HAIR SERIES Q&A PRODUCTS TO PREVENT BREAKAGE/OILS FOR VOLUME

HOW TO STOP BREAKAGE AND OILS FOR VOLUME (NATURAL HAIR)

-WHY IS MY HAIR BREAKING?

LACK OF MOISTURE (Dry hair breaks)
MOISTURE OVERLOAD (lack of protein which makes hair weak)
OVER HANDLING
DEFICIENCY OF VITAMIN E , B AND IRON
STYLING TOOLS

1. Lack of moisture- This is a very common reason and one of the major reasons why your hair is breaking. Dry hair is prone to breakage (and when your hair is breaking at the same rate it's growing it's hard to notice change in length hence why you think your hair has stopped growing .) Since our natural hair is spiral/coily/curly it's hard for our hair's natural oil to travel down the hair shaft unlike our sisters with straight hair. Now let's establish this oils and butters do not moisturize your hair so using them alone is not going to add moisture to your hair (oils being coconut oil etc and butters being shea butter)

How to add moisture to your hair?

You need to do a moisturizing deep treatment (not with a rinse out conditioner) once a week or every other week (once a week Highly advised) MOISTURIZING NOT a PROTEIN TREATMENT(mayonnaise, eggs, greek yogurt, bananas, coconut oil, avocados all these are light proteins so avoid them for now till we get the moisture back in your hair)

The first ingredient to always look out for when picking out a moisturizing conditioner/mask or even shampoo is 'Aqua' (water) there's no better moisturizer in this world such as water, that's why everyone raves about it.

*Stop using a sulphate shampoo- if you absolutely must please limit it to once a month just to clarify your scalp (FYI- YOUR SHAMPOO IS FOR JUST YOUR SCALP ONLY NOT THE HAIR SHAFT, THIS DRIES OUT YOUR HAIR)

How to look out for a MOISTURIZING hair mask? Avoid anything that says REPAIRS OR STRENGHTENS (this is most likely a protein treatment) rather look out for moisturizing/nourishing/hydrates etc

I have listed are a few of my favorite deep conditioners for moisture;

JUBENS
AFRICAN EMPREZZ BEAUTY SHOP

URBAN MAKES
MEJSNATURALS
AFRICAN EMPREZZ BEAUTY SHOP
JUBENS

JUBENS
AFRICAN EMPREZZ BEAUTY SHOP

I honestly love anything from shea moisture and would always recommend it to newly naturals who are afraid to experiment with other products. It's also helps that it is reasonably priced.

1. Manuka honey and mafura oil deep treatment masque is my top pick when it comes to shea moisture this mask deeply moisturizes your hair leaving it soft and manageable. It's thick consistency is great for people with really thick hair, my hair is on the thin side but I still love this product and it doesn't weigh my hair down.

2. This was the first deep conditioning treatment I ever tried when I became natural and I'm sure almost every natural girl has tried this before. It does the work, I don't really care for it that much any more because I feel my hair has evolved so much from when I first begun, but this is a great start at combating dryness.

3. The last favorite from shea moisture is the 10-in-1 renewal treatment, again really thick consistency but I feel using this a lot weighed my hair down. So I try to not use it every week.

Moving on to other deep conditioners;

BLACK COTTON SALON (might have it)
CAROLS DAUGHTER

This mask was great on my hair but I wouldn't recommend it for people with thick hair because the consistency isn't thick and it's not a generous amount of product (so you just have a couple uses with this before you run out) It's also on the pricey side.

AUBREY ORGANICS
AMAZON
AFRICAN EMPREZZ BEAUTY SHOP

This conditioner is my holy grail deep/rinse out conditioner. It doesn't have enough slip for detangling though but it deeply moisturizes parched hair. I saw this on the Urban makes website but I think they haven't restocked ever since.

I have never tried this product before but I hear a lot of great things so I think it's worth the try (I think is has proteins though not sure).

WE NATURALS

DIY Deep conditioner

Now after your deep conditioning step you need to lock in that moisture by sealing (either L.O.C or L.C.O- Leave-in; water, your rinse out conditioner or your leave in etc Oil; carrier oils- olive oil, coconut oil, your own oil mixture of carrier oils and essential oils etc and a cream- shea butter, coco butter, thick creams-curl enhancing smoothie, whipped shea butter etc.)

*STEPS TO SEALING IN MOISTURE (L.O.C)- hair shaft

Dry your hair out and part into sections for even distribution (*do not use a towel always use a microfiber towel or t-shirt)
Now water on its own is a moisturiser so you can begin from here or use a leave-in
Follow that step with an oil of your choice
The last step- a cream based moisturizer then do your protective styling.

(Why are all these steps necessary? a leave-in is your water base moisturizer that can easily 'evaporate'- we established that water is a moisturiser and most moisturizers have water as the first ingredient. Now oils and creams are thick enough to prevent anything from breaking through that protective seal/barrier they create that is why that's the follow up step. Some people do this everynight before bed-especially those who style their hair everyday. I do this twice a week when I'm not lazy or once a week when I know my hair is going to be under my wig all week)

*LOC is different from greasing your scalp. I oil my scalp with castor oil almost every night.

*Microfiber towel

TEIVA

2. NO PROTEIN; Your hair is made up of protein. Protein strengthens and repairs the hair shaft, lack of it makes the hair easy to snap and break(unfortunately some people are protein sensitive, so please check before you jump onto the protein treatment train.) Protein treatments are not to be done every week, it's a monthly treatment (once a month) because even though our hair is composed of protein an overload of this can make your hair dry and brittle.

I personally always make my own protein treatments at home to regulate it (I suspect my hair is protein sensitive) But a great store bought treatment can go a long way.

Below I have listed a few store bought protein treatments

URBAN MAKES
NATURALLY CURLY

AFRICAN EMPREZZ BEAUTY SHOP
CAROL'S DAUGHTER

AUBREY ORGANICS

My favorite DIY's from my Favorite natural hair youtuber!

Mayonnaise deep conditioner

For hair growth & Strength;

BUY FENUGREEK HERE; MEJSNATURAL

Greek yogurt deep conditioner;

For Protein Sensitive hair;

3. OVER HANDLING- I'm sure you have heard this several times 'keep your hands out of your hair' or 'leave your hair and it will grow' as cliche as this sound I cannot stress enough the importance of leaving that ~~damn~~ hair alone "Chile". Constant brushing , styling or even touching of your hair can lead to a lot of breakage especially when your hair is dry.

Over the years I have learnt to limit handling my hair to once every 1-2 weeks. Only time I ever touch my hair is when I take it out of my protective style to wash/detangle and then back to protective styling again. This way I can monitor how my hair grows, breakage and shedding etc. The less stress you put on your hair the better.

4. VITAMIN E & B DEFICIENCY;

Vitamin E- helps to stimulate growth because it has antioxidant properties that can help repair hair follicles and prevent tissue corrosion. (I don't take the capsules, I simply mix vitamin E oil in every oil mixture of mine).

Where can I buy Vitamin E?

*Most Pharmacy's should also carry the capsules- you can break them and use the oil directly.

Vitamin B- I'm sure by now you've heard about biotin and hair growth.

Biotin repairs/rebuilds hair shingles that have been damaged.
I have had my share of biotin and hair pills. I took biotin for 2 years consistently and hair infinity for almost 2 years. Most hair pills/B-Complex have Biotin

Do I think Biotin grows your hair? NO!

What I think it does is, make your hair stronger and less prone to breakage. Now if your hair is not breaking at the same rate it's growing you get to appreciate your hair growth, which is why most people associate biotin to hair growth because their hair is most likely not breaking as much as it was before (hope I'm making sense here)

*Biotin is a water soluble vitamin, meaning it needs water to break it down.

Most people complain they break out when taking biotin that is because you need to increase your water intake(even if you drink a lot of water) , for it to be dissolved if not you will most likely experience the side effects (one of them being the breakouts) everyone associates Biotin to

Where Can I buy Biotin from?

Relish
24hr Pharmacy in osu
Angels Beauty supply shop (Hairfinity)
Jubens (hairfinity)
Mejsnaturals

5. STYLING TOOLS ;

Constant use of your styling tools ie: blow dryers, flat irons and curling wands dry out your hair and we have already established that dry hair breaks. Limit the use on them from daily to weekly or even monthly (if you can), I use direct heat on my hair once a year and that's only because I straighten my hair to trim my ends aside that all throughout the year I avoid any styling tools on my natural hair.

*If you need to stretch out your hair use an african thread or protective styling.

ALWAYS REMEMBER SHRINKAGE IS YOUR FRIEND IT'S AN INDICATION OF HEALTHY

HAIR!!!!

HOW TO STOP BREAKAGE-

You can stop excessive breakage and shedding by performing a black tea rinse, but this must be done once and in conjunction with everything stated above.