6/12/06...This has since been updated. You will find the updated regimen here: http://creoleindc.typepad.com/healthy_hair_care_regimen/ HAPPY HEALTHY HAIR GROWING!
Everyone that knows me knows that once I take an interest in something I'm going to research it until I'm satisfied with what I've found out. Over the past year, I have been doing some serious research as a consumer on products and general hair care for black hair. The thing I found to be true more than anything is that there is a TREMENDOUS amout of misinformation out there. Some of the stuff you read just doesn't make any darn sense and...as with anything else...if it doesn't seem to make sense, THEN IT PROBABLY DOESN'T! GEEZ!
One thing that no one ever addresses is the fact that all black hair is not the same. For that matter, all hair period isn't the same. That said, there is no way that the maintenance schedule I use for my hair should be the same every other black woman uses for her hair. And who knows your hair better than you? No one. So I suggest you try different products making sure that the products are mostly plant based using extracts from actual plants and not chemicals. If the ingredient list STARTS OFF with chemical sounding names...guess what...there are mostly chemicals in it. DUH!
Another thing that irks me about the information that is out there is that everyone has "techniques" to use in order to get your hair to grow...but the "techniques" always leave you with your hair looking crazy for long periods of time. Now I don't know about you..but I think I am waaaaaaaaaay too cute to have my hair looking crazy for even a DAY! But that's just me. LOL!
So basically, I am looking for a hair care regimen that will help me retain my hair growth in my relaxed hair without my looking like physchochick. You know...HEALTHIER maintenence tips.
Okay...lets move on to specific things I have learned so far:
1. Black hair grows. LET ME REITERATE! Black hair GROWS! Okay...so our hair grows an average of a half inch per month, six inches per year. The problem we have is RETAINING the growth because our hair is prone to dryness and everyone knows dry hair suffers from breakage. Most times...excessive breakage which makes it seem as if the hair doesn't grow. If your hair grows a half inch in a month, and breaks of an inch...do the math people!
2. The most important thing we can do to retain hair growth is to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. And then...moisturize again! One thing I don't understand is this...if I'm using a good deep conditioner that is based on plant extracts and is healthy for my hair...WHY ONLY USE IT ONCE A MONTH? Never understood that one. So...I've been putting it to my own personal test. I use a deep conditioner ONCE A WEEK and sit under a dryer for 30 minutes with a clear cap on. HA! How does that grab ya? LOL! I have begun to see outstanding results which come in the form of much less hair breakage because my hair is deep conditioned. I also use a very good cream moisturizer, concentrating on my ends, every night.
3. Getting your ends trimmed DOES NOT help with hair growth! I've always had stylists tell me that keeping my ends trimmed will make my hair healthier. Uh...no. From the second hair has broken through the scalp it is DEAD! That's right. DEAD! Keeping your ends trimmed just makes your hair look better. That's all. So if you're keeping your hair moisturized, concentrating on the ends, this should alleviate the need for frequent trimmings to keep your hair nice looking. I have cut back my trims to every 4-6 months. AND...I go to Hair Cuttery for my trims. LOL! Yup. I pay a resounding $16 for a trim. LOL! This way I walk in and say..."I want a MINIMAL trim, please." without any of the usual guilt you get from stylists ie. "you need to keep your hair ends trimmed to keep it healthy, blah, blah, blah." Now don't confuse getting a trim with a shape. Some people need to get their hair shaped so that it looks good as it's growing. If you don't start out with a good shape...your hair will continue to look a mess. Just a longer mess...lol!
4. KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR HAIR! I only handle my hair twice a day. In the morning to unwrap it with a wide-toothed comb and at night when I moisturize and wrap it. There is a really good technique for combing out your hair for wrapping called the "Crown and Glory Technique" I read about on the following website: http://www.growafrohairlong.com/combbrush.html. It's the best way I've seen yet as to how to handle your hair for minimal breakage. I comb it out this way every night. I don't do the brush step cause I don't want to handle my hair that much. It makes sense to me that this would only work with hair that is wrapped nightly so keep that in mind when you're starting to comb out hair that has been roller-set. It would be death to your curls. LOL! I'd "surf" around that website too because there is a lot of good information on it, but, once again, I'm not trying to look crazy to grow my hair longer. LOL!
5. When hair is shoulder length it's more prone to breakage because it's in contact with your clothing. Fortunately for me, I don't leave my house everyday so I can keep my hair wrapped for most of the day if I'd like. Usually, I keep it wrapped until right before my husband comes home so he can see his beautiful fabulous wife in all her glory. LOL! When I am forced to leave the house for errands I pull it up in a loose (I only wrap it twice) ponytail with an ouchless (no metal) hair band so that it doesn't touch my sweater or coat. When I'm going somewhere and I wanna keep my cute on...I figure the few hours won't do too much damage if I leave my hair down if I've properly moisturized and deep conditioned on a regular basis. Once the hair ends are past your shoulders, this becomes easier to maintain it seems.
6. Relaxers more often than every 6 weeks is BAD, BAD, BAD! I'd really rather to see everyone do it a minimum of every 8 weeks. Just try to push it out as long as possible. I'm currently in my 12th week and never, EVER thought I'd be able to go longer than 6 weeks at one point in my life. What do I do differently you ask? I flat iron my roots really, really well in quarter inch section by section. This way it's smoother looking and feeling and I don't have to worry about breakage attempting to comb through the new growth as is.
7. Dandruff shampoo will dry the HELL outta your hair. So...try this. Part your hair as you would during a relaxer (4 sections) and only put the shampoo on the scalp as much as possible. Work the shampoo through your scalp for about 5 minutes and rinse. Only do this once. Then shampoo with a good moisturizing shampoo and deep condition. Try this out and if it doesn't work for you...then don't try it again. Simple. LOL!
8. Dry scalp can also be caused by product build-up. All that mousse and other crap is not necessary in my opinion. When a stylist uses these products in your hair...it's to make HER/HIS job easier. They help with "finishing" the hair so that it looks good for you to leave the salon and not think they didn't do a great job. Your stylist isn't going to be around until you see her again and YOU will be the person responsible for maintenence. With less product build-up...it will be easier on you.
9. After a relaxer ALWAYS deep condition! The chemicals in the relaxer are going to wash over your already relaxed hair when you are washing it out. Even though this is a minimal amount of contact time...CHEMICALS STILL TOUCH YOUR ALREADY RELAXED HAIR!!!!! So deep condition after every relaxer please.
10. To keep hair moisturized, wash it twice a week. I'm sure you've noticed your hair usually loses it's "life" by day 4 or so after a wash. It's dry and lifeless and you kinda just want to put it into a ponytail. Well...I figure this. If day 4 is the day it starts looking like it needs to be "done" why not do it? I suggest Tuesday and Saturday. Tuesday for a shampoo and condition and Saturday for a shampoo and deep condition. Or Monday and Friday. Or whenever your days are conducive to doing this. Just remember you'll need more time on the day you deep condition. I don't think it's a NECESSARY step...but it makes sense doesn't it? And it seems to work for me, especially when I'm pushing my relaxers out so far apart.
11. Don't wash your hair until it's squeaky clean. In fact, only wash it once with a nickel sized amount of shampoo. It always says to use this amount on the shampoo bottle, but I never paid any attention to it and used MUCH more believing that if I get a good lather going it's better for my hair. Truth is, it seems, I'm washing out all of the natural oils in my hair. So...I only wash once now and I don't worry about getting up a good lather. If you use lots of oil in your hair, or a pre-shampoo oil treatment as I do, rinse your hair well with warm water before you put the shampoo in.
12. DON'T SCRATCH THE HECK OUTTA YOUR SCALP! In fact, only use the pads of your fingertips. You don't want to damage your scalp.
13. Go to a dermatologist to get an assessment of any hair loss. If you know what you're working with, it will be easier to develop a maintenence routine for your hair.
14. When you put your daily moisturizer on your hair, don't do anything to it for at least 10 minutes to allow your hair to absorb the moisturizer. Nuff said.
15. The products I use are pretty expensive relatively speaking, so I suggest purchasing them from Sephora first. This way, if you don't get optimal results, you can return the products for a full refund after one use. You can't go wrong with this policy. It's a no-brainer.
16. RINSE SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER OUT OF HAIR TO ALLEVIATE BUILD-UP AND DULL LIFELESS HAIR!
I have revised my regimen drastically and want to share it with you. Use this as a guide to help you develop your OWN PERSONALIZED regimen remembering to use maily products that are plant based.
Products (and the stores I usually buy them from)
- Pre-shampoo Treatment - Phytonectar Ultra Nourishing Oil Treatment http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P42892&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=5332
- Shampoo – Phytonectar Ultra Nourishing Shampoo http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P35050&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=5332
- Conditioner – Phytokarite’ http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P21256&searchString=phytokarite
- Deep Conditioner - Phytospecific Multi-Regenerating Cream
Bath
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P6116&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=5332
- Detangler – Aveda Styling Curessence http://www.aveda.com/templates/products/sp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEGORY6156&PRODUCT_ID=PROD5832
- Setting Lotion –
Dudley
Fantastic Body http://dudleyq.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=dudley&Product_Code=164088
- Moisturizer – Phyto 9 http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P2891&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=5332
Tools
- Wide tooth comb
- “Rat-tail” comb with wide teeth
- Plastic shower cap
- Hooded dryer (I also have a bonnet dryer so I can stretch out on the sofa while deep conditioning…lol!)
- Blow dryer (I know everyone says to steer clear of blow dryers…but, AGAIN, I’m not one for looking crazy and if my roots need a little extra to look straight then so be it! LOL!)
- Wide paddle brush http://www.aveda.com/templates/products/sp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEGORY6152&PRODUCT_ID=PROD5837
- 4 – 5 alligator clips
- Flat iron http://www.sallybeauty.com/shop/product.asp?pf%5Fid=345104&dept%5Fid=1650
- Curling iron (s) (I use a large barreled one. It’s either 1 ¾ inch or 2 inch I can’t remember. I only use this to “bend” the ends of my hair. I don’t use this step if I’m just wrapping my hair afterwards.)
- 2 Hair rubbers (the kind that don’t have metal and won’t pull your hair out)
My Process
- Put in Phytonectar Ultra Nourishing Oil Treatment. (Sometimes I follow the instructions, sometimes I leave it in over night.)
- In shower (I feel that all the product comes out when I use the shower instead of a sink. When you leave product in that’s not specifically a leave-in product, it leaves a dulling residue), rinse hair well to remove oil. Then shampoo once concentrating on SCALP and roots of hair. Don’t worry about getting up a good lather. Let the shampoo set for 5 minutes (shave your legs while waiting…lol). Rinse.
- Using a towel, dry your hair as much as possible (squeeze water out…don’t be rough on your hair please!) because from what I’ve learned personally, less of the conditioner will actually penetrate the hair if it’s already filled with water (works if you’re going swimming too….before you get in a pool or body of water, saturate your hair with a bottle of water or tap water, the hair will “fill up” with the non-chemical treated water first making it difficult for the chlorine treated water to penetrate).
- Put conditioner in hair and comb through SLOWLY using a wide-tooth comb being very careful so as to minimize any breakage. I like to comb my hair straight back. (Don’t know if there is a difference, but it works for me.)
- IF DEEP CONDITIONING – put deep conditioner in hair, cover with bag and sit under dryer for 30 minutes.
- Rinse hair using cool water. (Makes for serious shivers in the shower…lol! If deep conditioning you don’t HAVE to get back in shower.)
- Towel dry hair (always be GENTLE when handling your hair!!!)
- Place shower cap over hair until you’ve dried yourself off and gotten dressed.
- Spray on detangler (lightly) and comb hair using wide-tooth comb into your preferred drying style.
- Spray on setting lotion and comb hair GENTLY with wide tooth comb.
- Sit under dryer with a good book…lol!
- Once hair is almost all dry (meaning you can run your fingers through it and just feel minor dampness) put a nickel size amount of Phyto 9 in your palm and between your fingers and work through your hair. Make sure you get your ends really, really good.
- Blow dry hair using the medium setting and the paddle brush. Remember to be gentle! (I only do this once I have new growth and concentrate on my roots.)
- (I usually put a little more Phyto 9 on my ends after this because my hair is really dry.)
- Using hair bands, section hair using the tail of the rat tail comb and begin curling each section (maybe ¼ inch to ½ inch sections that are about an inch wide). I “smooth” or “silken” my hair using the flat iron. You can also use a curling iron to do this. If you don’t know how to “smooth” or “silken” the root, visit a hair salon and watch how a stylist does it.
- Once you’re finished, either style as desired or wrap with a satin (NEVER COTTON) scarf. I made a really nice one by taking a good square one and cutting it in half. I then sewed the cut edge so I can use it as a triangle head scarf that doesn’t have a lot of extra fabric.
After this process, I find that I don’t need to do anything more to my hair other than add moisturizer to it daily and wrap it at night. When I get up in the morning, I comb it out with a wide tooth comb and go. My hair is full of body because it’s not weighed down by product.
Anything chemical should ALWAYS be done by a professional (unless you are confident you know what you’re doing). And ladies… COLOR IS CHEMICAL!!!!!
The relaxer system I use is the Affirm Sensitive Scalp Formula.
This is how I maintain my hair and it works for me. Of course, your hair type and mine are probably totally different and you’ll have to get your own routine in the works for your type of hair. My hair is very thin. I have always, ALWAYS wished for Oprah hair like my girlfriend Noreen (that heffa!) but I’ve worked out a regimen that’s really good for my hair.
I find the most important thing, however, is to always remember to be gentle with your hair. GENTLE! No tugging, pulling, burning it up daily with curling irons. GENTLE! Oh…and drink LOTS of water. I drink at least 3 liters a day.
If you know of some good tips I can add, please share as I am always looking for new ones!
Smooches! Copyright Monica Mingo 2006
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