The thought of having to deal with dry, frizzy hair doesn’t get any of us transitioners and naturals smiling from ear to ear. It can de-motivate you in trying out new hairstyles, and result in you throwing an insult or two at your crowning glory. Before you get stuck in a rut, here are a few ways you can gain back that moisture and put your days of dry hair to bed!


Satin, Satin, Satin!
This is SO important in my regime. The nights where I have slept without a satin scarf/pillow have left me with drier hair the next morning. This sucks if you have just spent the night deep conditioning away, as all that hard work goes down the drain! I know that it can be annoying to go through this each night, but you will be glad you fought the laziness when you wake up with softer, moisturised hair in the morning.

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 via the GoodHairDiaries

My hair has definitely seen brighter days. Those days I’ve gently massaged my scalp, covered it in olive oil and sat under the dryer. It’s even remembered the days I would religiously wear my satin scarf and take my Vivscal hair vitamins for extra nutrients.

Now, each day is a fight. At some point I aspire to hire a glam squad to visit me every morning to give me fierce hair and beat my face into red carpet-ready glamour. Until then, my hair (which I call Angela), will see more dark days then usual.

Caring for my hair is sometimes a dreadful task. From keeping it moisturized to keeping up with the latest trends and surfing CurlyNikki.com for style inspiration, I’m ready to retire.

Nonetheless if I want to keep the hair on my head I’ve got to whip my hair into shape pronto. This month I’ve made a commitment to take better care of my hair by doing the following:

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Why is EVOO So Amazing?  

Have you tried Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) in your hair regimen? If not, wait no longer! When used on the hair, extra virgin olive oil can nourish, condition and improve the strength and elasticity.

Due to it's ability to penetrate the hair shaft, this rich moisturizing oil can reach the cortex of the hair, allowing the hair to feel conditioned, nourished, and healthy with each use.

Extra virgin olive oil contains antioxidant vitamin E, vitamin A and helps heal dry flaky scalp, also known as dandruff.

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1. Not detangling
Never, not once did I properly detangle my hair, if at all. I would simply shampoo and condition my hair, throw some Motions foam wrap lotion and Paul Mitchell foaming pomade and keep it moving. I barely used a comb! Now, it was cute but that’s it. It was not healthy in the least bit. Surprisingly I didn’t lose a lot of hair; however, I was not retaining length either.

2. Sleeping without a satin cap/scarf
At night I would lay my head down straight gorilla style! The only time I slept with a satin cap/scarf was when I straightened my hair. WTW? I know...makes no sense, which leads me to the next mistake on my list…using excessive heat.

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In our quest for knowledge as naturalistas or transitioning divas our goals are two-fold: To achieve healthy hair and for our hair to “grow”. Well, that’s not what we really mean is it? Our hair grows. It grows at varying rates monthly and throughout the year and its growth is based on our genetics, our overall health, nutrition, hormones, etc. But it does grow. What we are most interested in is the retention of length. If your hair breaks just as much as it grows then you’re not going to see the lengths adding up. Our hair care regimes – as simplistic or complex as they are – are implemented to prevent damage.

With all the care you’ve taken of your hair, would it surprise you to know that even if you don’t have overt signs that your hair is in fact damaged? And the longer your hair is, the more damage it has sustained?

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I’m a type 4 natural and I hate hair butters and oils. Now that I’ve said it, all the women who would like to tell me how I’m using them incorrectly or that I used too much listen carefully because I hate repeating myself: I just don’t like them. Deal with it.

It’s been said time and time again that what works for one natural does not work for all, and never has this been truer for me than when I started my natural hair journey. Naturally I entered my hair type and went to my appropriate forum and began asking way too many questions and stalking countless women. I wanted hair like the women whom I admired and thought that if I followed their regimens and used what they did, then my hair would be just like theirs.


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It seems that naturally curly folks have a love/hate relationship with glycerin. There is a lot of information, and misinformation, about this seemingly simple substance. I thought I’d shed some light on the chemical makeup of glycerin and how it affects curly hair specifically.

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Every once in a while, my hair gets into a truly rebellious stage – it’ll be healthy and in good condition, but just won’t do what it’s supposed to do. Frizzing when it doesn’t usually frizz, losing curl definition, looking dry even when it feels soft – it seems like all it wants to do is misbehave, and I often feel like there’s little I can do to fight it. I’m smack dab in the middle of one of those phases right now, but instead of wallowing in headwrapped and knitted hat comforts, I’ve decided to remind myself that there ARE ways to get my hair back on track – and I’m going to share these things with y’all too!

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Simplicity is becoming somewhat of a buzzword in the personal development world. It’s important to many people to pare their hectic lives down to the key pieces that matter most. As it relates to hair care, the value of simplicity in your regimen is immense. Having a simple hair care routine does the following:

• Avoids Overwhelm
• Avoids Burnout
• Allows You to See What Works (or doesn’t)
• Creates Space in Your Life
• Avoids Overwhelm & Procrastination

Ummm YES!! No ifs, ands or butts about it. We, for some reason, are conditioned to think that only the spiral, loose, bouncy, soft, no frizz having curls are perfect, and if our hair isn’t like that then it’s bad. Do me a favor and look in the mirror. Now, repeat after me; “My hair is beautiful because it’s MY hair.” One more time; “My hair is beautiful because it’s MY hair.” That just made my heart smile. Thank you.

No shade to my natural gals who are blessed with the spiral, loose, bouncy, soft, no frizz having curls, but as a natural with tighter, frizzier curls AND coils, I can definitely relate to being overly concerned about having the “perfect” curl. In the beginning of my journey, I was very excited about being natural and learning about all of the different products and styles. That excitement wore off after some time once I was diagnosed with the “why won’t my hair do that?” syndrome. Yep, it’s a debilitating disease affecting naturals everywhere. But I’ve since found the cure. It’s called, Self Love and Acceptance. Just a little each day will clear that right on up! Get you some.

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Get it?! Like, “Save the drama fo’ yo’ mamma?” Anybody? Anybody? No? Alright, moving along. LOL! So, I had to do this quick post to share a video that I found via DiscoveringNatural.com. You see, I’ve often been asked or seen the question, “I get flakes when I apply [insert product names, usually leave-in, gel and/or styler]. How do I avoid that?” Well, I always mix the moisturizing styler and gel together in my palm first (creamy product first, then gel) to make certain that they will blend together easily and smoothly. If they don’t and the mix looks like this …


Yeahhhhhhh, that’s gonna be a problem. Big chunks or “snowflakes” are prettttty good signs that the combo is no bueno and will leave me looking like I’m in serious need of some Head & Shoulders. #Ineverknewyouhaddandruff

So, without further ado, here is the video that demonstrates exactly what I mean!!

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When I decided to stop relaxing my hair, I had many ideas about what it would be like to be natural. Now that I'm about five years into my natural hair journey (that includes transitioning), many of these ideas have been proven quite wrong. I absolutely love the fullness and versatility of my natural hair. I expected that and haven't been disappointed. However, there have been many challenges that I didn't expect!

1. Just because my hair is not chemically treated does not mean that it will automatically be healthier and grow longer. My hair is naturally thin and dry, so I have to be gentle with it, keep it moisturized and protect it from drying factors like wind, cotton sheets and wool sweaters/coats. When I first decided to go natural, I had this idea that with no chemicals and little heat, my hair would be so strong and resilient that I'd be able to wear it out all the time without any consequences. This is NOT the case. I get single strand knots very easily, which I did not get when I was relaxed, so this is something I didn't anticipate. This leads me to my next discovery.

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So this is going to be a bit controversial. No, a lot controversial. I don’t really want to go to where I’m taking this to be honest. However, in the upcoming weeks I’m going to be discussing a topic that can be compared to nails on a chalkboard in terms of the effect it has on some women. So I want to pave the way for it by examining where some of this outrage – from a practice that is really meant to be rather benign – is coming from.

And that topic is hair typing.

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Question: 
I’m having a hair crisis. I have 4c hair and I don’t know what to do with it. When I try to do a twist-out, the style only lasts for a day. Any time I try to manipulate my hair, it is so dry that hair is just falling off. I’ve tried deep conditioning and hot oil treatments, but I’m a sophomore in college and I simply can’t afford these fancy hair products. What is an inexpensive way to take care of my 4c hair?- Keleigh

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Question: 
I have been natural for 6 years and my length is only at about 6 inches! My hair is also thin and lacks thickness. I have been doing everything wrong and I am now just about to follow recommendations for natural 4c hair types. A couple of questions:

- Should I chop my hair off and restart my hair journey?
- What is your hair regimen?
- My scalp flakes so quickly when in protective styles. Is there anything I can do to help with this? I have tried braid sprays, & light oils and this doesn’t seem to help.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please reply.
- Beth

Answer:
Hey Beth!
Believe it or not, your hair is growing! Your challenge is that for some reason, you are not retaining your length. This could be due to one or more of the following:

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Alwina Oyewoleturner via Around The Way Curls writes:

Havana twists and similar protective styles are a great summertime look!  I was recently asked to share what I do while my hair is in twists or braids (extensions) for an extended period of time. Currently, my hair is in Havana twists. In the last couple of years, especially since I transitioned in 2009, I keep a very simple regimen to maintain my hair in braids and the scalp clean.

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via TheBeautyBrains

Here’s more good news for lovers of natural hair care products.

Coconut oil penetrates hair

I'm sure you already know about how coconut oil is one of the few natural oils that has been proven to penetrate deep inside the hair where it can strengthen from within. The problem has been there has been no way to quantify how much oil actually gets inside the hair. A 2012 research paper documents a new method involving radioactively labeled coconut oil that can now measure how much oil actually gets inside hair.

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