”. I like to put things in context when it comes to the use of specific ingredients for hair care, their incorporation into a product and the result on the hair. To say that glycerin makes the hair hard or results in frizziness is relative depending on many things including the humidity, the product formulation and other ingredients in the product.

While glycerin is the most well known humectant there are several others. This is where I take issue with some companies that market products as “glycerin free” because they will leave out the glycerin, but often add other humectants. These include agave nectar, honey, sodium PCA, sodium lactate, propylene glycol, urea, honeyquat, sorbitol and panthenol to name a few. Certain humectants have more moisture binding capability than others and each humectant is unique bringing other properties to a formulation.

In high humidity frizz can ensue because moisture is taken from the environment into hair resulting in swelling of the hair shaft, raising of the cuticle and resulting poofiness. If hair is dry, damaged and overly porous it can be a hot mess!

Humectants exacerbate this condition and some, such as glycerin, can become sticky once saturated with water. So in this type of weather [summer]or climates in which high humidity is characteristic, using products with high amounts of humectants can have a negative effect on the hair. This I understand and I’ve experienced the “cotton candy hair” during high humidity days this summer. However the other side of this and one of the arguments against using glycerin (and by extension it should apply to other humectants as well, no?) is this notion of it drawing water from the cortex of the hair in low humidity conditions such as dry, cold weather. Relevant research I found pertains specifically to the skin. Can this be applied to hair? Perhaps. Humectants are able to attract water from the atmosphere (if the atmospheric humidity is greater than 80%) and from the dermis. Even though they may draw water from the environment to help hydrate the skin, in low humidity conditions, they may take water from the deeper epidermis and dermis, resulting in increased skin dryness. For this reason, they work better with occlusive ingredients.

What does this mean for hair care? If the same principles apply then in lower humidity conditions humectants may contribute to hair dryness if water is lost from the hair. Therefore they should be paired with occlusive agents, better known as SEALANTS. Sealants will work along with humectants to minimize the evaporation of water and subsequent dryness. This doesn’t just apply to glycerin but ANY humectant. What are good sealants? Natural sealants include butters such as shea butter and cocoa butter and waxes like beeswax and carnauba wax. Mineral oil and dimethicone are two other sealants that are very effective at minimizing water loss once used appropriately.

Emollients
Emollients are lubricating and are film-forming. They help smooth and seal the hair and can be oils, butters, hydrolyzed proteins, polymers, and cationic quaternary compounds.

To summarize, an effective moisturizer will contain:
1. Water
2. Humectants
3. Emollients
4. Occlusives or Sealants

When it comes to moisturizing hair you’ll definitely need to find which product works for you. Navigating through the abundance of products seems daunting but understanding the ingredient list can help you narrow down your choices.

 In order to evaluate whether a moisturizer will be good for your hair or not you’ll need to know a few things:
1. Your hair texture (fine, medium, thick)
2. Is the product a light lotion or thicker cream?
3. Is there water in the product to hydrate the hair?
4. Are there humectants in the product? Where are they in the ingredient list?
5. Are there any emollients
6. Are there any occlusive agents (aka sealants) in the product to minimize water loss to the environment?

Have you found an effective moisture? What are the ingredients? 

What effect does it have on your hair?