Basic Care Guide on Black Girls' Hair

Ever wondered what the difference was between a White person's vs. a Black person's hair?

Black hair has tiny nicks in the cuticle layer which makes it harder for natural scalp sebum to distribute to the ends of your hair.These nicks also cause breakage so handle your hair with care and keep it moisturized. A huge misconception is that black hair is coarse, coarse means the "strand size" not the texture. Black hair is rarely coarse, black strands' are finer than any other group - which is why it can not take heavy handling. Versus a White person's hair which has less nicks, little bit more coarse than to an Asian person's hair which is extremely coarse.

Organic vs. Natural

When buying a product always look for the most organic ingredients. Try avoid to avoid mineral oil and Petro oil, this certain oil will dry your hair out and stop moisture from penetrating the shaft. Natural oils like almond, coconut oil and jojoba oils are much better.

The term "natural" is double talk and can have any given meaning for corporations. An orange soda can be natural because it has orange flavoring that once shared a compound of a fruit. High Frutose Corn Syrup is considered "natural" just like "Petro Oil."

Try Crème of Nature line, or use a small amount of jojoba oil, grape seed oil, olive oil, straight out of the bottle.

Grease is also a no go! NEVER use "grease" in your hair. Most black hair needs extra moisture, but stay away from products with petroleum. Petroleum makes hair stiff, dry and greasy. Instead of grease, try natural oils (coconut, jojoba, olive, or castor) or natural shampoos and conditioners which are great for your hair because they don't have all those sulfates, sodium’s, and preservatives in them. They also give your hair a nice shine to it. Grape seed oil is very light and can withstand high temperatures without burning which will help control heat damage if you use heat styling products on your locks.

Condition and Moisturize

I can't stress enough on how important this step is in basic hair care. You want to condition your hair at LEAST twice a month. Why? Because when you condition it restores the natural oils in your hair follicles that has been removed from shampooing, and chemical treatments. Not to mention it makes our hair smooth and shinny :) Aveda, Dr. Miracle, Organics are a couple of brands that make really good leave-in conditioners.

Most people believe that breakage happens from the top of the head. Wrong, the main cause of breakage is split ends which are located at the ends of your hair. To reduce split ends you can always get monthly trims or if you're like me and absolutely REFUSE to cut your beloved locks then lock in those suckers with coconut oil or castor oil. Moisturizing is the key! And be sure to keep moisturizing to prevent future split ends.

Heat Styling

I don't know about you guys, but I LOOOOOVE curling irons/straightening irons. I never used to use heat protectant cause honestly.....I thought it was a waste a money. A gimmick that advertisers would use to make you buy something you don't need. But after bleaching my hair to oblivion and literally frying the ends of my hair, I had to protect what ever was left. To my surprise, this stuff really works! Not only did it protect my fried ends but my curls would actually curl better and last longer (I sprayed all over mostly focusing on the ends.)

After doing some research, here's a couple reason why thermal protection products can actually benefit you:

1. Protects your hair from the burning hot iron!
2. Your hair will not break or "melt" as easily.
3. Minimize heat damage.

This means blow drying too! So, before any thermal styling, spray in a heat protectant to prevent any future damages.

Brushes and Combs

Use a wide tooth comb to comb your hair, stop buying bristle brushes or thin combs which will catch in your hair and snap it off. Go for low maintenance. People of color should never comb their hair everyday, your hair does not need to be combed everyday, just detangle with your fingers. Excessive combing will break your hair off.

Conclusion

Throw away that myth that black hair can not grow. The reason why black hair does not appear to grow is because the ends are breaking off from to much handling. If your hair didn't grow, you wouldn't need to head to the hair dresser every 4-6 weeks! Less is more!