Hair Care Basics and Tips

Hair Care Basics and Tips

  Hair should be treated as gently as you would a fine washable silk blouse. The better you treat your hair, the easier it will be to grow and the better it will look. With some exceptions, African- American hair is usually coarser in texture, tighter in curl pattern and more delicate and vulnerable to damage from environmental and chemical treatments. The hair tends to be dryer and more prone to breakage because the curl pattern makes it more difficult for the oils to work their way from the scalp to the ends of the hair. The points where the hair curls and twists are also points where the hair tends to break. The more of these points the more the hair is prone to breakage. Because the hair can be kinky, it tends to tangle more and pulling these tangles out
can cause breakage.

Washing & Conditioning

• Wash your hair no more often than every week to week and a half or 7-10 days; more than that can dry it out.
 
• Use the pads of the finger in a “scratching” motion to cleanse the scalp/roots, rather than using hands to lather entire head. Using the more gentle and direct “scratching” motions will reduce tangling that are created.
 
• Comb your hair out while you're conditioning it to remove the tangles while it's wet and relatively slick.
 
• Using a leave-in conditioner after washing helps when combing through hair and blow drying with an attachment. It can also help protect hair from heat of blow-drying.
 
• Do a deep conditioner or hot oil treatment once a month.
 
• If you exercise and sweat, rinse the salt out of your hair even if you don't wash it. Condition it afterwards with a daily leave-in conditioner.


Moisturizing


• Oil your scalp on a regular basis with a good natural oil like jojoba. Daily moisturizing or “greasing” the scalp with a light oil or light grease can be helpful in maintaining a desired level of moisture.
 
• Massage your scalp on a regular basis to promote circulation and oil production. Brushing the hair can help promote oil production from the sebaceous glands as well.
 
• Avoid overuse of products with mineral oil or petroleum. They tend to block the pores and are not readily absorbed. If your mother used vaseline on your hair, stop.
 
• Remember that water (moisture) is your friend and get plenty- inside and out. If you used to press your hair or blow it out and learned to fear water on your hair because it would dry up, you need to get over this. Spritzing a little water on your hair every day is a good idea. Get a spray bottle and just spray it just a little.
 
• If you relax your hair, you've weakened the hair and reduced the ability for the scalp to
naturally oil it. Following the tips listed above will help improve the hair’s moisture content.

Styling Tips

• Put as little heat as possible on your hair. Heat, especially combined with perms is very damaging to hair.
• Avoid alcohol based products unless you have a need for a water-free shampoo to cleanse your scalp (for example while you're waiting for your locks to lock).
• Eat a proper diet. Vitamins and protein are essential for proper hair growth.
• Find a style that works with your natural hair type and growth pattern. The less you work against your hair, the less stressed it will be.
• Do not relax your hair until it is bone straight. This is just asking for trouble. Why relax your hair until it has absolutely no body or curl and then put heat on it to try to get that curl back?
• Be gentle with your hair, especially if it has been chemically treated, which by nature stresses hair.
 

Maintenance/Styling tools
• A good shampoo: They will be more expensive. But, they'll use more gentle cleansers and be more concentrated. Your hair will definitely show the difference.
• An acidifies (a conditioner with a low pH): Acidifying the hair adds shine and rectangles.
• Hot oil treatment or deep conditioner. For example, Sanitary...Naturally Lemongrass Hot Oil Treatment. It is an all-natural based Shea butter treatment. Apply the conditioner or hot oil treatment to the hair and scalp, cover with a plastic cap and sit under a dryer for 15-20 minutes. Alternatively, you can wrap your head in a towel. Then wash the hair thoroughly. This is very important for dry brittle hair.
• Leave in conditioner or daily moisturizer: This is what you'll put on your hair after you've thoroughly cleaned it to continue to provide oil and moisture.
• A comb for your hair type. Use a plastic comb with large teeth to comb through natural kinky or curly hair. Combs with smaller teeth can pull hair out and breaking it off. Use a small rattail comb for parting hair into sections.