Growing out natural hair
~by Jenteel, BGLH Resident Hair Expert
we are too rough with our hair!
1) use the right equipment: by now most of us realize to avoid breakage, it is suggested to use wide tooth combs to detangle highly textured hair only when wet or damp. but are your combs seamless? nicole recently submitted an experiment summary on combing to BGLH. in response to this study vkb247 pointed out that all combs are not bad. i agree with her suggestion of seamless and “bone” combs (they are typically made of resin nowadays). wood combs spread the scalp’s natural oil, sebum throughout the hair during combing. “tortoise” combs look like plastic but they are made of cellulose acetate, created from wood pulp. this material is renewable, biodegradable and glides thru hair.
take a look at your comb. see that line going down each tooth? did you know that the seams on regular combs snag on the hair cuticle every time you pull it thru? over time that leads to damage. i stopped using regular combs years ago thanks to a post on longhaircareforum. go to sally’s beauty supply, tenderheaded accessories or honeyfig to check out their selection of seamless combs. are you still using “5-pack for a dollar” plastic combs? shame on you! lol! plastic combs can cause split ends, hair loss and create fragile, broken hair. seamless combs range in price from $3-$15. i use this comb to detangle. if i am doing box braids or twists i follow up with this one ($3 at sally’s) to smooth as i go along. shop around if you like. trust me, it’s worth the investment.
optionally, consider purchasing a brush designed for detangling such as the infamous denman brush or the goody knockoff sold at your local beauty supply store (bss) to clear out old hair that can cause tangles. using these brushes helps smooth out “fuzz” resulting in improved coil/curl definition. if you like your fuzz just use the brush less. if money is no object check out the mason pearson combs and brushes (tressence provides “discounts”). whatever you do, please, please please take your time with detangling. i can’t tell you how many horror stories i’ve heard as a result of impatience with natural hair.
How to Detangle Knotted Hair
(courtesy of this site)It’s a good idea to detangle your hair before washing it. Once hair is wet, the cuticles can lift, causing hair to snarl even further.
1. First, identify the tangle and separate it from the rest of your hair with your fingers.
2. Start at the bottom of the tangle and use the detangling comb to gently start picking through the snarl.
3. Work your way up the tangle until you’re able to comb through it without tugging. This may take a lot of patience and you may need to turn the detangling comb sideways and use a single tooth on the end of the comb to work through a very tight snarl.
4. To prevent tangles in the future, be sure to comb out your wet hair after shampooing, conditioning and applying a leave-in conditioner. (Never, ever brush wet hair – hair is very fragile when it’s wet and a brush could stretch the fiber, causing it to snap).
using these tools and techniques will make detangling a breeze (or at the very least less painful).
2) death to dry combing! don’t even attempt to rake thru dry hair! (oh the humanity!) like lina40 says, “i treat my hair like they all were going to a spa.” recently, we had a lengthy discussion regarding the post “why isn’t anyone researching our hair?” jc submitted a study to BGLH which verified what i had thought for many years: we are too rough with our hair. we can’t just rip combs thru dry matted hair and expect our hair not to cry back in response. because our hair is tightly coiled, we create resistance anytime we pull a comb thru. so guess what? the more tightly coiled your hair is, the more gentle you need to be.
3) stop combing/brushing your hair so much. again, i learned this from the hair boards. excessive grooming can cause split ends. i always wondered why i had so many splits in my crown area. it was due to obsessively slicking back those ponytails with my hard boar bristle brush (oooo it felt good though). now i gently brush my edges down with a cuticle-friendly brush using aloe vera gel. i’ve learned that i can redo my box braids during the week by detangling with my fingers or lightly misting with my floral water spritz then detangling with my seamless comb.
4) dangerous styles: avoid tight ponytails and braids. don’t tie on that satin scarf so tight at night. over time you may start to notice breakage at the edges or in your “kitchen”. to avoid losing them, be sure to separate locs if they are getting too heavy. improperly done weaves and hair pieces attached with glue or left in too long may lead to damage in the most harmful area – the root. “dangerous styles” very often result in traction alopecia which i will discuss in an upcoming post.
5) stop using heat! oh, you thought that now you were natural, you get a “get out of jail free” card? no such luck! hot combing/pressing your hair every week? blowdrying all the time? so what she does it and her hair is long. she is not you. now this doesn’t mean that you can never use heat to try a new style. it just means, take precaution. don’t abuse heat. try airdrying or banding instead of blowdrying and watch the temperature on that flatiron. only use as much heat that’s needed to get the hair straight. don’t use grease with a hotcomb unless you want fried hair. use a heat protectant with silicones or a high heat conducting oil to protect your hair. trust, there’s nothing worse than washing your hair after that hard press to find that your coils are gone!
6) stop using hair dyes! dyeing your hair blonde every 6-8 weeks? most permanent hair color dyes contain, ammonia, peroxide and PPDs. p-phenylenediamine (ppd) also known as phenylenediame, phenylenediame dihydrochloride or benzenediamine dihydrochloride is a petrochemical responsible for most hair color allergies. to lighten hair, the hair cuticle must be lifted to deposit the color. over time this may lead to dry hair which can result in split ends and breakage. and getting highlights is no better. higlighlights = bleach. now if you plan on keeping your hair short you can have a lot of fun with color then chop it all off again. i know what you’re thinking…but jenteel, you color your hair. you remember when your mother used to say to you “do as i say not as i do….”. well this is one of those times. my hair is very strong. i even colored my hair when it was relaxed. i only touch up my roots every 5-6 months to avoid double processing (i could care less about “new growth” – i love the color contrast). i deep condition my hair with every wash and use henna and protein treatments as needed. i’ve tried almost every brand available and stuck with one of the most natural hair color brands out there – aveda. there are some natural box colors with plant-based ingredients that yield great results, but i’ll spend the $55 every 6 months and get a professional to do it. i’m good!
on my fotki, the most common questions asked of me concern my hair color. to you newbies, i would suggest that you take some time to learn about your hair. enjoy it as is. find out what works and what doesn’t. then once you have a healthy routine in place, only then should you consider hair coloring. and if you decide to do it, please know that color treated hair requires a lot of babying so be prepared to do it. all i’m saying is be careful with color.
if your hair is fine, fragile or has broken off in the past, you should be especially wary about experimentation.
7) read labels / avoid harmful ingredients / try natural productsare you still using the same products you used when you were relaxed? nah b(in my ny accent)! they are designed to work best with relaxed hair. some even contain the same ingredients used in relaxers. did you really give up all the ingredients on the natural girl’s black list? at least some of them? please tell me you’ve at least given up mineral oil and petroleum! they are petrochemical derivatives. they come from crude oil. they are used because they are cheap. they even have “code names” like “vaseline”, “baby oil” and liquid paraffin. educate yourself on what you’re putting in your hair. what dangers are lurking in your product junkie closet? you may chuckle at leila’s hair escapades with bananas but guess what? i’ve never heard of a banana with “questionable links” to cancer. there are so many fabulous natural/organic hair care lines out there creating thoughtful hair products to address our concerns. if you’re a mixtress, you can make your own. so many of us have discussed our own homemade concoctions on this blog. give natural ingredients a chance.
till next we meet in the danger zone,
~j~
