Hair Wash Day pt. II

Before I start, I would like to deal with several well-known myths:

• Our hair is difficult to wash/manage, so should not be washed often
• Greasy hair is good, so our hair should only washed once every two weeks
• Moisture is not good for our hair (biggest myth out there, because our hair loves and needs moisture)
• Heat makes our hair behave (wrong! Frequent use of heat on relaxed hair further weakens it)
• The hotter the hair dryer the better (wrong again! Too much heat literally fries hair! – if you get the burning smell at any time when drying hair, STOP IMMEDIATELY)
• If it works for caucasian hair, it’ll work for me (not necessarily true)

As we all know, our hair is completely different from other hair types, not only because of the shape and texture, but also because its needs are very different.

For example caucasian (white) hair tends to get greasy and sometimes smelly when dirty, which is why most of them wash daily. Our hair in contrast tends to get very dry after a few days wash, because our hair produces less natural oils than other hair types. So daily washing is certainly not advised, neither is fortnightly washes; our hair needs moisture.

So where is the balance?

I’ll take you through what works for me and I expect should work for other with my hair type, 4A or 4B.

Normally, I –

• Wash my hair twice a week – condition, shampoo, deep condition (DCi-ng affects the cuticle, the outer layer of hair);
• Use a hair reconstructor weekly or fortnightly, depending on what my hair needs (with time, you’ll realise your hair will tell you exactly what it needs) and
• Do a heavy protein treatment every six weeks.

Every other week, I use Roux Porosity Control Shampoo and conditioner. It would be impossible to explain the purpose of these products in a few sentences, so I will dedicate an entire write up to them.

Here’s how I do it:-

Some people pre-poo their hair overnight before they wash using EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), I think this is ok; I sometimes include this step, but not all the time.

The first thing I do is condition, if it’s a little tangled, I may run a wide-toothed comb through it, if not, I do not comb. I use Revlon Flex conditioning crème; I let it saturate. At this point I comb the hair and if it’s still a bit tangled, I don’t force the comb through my hair, I leave it.

Hair is rinsed after about 5 minutes. During this process, I comb the hair in sections. I find that when water runs through the hair, it’s easier to comb. Water is the best detangler for our hair type.

Next stage is the shampoo stage.

Our hair is naturally dry, so should stay away from shampoos that’ll dry out your hair this means stay away from shampoo specially formulated for caucasian hair as almost all of them strip hair of natural oils. I always read the ingredients on hair product before I buy them; I suggest you do the same.  

Later on I’ll do a series on shampoos and what to look out for, but for now do not buy shampoos which contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (please note that this is different from Sodium Laureth Sulfate)

I alternate between Crème of Nature Kiwi & Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo for dry and brittle hair and Dove Intense Damage Therapy Shampoo (your hair doesn’t have to be damaged for you to use this; relaxed hair needs all the help it can get!) The shampoo is applied just once and I concentrate more on the scalp with a gentle massage. I don’t let it sit on hair for too long before rinsing.

After the shampoo rinse-out, the next step is a deep-condition with a mild protein treatment/conditioner/mask. I alternate between Dove Therapy Reviving Mask, Nelly Hair Mask (native to Spain) and Xheken Capilar - I use this in combination with Elvive Smooth Intense Anti- Frizz conditioner. Another great DC-ing product is Hair Cholesterol.

Apply the DC in sections and comb through hair from the roots to the ends.

After this, I put on a shower cap and sit under a dryer for about half an hour, sometimes more. When I come out from under the dryer, I rinse my hair generously with tepid water and style as usual (will do a write up soon on styling and the need to minimise heat)

I hope this piece has been helpful and that you enjoyed it! Please leave a comment.

...part 2 of 2 

Hair Wash Day pt. I

I decided to blog today about how to wash African hair (unaltered or relaxed) because I think it is extremely to know how to wash our hair and keep it in tip-top condition.

As a lot of us already know, this matter is one of great controversy and most times confusion. Over the years a lot of wash theories and methods have been bandied – wash once a week, wash every fortnight, co-wash (shampoo-less ‘washing’, done only with a conditioner), pre-poo (pre-shampoo), and dry washing (washing without water – don’t know how this was achieved, but I reckon it’ll be fun to watch!),  to name a few.

While I understand that everyone has different hair needs and that there will always be exceptions, what I intend to do today is give you an idea of what I do and how it works for me and for other people I help out.

Because of the wealth of information available, I’ll split this into 2 sections starting with how to wash natural hair.

Washing Miss Boo’s hair

My beautiful niece is 5 years old and has natural 4B type hair that's grown past her shoulders (check out your hair type here.) Thankfully, her parents intend to keep it that way – natural.

I got to spend a couple of days with them, and was asked by her mom to help with her hair. Here are the steps we took:

• The first thing we did was release the hair from the afro-puffs she had. I did not comb her hair at this stage because it was very dry.
• To start the wash, I made sure the water was tepid, and not too hot, as too hot water could further dry out the hair. I ran the water over her hair several times to remove the residue and dregs.
• Then I conditioned gently using Revlon Flex Conditioner. I applied this in sections allowing it to permeate the hair, while lightly massaging the scalp.
• After rinsing out the conditioner, I shampooed the hair with Crème of Nature Kiwi & Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo once. I worked it through the hair from the roots up, starting with a light scalp massage.
• I rinsed out the shampoo, gently squeezing out excess water. Then I applied Elvive Smooth Intense Anti- Frizz conditioner. I mixed this with a light/mild protein treatment  - I used Xheken Capilar, but any ol’ mild protein treatment will do. I divided her hair into four sections and worked the conditioner and protein treatment into her hair gently. When a section was fully saturated, I used a wide tooth comb starting from the roots and working my way up to the ends. After combing through each section, the hair was held with section clips.
• After the conditioning/protein treatment process, her hair was rinsed generously with tepid water.
• Subsequent to the final rinse, I applied several water based moisturisers generously to her hair, starting from the roots and working my way upwards.
• Then, I applied sweet almond oil to her hair, to seal in moisture.
• Her hair was then left to air dry a little bit.

She had her hair plaited after that and it was very easy to manage because it was fully moisturised. Half way through when it started to dry out, I applied JOHNSONS® BUDDIES™ Easy-comb Detangler, which kept it adequately moisturised and without tangles.

...part 1 of 2

Why Michelle's Hair Matters

Below is a link to great article on how Michelle Obama wears her hair and what it signifies.

Why Michelle's Hair Matters