HELP!! advise for natural thick/course hair

80s soulman wrote: hey iam new to the board how good that their is message boards for this. OK my problem is that ive got thick and very course and just a ten bag full of hair on my head and its so hard to know what to do with it. ive had cornrows for like 1 year now and it that seems to being stressing my scalp out at the front and its causing it to flake and iam just loss of what to do? i was told to use a baby relaxer on my hair to manage it and then i was told to keep it natural so iam loss for words now. i was thinkin of doing all single braids so they can hang just loose at least that will keep in for a while iam male also by the way lol. thanks. opinions please

Hello, 80s soulman
I'm a London girl with natural long 4a/4b hair, and struggle with similar problems, highlighted in your post. To make my hair softer and manageable, I try pre shampoo hot oil treatment with olive oil.

Part your hair in medium sized sections, To have your hair softer, before shampooing, wet the hair with warm water, then put a generous amount of your favorite oil over the wet hair and shampoo with mild shampoo directly over your oily hair.

Rinse. If you repeat then add the oil all over again then shampoo. Your hair will be easier to nmanage and not be as coarse.

This hot oil treatment may help with dry scalp along with deep conditioning products, try lekair cholesterol £1.99, purchase from any black hair shop.

Try organic root stimulator uplifting shampoo this helps to lift flakes from scalp whilst soothing any itchiness. Build up on the scalp can cause this problem, I should know, I've been there. For this try a clarifying shampoo by ION or Nexxus, once every six weeks.

Why not wear your hair in a stylish afro or twists, it will take the stress off your scalp area. A product called sta-sof- fro, is a brilliant comb out conditioner and hair spray, this will make your hair less coarse, i've used this and it works well.

Don't overuse, it does tend to make the hair a bit greasy.

Other good moisturizers are soft and beautiful botanticals for natural and texturized styles, African Pride oil sheen spray for braids.

I'd advise you not to use relaxers they cause damage if not properly maintained, just a thought.

PS. If the flaky scalp does'nt ease up, sorry, try visiting dermotologist.

Here are my hair photo's

http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/deniselhaynes

I hope this helps!