African American Hair Care and Tips please…?

Posted by admin on 12/19/2011

Women’s health blog edited the following:

Question: African American Hair Care and Tips please…?
My hair used to be very long curly and thick. it was beautiful. But a family member put a relaxer in my hair and it all fell out. my mom got it to start growing back, but then she was put in prison so i was lost when it came to my hair. I was living with caucasians and they had no clue about how to take care of my hair. so i never really learned anything about how to take care of my hair. So now, its is in bad shape. it keeps breaking off, and it never seems like its growing. ive cut it short short like how halle berrys used to be, and its grown from that but now its all different lengths from breakage and its very dry. I jus want my old hair back. is there anything i can do to get my hair back on the right track?

The answer in the following:

Answer by Holly amazing
The same thing happened to my friend. That’s why you should never use a perm. It does more damage than good. My friend has to keep perming her hair so that it doesn’t fall out since her hair is so used to the perming.

Conditioner, conditioner, conditioner. That is the key. Don’t flat iron, perm, or put any chemicals in your hair. A nice conditioner, a brush, a ponytail holder, and a scarf to flatten your hair while it dries will do the trick. Good hair starts at the scalp. Buy some Doo-grow, or some hair grease. You can find that in the hair care aisle at CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, etc. A dry scalp is a brittle scalp, which causes hair to fall out.

Answer by firelilee
I suggest that you grow you hair out or learn to touch up you hair regularly

If you decide to touch up your hair regularly:

Only use mild perm from now on, and do not exceed the times on the product to ensure that overprocessing is not occuring
touch up your hair in front of two large mirrors so you can see what you are doing
(make sure that your hair is not tangled when relaxing your hair (or you will take too long and over process it)
keep in mind that under processing is always better than over processing because you can get away with “under-relaxed” hair by flat-ironing it (with a flat iron aka hair straightener)
wrap your hair every night without fail
wash your hair every week (with a good conditioner, even deep condition if you can afford it)
after washing your hair, its best to let it air dry,a nd then straighten(aka flat iron) it with a good quality flat iron (if your hair is smelling burnt, turn down the flat iron, 300 degrees is a good temperature)
Use anti breakage hair products (hair wax/grease, hair cream, and split end re constructor keep your hair hydrated, healthy and free from breakage: try Soft Sheen Carson Optimum antibreakage line [in red jars]
wrap your hair everynight in between washing your hair every week to maintain it, use the hair creme daily, and the split end re constructor regularly (these products seriously do work)
So as a summary you will need the following things
1.)Stocking Cap/Wrap Cap
2.)Good Conditioner
3.)Hair wax/grease, hair creme, and split end reconstuctor
4.)Large tub of MILD perm that will last 6months
5.)Neutralizing Shampoos/Conditioners
6.)Decent Hair Straightener aka Flat Iron

This will cost you about 0 per year

Should you decide to grow your hair out

You’d basically just need a generic shampoo/conditioner
lots of hair oil & or grease ∨ cream
You would have to figure out a way to style it (perhaps learn to cornrow) You could even straigten it and wrap it up as if you had a perm! just use higher settings (425degrees+) and alot more hair creme, and split end reconstuctor, and also never forget to wrap your hair up at night or you will have to straighten it all over again

You could try to use naturalaxer, people say that it works though I have not tried it so dont quote me on that one

This will cost you about – per year

Lastly I would just like to say to try to youtube haircare videos and yo will find alot of useful tips about caring for natural & relaxed hair

and good luck to you (I know how frustrating it can be (trust me I’ve been there, but you’ve just got to decide which way you are gonna do it, if you don’t ever decide your hair will not be taken care of the right way, causing it of be trapped in a vicious cycle of damage and breakage)

Answer by DOMINIQUE78
Moisturizer is very important for our hair because it is so curly. Also, you don’t have to wash your hair as often as Caucasians. You can watch your hair once a week and be ok. Of course, if you go swimming and such, you would want to wash your hair to get the chlorine out. Pantene V is a good brand of shampoo as well as Garnier Frutis. Is there a way that the family you are staying with can let you go to a black stylist once a week or could you catch a bus to a black stylist? Since your hair is short, you can go every other week vs every week. The next time you go to the grocery or beauty store, look where they have black relaxers and poems because there are usually moisturizers and shampoo/conditioners that are suited to our hair type. Try to avoid putting too much gel in your hair as well as that can break your hair off. Creme of Nature, Soft Sheen, and Luster’s Pink are some ethnic Moisturizers I can think off the top of my head. A good brand I also started using is Motions and Olive Oil. Both work well and also have shampoo and conditioners as well. I have put a link to a popular selling black hair magazine as well as Sally Beauty shop which has stores nationwide. I hope this helps you and hope your mom is well.

Answer by Corrheag
GIRL!

First of all. same dynamic but different scenerio!

NO MORE Relaxer
Keep Heat to a MINIMUM if anything maybe one or twice a month AT MOST.
NO HAIR GREESE Avoid that like the plague because it contains mineral oils and patroleum which is used in gasoline. Scrap that, no nu-grow or none of that.

Like one of the ladies said, condition, condition, condition.

FIRST! invest in the APHOGEE KIT! It’s a chemical protein kit but it stops breakage! It should only be used once every 8 weeks. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.

Second, go on YOUTUBE and look up black women hair care. Trust me honey, it’s very inspiring. You will see other sistahs that make videos talking about their hair care regime. You can get a lot of ideas and see what works for you. It’s a wonderful experience.

But basically hun, you must only shampoo your hair once a month. But you wash your hair with a deep clarifying conditioner once a week – this is called a co-wash.

From now on, before you shampoo your hair you pre-poo which is basically wetting your hair and putting in a conditioner for an hour before you put a shampoo in your hair.

Also, don’t be afraid of the big chop, which is basically cutting off all the relax ends and just starting over. Don’t cut it off completely, but just to where the new growth has begun.

You must also start to understand the importance of natural oils like cocnut oil, castor oil, avacado oils instead of grease.

You should be oiling your scalp and the ends of your hair every night.

On youtube, there is a lovely sistah named lovelyti2002. She had brittle, short damaged hair and now she has long goreous hair and she shows you great alternatives to processed stuff.

Answer by Love112
you should go to a salon. but in the mean time use olive oil products they are really good and helped my hair grow.

Add your own answer in the comments!