Our resident natural hair care professional Simeko Watkins-Hartley answers… Do you have any advice on shedding? Remember the adage, “out with the old in with the new”?! Well, that pretty much sums up the process of shedding. Old hairs fall out so new hairs can come through. In technical terms, this process is the telogen stage in the hair growth cycle and lasts about 1 to 4 months. When should you be concerned about shedding and what can you do about it? Generally, hair sheds about 50 to 100 strands per day and anything in excess of this may potentially be a cause for concern. Excessive shedding can be the result of a number of things such as stress, hormonal imbalance, crash dieting, deficiency of vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and protein, certain medications, anemia, thyroid disorders and the list can go on and on. In essence, when the body goes through…
Hey ladies! This is something I see all too often- women who are scared to get a much needed trim because they don’t want to lose length. STOP it! Holding on to nasty ends in an effort to keep length does not help you but actually does the complete opposite. When you don’t nip ’em in the bud early, split ends will only continue to split further up the hair shaft. Yup! If you delay in getting a proper trim when there is noticeable damage, you run the risk of even MORE damage. This means that when you do finally get that trim, you’ll then need to cut off more hair than you would have if you had done it sooner. Now, how often one trims will differ from person to person. One who manipulates their hair often will need to trim more frequently than one who wears more protective styles…
So, you’re thinking of or decided to go natural. Now what? The hardest part of going natural is changing your mindset. Once you've got that straight, there are three important steps to a smooth transition: Moisture, Strengthening & Protection.
I saw this on Instagram the other day and couldn’t resist sharing here… Ha!! It sure is funny but the reality is, it’s a real struggle for a number of women at various stages of their transition back to natural not to return to the creamy crack. Some gals get so frustrated with their hair that they feel like returning to chemical straightening is the best solution. Do all of them beat this temptation successfully? Sadly, nope. 🙁 I dunno, am I in some crazy minority who have never faced the temptation to relax their hair again… ever? Are most women plagued with this burning (pun intended) desire or are the two groups pretty even? The thing is, when I hear stories of someone who “couldn’t take it anymore” and gave in to the temptation, I simply cannot relate. Well, what say you? Have you ever gotten so annoyed with…
The point of a protective style is to maintain the health of your hair. How healthy do you think it’ll be with constant stress put on your edges or other parts of your hair if that style is done too tight? You’ve seen it: your girlfriend comes skipping out of the braid shop with a fresh set of box braids or cornrows that look AMAZING! You go to take a closer look and she winces “no, no… don’t touch!” Upon further investigation, you can tell that your buddy has just gone through a face lift via super tightly braided baby hair. *sigh* Hold on, maybe this “friend” was actually YOU! *gasp* “Neat” ≠ tight ladies and gentlemen! But wait, I’m not just talkin’ braids! I mean weaves too… sew-ins to be exact. Think about it: your stylist wants to make sure your Remy lays nice and flat so she may give you a…
