Washing your hair daily
Daily washes lead to a healthier scalp and healthier hair right? Well maybe that’s true for some people but not all. When we as black women wash our hair, we also take on the monumental, sometimes frustrating challenge of styling it.
Now if your hair is naturally kinky* or curly then you will know all too intimately that wash day means as much as 5 hours out of your day from start to finish. Putting aside the immense time constraints of doing that every day, it would also mean that we would be manipulating our kinky* curly hair daily too and as you know the more manipulation the more chance for breakage. With that increased breakage we see increased incidents of split ends and single strand knots. Hardly the sign of healthy hair by anyone’s standards.
The simple fact is that many black women with super long hair average a wash every 2-4 weeks. It’s about finding the perfect balance of less manipulation with optimal care and making it work within your lifestyle.
Regular trims=Healthier hair
This is a myth that just won’t die down! Regular trims are definitely important in the grand scheme of things but it’s the regularity itself that I’m challenging. Wear and tear is a natural fact of any physical object including our hair BUT when you reduce the manipulation that you put on your hair drastically, you also reduce wear and tear which means less need for trims.
Think about it like this, if you buy yourself some pretty hair extensions* but due to lack of time or circumstances you do not wear them straight away. So they sit in their plastic wrap in your drawer for a few months before you finally head over to the stylist for your new hairdo. The last thing on your mind will be to trim those extensions* simply because a few months have gone by and a trim is due!
The same should apply to your own hair, a trimming schedule is not a one-size-fits-all situation, it should simply be a suggestion based on how often you handle your hair and your hair goals. All things being equal, in the instance that your hair is being manipulated less than average then a less than average trimming schedule would also apply.
Protein absorption rates
Science shows that the best absorption rate of protein in hair products are those with the lowest molecular size so egg protein is unlikely to help your hair unless processed to be smaller (as in hair products containing egg protein) rather than cracking a whole egg into a conditioner and slapping that your hair. But here’s the thing, women have been using plain ole eggs for eons with great results.
Where egg protein may fail to penetrate the innermost layers of your hair to correct damage, it does very well at correcting damage on the surface of your hair which could be more than enough to keep your hair healthy and happy.
You will find that it will be through the process of trial and error that you discover exactly which sources of protein will best suit your hair type.
Chereta Colonel-Gilbert says
I have a very bad case of what to do with my hair I am very depressed and feel lost I can send pictures of whats left of my hair many pictures I see of hair journey the individual hair is already full and good length nothing compared to what I am going through
tmw says
I’m so sorry Chereta, without knowing what is specifically wrong it will be hard for me and others to give you advice. I can only say hang in there it will probably get better. I didn’t big chop until I had transitioned for 2 years so I don’t know a lot about short natural hair but there are many, many you tube videos out there, have you tried searching on you tube under short natural hairstyles? It does get better, I think back to 2012 when I first started my journey and how hard it was… I felt lost on many days but you tube became my saving grace. Good luck to you.
Dawn says
Just google specifically what you want to know/improve on and you will find there is always help at hand. If you see it as a journey that will bring ups and downs, but still an exciting one, you will get there. It is a learning process. Have faith.x
Christina J Pollard says
#dropsthemic I felt this one Alma! Lots of things were put into perspective, especially deep conditioning. Loved the article
Kernisha says
Unfortunately I will be sticking to my coconut oil. I react negatively to mineral oil. Eggs with mayo an whatever oil I have at the time work wonders. I don’t trim often. I just did a big chop (got fed up of transitioning). Weekly washing for me (I may be able to stretch to two weeks)
Great article.
BiscuitBunny says
I can say that the average hair growth rate was a myth for me. It took me 3 years of being natural, all over root-to-tip heat damage, and silica supplements, to find out my hair can go for 3 months without growth.
Needless to say, I now take one silica pill a day since I began transitioning (June 2014). For the first 5 months, it helped me get to an average 0.5 inch per month. I took a 2 month rest from silica and noticed my hair didn’t grow at all. From December to the end of January 2015 I grew one inch per month.