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…
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…
This question comes to us from @phemonawoman on Instagram. Our resident natural hair care professional Simeko Watkins-Hartley answers… When you wash and condition, should you blow dry and style or let it air dry then style? Answer: It all depends on the style/look you are trying to achieve, as well as the condition of your hair. As we all may know by now, natural hair tends to be dry so the less heat we use on our hair the better. However, blow-drying the hair on a low/medium temperature, once in a while, to accomplish a style/look should not cause any major damage to the hair if it is relatively healthy. When the hair is blown out it appears to be longer and less frizzy. So when styling the hair in a set style (rod, roller, bantu knots, twist/braid out, etc.), blowing it out prior, will aid in achieving a more smoother, elongated…
Have you incorporated scalp massages in your hair care regimen? I’ll admit, I always start out strong and then fall off at some point but I’m making a concerted effort to be regular for best results. Why Scalp Massages Work It’s rather simple: massaging the scalp with the pads of your fingers improves blood flow and circulation to the scalp. This increased blood flow helps carry essential nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles which (TADA!!) stimulates growth. Pretty cool, I think. Scalp massages also have emotional and overall health benefits, helping you to relaxing and de-stress… much like a good ole back rub or spa massage. How To Do It Use your carrier oil of choice (Coconut Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, etc.). Apply to your fingers or directly on the scalp- you don’t need a whole lot. Using just the pads or tips of your fingers, massage your…
