HAIR HELP!

A) Our (black) hair needs MOISTURE, MOISTURE,
MOISTURE. It also needs protein (but not as much as
moisture, because protein-overload will make it snap
off).  So, wash more often, to hydrate your scalp/hair.

Remember - Shampoo is for scalp and Conditioner is for
hair (mainly ends) 

Shampoo SCALP only.  Only use a capful of shampoo and
dilute it in a cup and pour the cup over your head. 
Shampoo contains harsh detergents that strip away
natural oils from black hair.  So remember not to
over-shampoo your hair.  Plus, if you increase the
amount of washing, you'll need less harsh shampoo. I
only use it every 4 or 6 washes, and the majority of
my washes are conditioners only (also known as: co-washes). 
I love co-washes!!!!


Condition your hair and not scalp (because conditioners will
clog your pores).  Concentrate on last two to three
inches of ends, in order to retain length.

Deep condition at least once a week. 

B) Once you wash it, add 1) a leave-in conditioner, 2)
a moisturizer, and 3) an oil to seal in the moisture. 
Concentrate on last two inches of ends. 

C) Style it w/protective styles that will keep the
ends hidden (protected) such as braids and buns.

D) On a daily basis (morning and night) - moisturize
and add some oil (but do not saturate) and concentrate
on last 2-3 inches of ends.  Oil, not grease.

E) Do not handle your hair roughly.  This step is very
important. Use wide-tooth combs only because the
small-tooth combs rip your hair right out of your
head.  Try to comb your hair only when it is wet.  And
only finger-comb your hair the rest of the week to
style it.  Eliminating too much combing will relieve
your ends of all of the manipulation that causes
breakage.  I have managed to comb only when wet, which
is when I wash twice a week. 

F) When you do comb, start from the bottom first, as
opposed to starting from your roots and pulling out
tons of strands for no good reason.  Be gentle.  Treat
your hair like fine silk and it will thank you.  Also,
comb your hair in sections, instead of combing all at
once. 

G) Throw away all of your rubber bands and any other
type of hair contraptions that tug on and cause stress
on your hair. Use soft scrunchies. 
__________________________________________________________________

Okay here are the tips to get you started, I got most
of this from hair boards and from Carolyn Gray's book "The Black Women's Guide to Beautiful and Healthier Hair in 6 Weeks"
(and added my own opinions):

1.) Make sure you wash your hair at least once a week.  
Deep condition at least once a week.
Many successful hair growers can go beyond 7 days, 
but I rec at least once a week, if not more times a week for newbies.
The effects of most conditioners last 7 days TOPS...(for
some of us, it lasts only 3-4 days...so, I wash after
the 3rd or 4th day).

2.) Using a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner for
your regular wash days are a MUST!  If you STILL find
that shampoos are drying, you could always do
CO-washes where you just use conditioners only..NO
shampoo. 

Here are some product recommedations: 

Shampoos- Nexxus Therappe, Neutrogena Triple Moisture,
Kenra, Eluence, etc. 

Conditioners: Nexxus Humectress (my favorite),
Neutrogena Triple Moisture daily con and hair mask,
Kenra, Eluence, KeraCare Humecto, etc.

3.) Your hair also needs regular doses of protein to
keep it strong and help repair it. Usually mild
protein conditioners (they are usually creamy in
consistency) can be used weekly or monthly depending
on how much protein your hair likes. Stronger
treatments (usually more liquidy) can be used safely
on every 4-6 weeks. (APHOGEE IS THE BIG MAMA OF THE
STRONG PROTEIN TREATMENTS). 

I use a mild protein bi-weekly or as needed (IC
Fantasia in the tube). I use the stronger one (Aphogee
liquid) the week after my relaxer (which is usually
every 12 weeks). 

Mild Protein Recommendations: Nexxus Keraphix, Aubrey
Organics GPB, Elasta QP makes one but the name escapes
me at the time. I think the Nexxus and Aubrey are the
two most popular. 

Strong Protein Recommendations: Nexxus Emergencee, and
Aphogee makes one also. Be sure to follow with a
moisturizing conditioner, although I usually mix my
mild protein and my moisturizing conditioners
together! (This step makes your hair feel like silk).

4.) Sleep in silk or satin, whether it be a scarf,
bonnet, or pillowcase. Cotton robs your hair of
moisture and it hooks on your ends and makes it snap
off!

5.) Oil, not grease.  Learn the benefits of natural oils. 
The JOYS of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)! Ditch
the commercial hot oil treatments and head straight to
the source. Extra Virgin Olive Oil straight from the
grocery store makes a WONDERFUL hot oil treatment!
You can also add it to any of your conditioners to
boost the effects. I've noticed increased shine and
elasticity since using EVOO! As you get more into hair
care if that's what you decide to do, you can find
other oils that are beneficial to add to your hot oil
treatment, COCONUT (oil and milk), JOJOBA (my
favorite), CASTOR, ROSEMARY, etc! Some girls also like
to add Honey to their pretreaments!

6.) Invest in a widetooth comb! I use the jilbere
d'paris shower comb (available at Sally's for less
than 2.00. It puts less stress on the individual
strands)!

7.) Avoid the blowdryer, and DIRECT HEAT, airdrying is an excellent way
to help you maintain length! If you must, use it only
on cool and only on your roots and not your ends.  I
airdry 95% of the time, except for random salon
visits. It's one of those things you have to work at,
but once you get it, it's worth it's weight in gold!

8.) Try to stretch your relaxers as long as you can
without breakage! 
I know it's hard when the hair is short, but the tips in Carolyn Grey's book kept my short hair in tact.
Once you start to see excessive breakage, then the stretching becomes
counterproductive and you'll know that it is time to
relax.  Also, when you relax, make sure ONLY the new
growth is getting relaxed as much as humanly possible
(everyone makes mistakes!) A good way to get started
at stretching is to stretch one or two weeks longer,
with each relaxer. And before you know it, you are
stretching with ease. 

9.) A good leave-in conditioner is very important! Try
to find one that protects your hair from uva and uvb
rays. My favorite ones right now are Infusium 23 and Neutragena Triple
Moisture Leave-Ins.

10.) Moisturizers..for people that are starting out, I
usually rec that they find one whose first ingredient
is water, with no petroleum, mineral oil, or lanolin
(These three are the ingredients that you need to keep
away from your scalp becuase they clog your pores, and coat the hair shaft, so
get used to reading labels).  VERY IMPORTANT.

After you start searching through moisturizers, you
can find what does and doesn't work for your hair..for
instance, maybe your hair will like OIL based
moisturiziers..but those are the basic guidlines that
I'd say start with, here are some product recs: Elasta
QP Mango Butter, Profective Breakfree.

My two favorites are Neutragena Triple Moisture
(oil-based) and S-Curl (water-based).  It took me a
long time to learn this about my hair. 

11.) Oils: some good oils for the hair and scalp are
EVOO, coconut, Wild Growth Oil (my favorite right now,
even though it smells kind of funky), and Jojoba oil.
One of the most popular moisturizing Combinations for
a while was Mango butter with Wild Growth Oil.

12.) Protective Styling: These are low manipulation,
preferably with the ends tucked away some where. These
are styles that you don't have to manipulate your hair
too much to do; therefore less breakage. And the idea
behind keeping the ends tucked away is that they will
split less and therefore need to be trimmed less, so
you retain more length!
(THIS IS A MAJOR STEP IN MY LENGTH, THUS FAR).

All in all, you have to decide what works for you! But
if you work some of these tips into your hair care
routine, hopefully you will develop your own regimen
and grow healthy, long hair. For me, I started off
wanting only healthy hair, but now after washing
frequently, airdrying, and protective styling, the
hair is now thicker and longer (more than I bargained
for).  Now I have set higher hair goals for myself.  

I still have a long way to go, so maybe we can be hair buddies.

Good Luck!