TerraD writes:
There are so many online resources for naturals. We can Google natural African American hair and get 9.2 million hits (trust me, I just tried). Many naturals stick to a few Youtube gurus and maybe a website or two. But, there are many unconventional sources of natural hair advice, tips, etc. For instance, we can learn about henna from our local Indian market, or learn about trimming from your Caucasian friend’s hair stylist. We can learn a lot about our hair from people that aren’t African American, or even sites that do not pertain to hair at all!
What unconventional mode of hair info do you use?
Spill the beans in the comment section below…
I know a lot of people talk about Ayurvedic remedies for hair, but I've been looking at Ayurvedic food as well…Feeding myself both inside and out!
My boyfriend loves giving me natural hair advice. He says when he was younger he used to do his four younger sisters hair. He said he even would flat iron and style. I need pictures as proof! Any ways…he gives me advice on styling, maintaining moisture and evend detangling. Crazy! One time I took him up on his offer and let him wash my hair. Wow. It was a beautiful moment and a lesson in learning to let go!
My sister-in-law and my husband, both with thick, healthy type 1 hair. They both sold me hard on the idea of oiling my dry hair. Before that, I swore oil was not my friend and merely served to aggravate my acute scalp issues. I grudgingly tried the sesame oil and burdock root oil they recommended out of sheer desperation and since then have learnt a lot of other invaluable tips from them. I am primarily interested in herbal hair care (and in ayurvedic hair care in particular) and as a result generally spend a lot of time on the hair boards catering to Indian women and on other hair boards where the posters are predominantly caucasians and asians. A lot of what they do with their own hair works for me so I am rather open minded where advice pertaining to hair care is concerned.
I wish I would have taken the advice from my friends with curly hair, who are not the same nationality as me, earlier. Almost everything I am doing now, they have been doing for years. Wish I had been more open in the past and now I'm completely open to suggestions. I am also starting to truly accept the fact that everyone is different and you really got to figure out what works for your own hair. In addition, I appreciate all the support and advice (positive and negative) I have gotten along the way. Live, Love, Peace. ~Sweetsop
My father. Lol.
My best friend is Columbian, she has mostly straight hair, save a few waves. In her family there are people with many different types of hair, her sisters have very curly hair, her mother has wavy hair, and some of her aunts have bone straight hair. Little did I know that her methods of caring for and straightening her hair would work on my own! She straightens her hair with a brush (preferably boars) placed before the flat iron so that the brush runs through the hair before the flat iron does. This is to stretch out your curls so the flat iron doesn't "fold" your hair into itself. This method gives me straight, flowy hair every time!
I follow blogs from adoptive mothers and blogs on kids hair. Gives me a lot of ideas for myself and my daughter.
I definitely henna my hair monthly. I love the color and that by coating the hair follicle it give my hair more protection and strength. I use Karishma henna as it has other conditioning herbs so it is a wonderful deep conditioning/coloring treatment.
webmd has hair articles sometimes
There are natural hair blogs where other races adapt African American kids and believe it or not…Those non- african american parents are on top of their game when it comes to care and natural products…Very informative information!
My uncle married an Asian lady and for as long as I can remember my aunt has been teaching us the importance of reading product ingredients and what we need in our diet to retain hair growth and healthy hair….She was the first person to teach me how to detangle and to properly cut my ends….I didn't have clue what she was planting in me back then and how important it would be at a later time in my natural life… I so luv my Auntie:-)
Believe it or not, I look at medlineplus.gov which links to many dermatology articles.
They have articles about hair…which is simply protein and advice and how to care for ot.
On occasion I go to a book I have by Valeria Ann Worwood “The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy…” to see what oil is good for what.
*psst..”unconventional” is spelled wrong in the title.