Hola Feministas,
So as I’ve mentioned before, I wanna be the most amazing version of myself POSSIBLE! I want an AMAZING body, an AMAZING attitude, an AMAZING relationship, an AMAZING career … ok so you get the idea, right?
And guess what? On top of all that AMAZINGNESS, I also want AMAZING LONG, CURLY, NATURAL, THICK and HEALTHY HAIR.
Yep, just like this …
KIM LOVE’S HAIR IS TRES FAB!
http://kimmaytube.tumblr.com/
Natural long Black hair is a bit of an enigma for many Black women. Many of us have no idea how to properly deal with our hair and as a result we fry it, dye it, weave it and braid it into oblivion. We are brought up being told to not get our hair wet, to saturate our hair with chemicals and chemical filled greases, we’ve been brought to salons to spend hours applying heat or chemicals to make our hair manageable and many of us have been told that our natural kink is far less desirable than bone straight, easy-to-run-your-fingers-through hair. No wonder Black women struggle with keeping healthy hair on their head!
Now, if you didn’t know I am a research freak and I love researching and compiling information. For the past few months, I’ve been conducting researching on growing and retaining length.
Here’s what I discovered …Black hair grows! Black hair grows just like the hair of every other race. It does not grow slower. IT GROWS! The reason why many Black women do not have healthy long natural hair is because our hair is naturally drier than that of other races and as a result we suffer from a great deal of breakage. Meaning our hair grows and then the ends break off making it appear as if our hair is not growing. In addition, our hair is not as strong as the hair of other races, it is very delicate and requires a great deal of moisture and proper care.
So here’s my new FEMINISTA FABULOUS HAIR ROUTINE
Every Sunday I do the following …
Shampoo- saturate hair with warm water warm water encourages cuticles to open
- gently massage in shampoo focusing on roots
- rinse with warm water gently – trying not to tangle hair too much
- section hair into 4
- apply detangling creme (cheap conditioner mixed with oil) to a section
- use fingers to detangle first and then comb through with a wide tooth comb, start @ the ends
- retwist the section
- repeat for each section
- unravel twist, apply deep conditioner and then retwist
- repeat for each section
- place a shower cap on and wrap with a towel – keep on for at least 45 minutes or sit under a hooded dryer for 25 minutes
- rinse out the deep conditioner with cool water while the twists are still in Cool water causes hair cuticles to close.
- squeeze out excess water
- unravel each twist, apply leave-in conditoner and creates smaller twists for STRETCHING
- pin twists up,wrap hair and let dry overnight
- wear hair in twists or another protective style, i.e bun, french braid, etc.
So that’s my new routine for myself AND NALA! I’ve been doing it for a few weeks and I’ve noticed a couple changes already:
1. less breakage and shedding
My hair was falling out every time I detangled and washed it – some was breakage and some was shedding but I knew it was way too much. The amount of hair I shed now seems normal!
2. hair is less dry
Both my hair and Nala’s appears and feels less dry.
There’s much more info and pics to come. So stay tuned!!!!
Ciao bellas,Tiffany
I do not even know how I finished up right here, however I assumed this put up used to be great. I don’t understand who you might be however certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already
Cheers!
thanks so much! i keep trying to post on a regular basis but haven’t quite got there yet!
does wrapping your hair at night help to? or not using a blow dryer?
staying away from the blow dryer most definitely helps – i don’t wrap my hair but i sleep on a satin pillowcase to avoid breakage from friction and rubbing on cotton pillowcases
what brand of products do you suggest using?
natural oils (jojoba oil, castor oil, olive oil) and herbal essence hydration conditioner are all i use right now
Will try this routine. I have super tight thick curls. I brush it all the time but it goes into dreadlocks after about 6″ of growth. I would love to grow my hair out longer.
Question: do you find a comb works better then a brush for detangling?
i’ve never used a brush on my hair unless t’s too smooth it into a ponytail. Wide tooth combs definitely work best for me and I always work in sections and finger detangle first. Hope this helps.
I have been natural for about 3 years and was considering putting a relaxer in today. I so glad I came across your blog.
what’s the best hair grease to use on natural black hair?
We don’t need hair grease – it actually has a lot of chemicals in it that end up drying out our hair in the long run. It’s best to stick to natural oils like castor oil, coconut oil, etc.
what do you mean by: •apply detangling creme (cheap conditioner mixed with oil)
what kind of oil do you use to mix with the conditioner?
Also when you say apply detangling creme then after twisting etc next step is to apply deep conditioner. do you wash off the detangling creme 1st & then apply the deep conditioner.
Pls explain.
Yes, I use HERBAL ESSENCE conditioner (the blue bottle – HYDRATION) and mix it with coconut oil. It just adds enough slip to help with the detangling. I rinse quickly with warm water and run my fingers through to make sure its all been detangled and then put in the deep conditioner. I don’t put a lot of effort into getting all the detangling creme out, if there’s some left, no big deal!
I’ve started growing out my perm. Should I cut off the straight ends or should I allow it to grow some more until its manageable?
It really depends on you and how much new growth you have and how comfortable you are with what your new length will be. There are tons of styling videos for transitioning hair to help you manage those permed ends until you’re ready for the big chop.
Thank you so much. I’ve been looking for a routine to do g
For my hair and never could find one. This helps a lot. Also, I did my big chop in November and I’m trying to grow my hair out healthy.
Good to hear! Let me know how it goes.
What Do You Mean About Hooded Dryer?
A hooded dryer is one of the dryers that you sit under – like the one’s at salons.