Month: June 2013

Posted on

Top 5 Bad Hair Habits That Cause Breakage

Top 5 Bad Hair Habits That Cause Breakage

Top 5 Bad Hair Habits That Cause Breakage

1. Set It & Forget It Syndrome

(Yes, I’ve seen a lot of infomercials in my day). For many naturals, especially those transitioning, wigs and weaves are a go-to style. Unfortunately, some of us become so concerned with the hair on the outside that we forget allllllll about the hair underneath. By far, wigs are the best protective style to wear. But all that protection is for naught if your actual hair becomes dry, brittle, and breaks from neglect. Even worse (and more gross), dirt, sweat and other moisture can become trapped under wigs and weaves and have your scalp smelling like death. So even if you do decide to go the full coverage route, please make time to take care of your natural hair underneath. How frequently you wash, condition, and re-moisturize your hair depends on how much you sweat, among other factors.

2. Shoddy Wash Jobs

The whole point of cleansing hair and scalp is to make sure they’re well, clean…right? If you have already made up your mind to cleanse your hair and scalp — whether it be via co-wash, shampoo, sulfate, sulfate-free, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, Aztec healing clay, or anything else — be sure to do a thorough job. While it is important to remove buildup from your hair, getting the buildup off of your scalp is equally as important. If you always co-wash, or use a lot of silicone products that are prone to building up, clarifying your hair and scalp regularly is especially important; so as to not suffocate the follicles. How to best accomplish both without totally stripping your hair is totally up to you…and your hair!

3. Skimming on the Conditioner

I was also guilty of this one, especially since I began co-washing with the awesomely luxurious Aussie Moist. I figured since I was washing my hair with conditioner, I didn’t need to waste more time conditioning it. There was nothing particularly wrong with my logic per-se, but I did notice that I had to re-moisturize my hair quite frequently. Then a few weeks ago it dawned on me, that maybe I should try conditioning my hair for added moisture retention. I began slathering my co-washed tresses with Shea Moisture’s Raw Shea Restorative Conditioner and haven’t looked back since. My hair is softer, smoother, and I am not re-moisturizing nearly as frequently. If you moisturize and seal after your co-washes and you are still having trouble retaining moisture, this could be your culprit. If regular conditioning isn’t doing it for you, kick it up a notch to deep conditioning or add your favorite oils to your current product and see what happens!

4. Half-Hearted Detangling

This one scares me the most. I try to detangle, co-wash, and condition my hair weekly but sometimes, I do it a little more frequently. My hair likes to tangle itself just for funsies, and I am deathly afraid that I’ll randomly wake up one morning with one giant dred. I say all this to say — if you’re going to detangle your hair, do it right. Be thorough. If you use a wide tooth comb, make sure that comb is able to get through all sections of your hair. If you finger detangle, be especially meticulous. Don’t do a rush job because you’re tired, or don’t have enough time. If you don’t relish cutting knots and chunks of un-detangleable hair off of your hair, commit to quality detangle time. Grab a season of Family Guy or turn on a Law & Order SVU marathon (my personal preferences), and get going.

5. Not Covering Hair at Night

I used to be suuuuuuuuper guilty of this one. Sometimes, you’re just so beat at the end of the day that taking the two, five, ten or twenty minutes required to protect your hair in a scarf or bonnet seems to be an impossible task. Or maybe you just perfected your wash n’ go routine and want to make sure your curls stay poppin’ for the rest of the week. If you’re like me, you probably are so exhausted that you nodded off in the middle of reading or writing, and didn’t realize it until the next morning. We already know the dangers of sleeping on cotton pillowcases with our hair unprotected — dryness and breakage city. If you’re prone to passing out some nights without protecting your hair, the best investment you could make is in a satin pillowcase.

Original Article via:  http://blackgirllonghair.com/2012/09/5-lazy-natural-hair-habits-that-cause-breakage/

Related articles
Posted on

10 Tips in Taking Hair Naturally

how to take care of your hair naturally

how to take care of your hair naturally

  1. Do not sleep with wet or damp hair. This will weaken the follicles and make hair strands brittle. Blow dry in low heat at the roots before bed.
  2. Seafood can help speed up your hair growth, along with other vitamins you should be working into your diet. Or just take a multivitamin daily!
  3. When towel drying, don’t rub the hair vigorously. This splits the hair. Try using a micro fiber towel as they soak up lots of moisture.
  4. After you shower, try using a wide toothed comb, or even your fingers, rather than a brush.
  5. Stress has a bigger impact than you think. Meditation can be very helpful, as well as exercise.
  6. Rinse your hair with vinegar before shampooing. It makes your hair look shiny and cleaner; plus, it treats dandruff. Use 1 part vinegar (preferably organic apple cider vinegar) to 3 parts warm water, then rinse and wash your hair like normal.
  7. Don’t blow dry hair too frequently. Frequent blow drying, or use of other heat products, can stress your hair.
  8.  Tree tree oil, as well as olive oil, does wonders for hair.
  9. Most people use more shampoo than they need. Depending on hair length, you probably only need about a quarter sized dollop.
  10. If you absolutely have to use heat, make sure you use a protective spray first. These are very inexpensive.

    Click here for original article.

 

 

Related articles

 

Posted on

Top Treatment to All Hair Types

English: Three eggs with double yolk
English: Three eggs with double yolk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For Dry or Sun-Damaged Hair
Whatever your hair-dehydrating demon—hard water, sun overexposure, your trusty flat iron—nature’s sweetener can help. “Honey is a natural humectant, which means it attracts and locks in moisture,” says Cox.

To Use: Massage approximately 1/2 cup honey into clean, damp hair, let sit for 20 minutes, then rinse with warm water. You can also add 1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil to loosen the honey for easier application. For extremely sun-damaged hair, trying mixing honey with 1 to 2 Tbsp of a protein-rich ingredient, like avocado or egg yolk, which will help replenish the keratin protein bonds that UV rays attack. Treatment can be applied once a month.

For Oily or Greasy Hair
“Used properly, [cornmeal or cornstarch] is an inexpensive way to remove oil and grease,” says Belkin.

To Use: Pour 1 Tbsp cornmeal or cornstarch into an empty salt or pepper shaker and sprinkle onto dry hair and scalp until you’ve used it all. After 10 minutes, use a paddle hairbrush to completely brush it out. Treatment can be applied every other day.

For Frizzy Hair
Home beauty experts swear by avocado—and not just to repair damaged hair. Its oils (which are light and moist like our own natural skin secretions) and proteins boast the best combination of nutrients for smoothing and weighing down unruly hair, explains Cox.

To Use: Mash up half an avocado and massage into clean, damp hair. Let sit for 15 minutes before rinsing with water. Amp up moisturizing power by combining mashed avocado with 1 to 2 Tbsp of a hydrating ingredient, like sour cream, egg yolks or mayonnaise. Treatment can be applied every two weeks.

For Residue-Ridden Hair
“Nothing eats through product buildup like baking soda,” Cox says. Sodium bicarbonate essentially breaks down anything acidic.

To Use: Mix 1 to 2 Tbsp baking soda with small amounts of water until a thick paste forms. Massage into damp hair and let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse with water, then shampoo hair. Treatment can be applied every two weeks.

Related articles
Posted on

4 Top Homemade Hair Remedies Today

natural hair care tips


FOR ALL HAIR TYPES:
“The [raw] egg is really the best of all worlds,” says Janice Cox, author of Natural Beauty at Home. The yolk, rich in fats and proteins, is naturally moisturizing, while the white, which contains bacteria-eating enzymes, removes unwanted oils, she explains.

To Use: For normal hair, use the entire egg to condition hair; use egg whites only to treat oily hair; use egg yolks only to moisturize dry, brittle hair, Cox says. Use 1/2 cup of whichever egg mixture is appropriate for you and apply to clean, damp hair. If there isn’t enough egg to coat scalp and hair, use more as needed. Leave on for 20 minutes, rinse with cool water (to prevent egg from “cooking”) and shampoo hair. Whole egg and yolks-only treatments can be applied once a month; whites-only treatment can be applied every two weeks.

FOR DULL HAIR:

Styling products (as well as air pollution) can leave a film that both saps moisture and dulls shine—but dairy products like sour cream and plain yogurt can help reverse this damage. “Lactic acid gently strips away dirt while the milk fat moisturizes,” says Lisa Belkin, author of The Cosmetics Cookbook.

To Use: Massage 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt into damp hair and let sit for 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water, followed by cool water, then shampoo hair as you normally would. Treatment can be applied every other week.

For Itchy Scalp:

To fight flakes—brought on by poor diet, stress and climate, among other factors—try a lemon juice and olive oil mixture in your hair. “The acidity in lemon juice helps rid your scalp of any loose, dry flakes of skin, while the olive oil moisturizes the [newly exposed] skin on your head,” says Cox.

To Use: Mix 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp water, and massage into damp scalp. Let mixture sit for 20 minutes, then rinse and shampoo hair. Treatment can be applied every other week.

For Limp or Fine Hair:
To add body to hair, reach for an unlikely beauty beverage: beer! The fermented drink contains generous supplies of yeast, which works to plump tired tresses, explains Cox.

To Use: Mix 1/2 cup flat beer (pour beer into a container and let it sit out for a couple of hours to deplete carbonation) with 1 tsp light oil (sunflower or canola) and a raw egg. Apply to clean, damp hair, let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse with cool water. Or add flat beer only to a spray bottle and spritz onto dry hair. “When the liquid evaporates, the remaining protein residue (from the wheat, malt or hops) continues to strengthen and structure hair,” says Belkin. Treatments can be applied every other week.

Related articles
Posted on

10 Top Ways to Cure Dry Hair

English: Example:hair being straighten with a ...
English: Example:hair being straighten with a regular curly iron. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Oily hair is a drag, but dry hair is no picnic, either. Dry hair is dull hair, and it looks the same after you wash it as it did before. Everyone has bad hair days, but with dry hair you may have those days more often than not.

Along with dry hair, you may also have a dandruff problem. Although it’s more often a condition associated with oily hair, people with dry hair get dandruff, too. Common dandruff is simply a layer of skin shedding from your scalp. When the skin cells get trapped on your scalp by your hair and clump together, you have dandruff. And dandruff can make your hair look dull.

Dry hair can result from external factors, such as exposure to harsh chemicals, or from internal causes, such as an illness. These are the primary external factors for those lackluster locks:

  •    Harsh shampoo
  •     Shampooing too often
  •     Hair dye
  •     Hair perms
  •     Chlorine in swimming pools and hot tubs
  •     Overuse of the blow dryer or curling iron
  •     Too much exposure to sun and wind
  •     High mineral content in local water supplies
Related articles
Posted on

How to Deal with Super-Dry Natural Hair?

Moisture is a problem that many naturals find difficult to deal with. Dry hair for many is normal and is not indicative that your normal regimen is somehow lacking. It is not unusual to need to moisturise hair before styling it or to find it getting progressively drier if let alone without products or water for several days.

The idea that you can eliminate dry hair is actually not true for the vast majority of naturals. Some hair will respond to regular conditioning or indeed to using leave in products but for many, dry hair is a regular issue to address.

For this second group it is more important to not stick rigidly to one routine or one product. Sometimes hair requires one or more of the following

-more intensive conditioning every so often to increase softness and repair damage
-a good spritz of water followed by an oil
-layering of leave in products
-a simple mist of water without adding oil
-a change in products e.g using/eliminating humectants, changing leave-ins

The idea of being flexible with what you do to your hair and the products you use is not a sign of a struggle but rather an understanding that your hair needs something different depending on its condition or on how the weather is behaving (more/less humidity).

Often not being flexible can lead to problems with moisture, for example, sticking to the idea of applying a water based product or water before applying a sealing product such as an oil or butter is in general a good idea to increase moisture. However for some naturals, repeating this routine too often actually leads to drier hair as the oil layer builds up on their hair making it more difficult for the water to perform its function. Switching the frequency to once every 2-3 days or once a week and simply adding water in between can actually work better. For others switching from a light oil to a heavier oil can also help.

Related articles
Posted on

Want to Have Shiny Hair?

English: Coconut oil in solid state
English: Coconut oil in solid state (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Coconut oil is, hands down, one of the most effective hair treatments for a very wide variety of hair issues. Many claim that coconut oil actually works better than any man-made treatments on the market, and because it’s 100% natural, and it’s free of silicones, alcohols, and other chemicals that can aggravate sensitive skin and hair. It works incredibly well for repairing damaged hair that has been over-processed, heat damaged, or is just naturally dry. Coconut oil is also anti-fungal in nature, making it a perfect natural anti-dandruff treatment, or as a preventative treatment for dandruff. It’s a great regular hair treatment for maintaining very healthy hair and scalp when used as a part of your regular haircare routine (1-4 times per month).
Coconut oil can be a god-send to those with severely damaged, over processed, and heat styled hair. It will be important to experiment with the amount of coconut oil to use, and how long to allow the oil to penetrate your hair in a way that will work for your specific hair type. If the coconut oil leaves your hair feeling weighed down or greasy, try using less or shampooing more effectively post treatment.

Related articles
Posted on

Dandruff and itchy scalp relief

Related articles

naturalrify

Finally,i have got something that works for my itchy scalp.Over time i realized my scalp won’t just stop itching,no matter how much i wash after a couple of days it continues.This happens more when i have my hair in braids,i keep trying to figure out what else to do apart from washing my scalp every time because this gets my braid old quickly. I got some suggestions  to try Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV),I read some articles which recommended this as well but i never got to try for no reason.

It can get so unbearable and annoying sometimes added to the weather which is always hot these days,you get a temperature as high as 32° on a very normal day.I needed to try something else that doesn’t involve scratching my scalp and roughening these braids,then i decided to try the Apple Cider Vinegar.Am so happy i did that…

View original post 216 more words

Posted on

How to find an Anti-dandruff Shampoo?

Related articles:

What to Look for in Anti-dandruff Shampoo

What to Look for in Anti-dandruff Shampoo

causes of dandruffHaving dandruff can be a really big problem. Aside from the fact that dandruff can be very inconvenient, it can also cause embarrassment for some. This is the reason why there are people out there who will do everything just to get rid of their dandruff. Facing dandruff is no longer a foreign concept. It is actually natural because the pushing of old dead skins off is a natural course of the skin. But then, if the flakes are really becoming visible, then that is the time when dandruff happens. Among the many causes of dandruff, the most common is one’s exposure on cold and heat. For the very minor case, using an anti-dandruff shampoo will be prescribed.

As mentioned above, the flaking of scalps is always considered to be a normal process being faced by the skin regularly. There are even…

View original post 359 more words