How to soften Afro hair without relaxers

I never used to believe that natural African hair can become soft, and grew up with the believe that my natural hair/Afro was hard work and would require way too much attention and time that I would rather save.  Trust me, many African women and girls choose relaxers as an easy and less demanding method of maintaining hair. A notion I have since learnt is based on lack of education on healthy hair habits and lack of building a hair regime.

Since my natural hair journey begun, I have had people making comments such as "you are lucky your hair is soft", "you aren't pure black African because your hair curls are soft and not hard like mine", "are you sure you aren't mixed race", "my natural hair is much kinkier and harder than yours and that's why I'd rather relax it" etc.....  The truth is, I am 100% black African and have coarse hair too, BUT building a good hair regime that includes lots of moisturising has softened my hair. Deep conditioning regularly with hydrating treatments changed the 'tough', 'rough'  and unmanageable hair I had. Do not under-estimate the power of moisturising. For info on building a hair regime visit my post from January 2015 that is called "basics of hair care".

Here is a photo of my hair before I started a healthy hair regime:

Before my healthy hair journey I also had unmanageable hair that wasn't soft at all, as you can see below: this photo was taken early 2014 around March. If you zoom into the front, you'll see the knots on my edges that were formed from braiding my hair and keeping the braids for 2-3 months! Obviously with no care for my hair and no regime, I used to have braids all year round, and kept them in intervals of 2-3 months!

Why does your scalp itch: Part 2

It is very common in the world I live in to see women tapping their heads hard using their fingers and palms. Most of the women tend to have some sort of artificial hair and I believe the itch is due to lack of washing and moisturizing the hair&scalp. This is not to say artificial hair causes itchiness but I know that most women DO NOT wash their hair while in braids, weaves, cornrows and other plaits, and that is the main reason for their relentless head tap - an attempt to alleviate the constant itch.

REASONS FOR ITCHY SCALP AND SOLUTIONS

• Synthetic/artificial hair: chemicals used to make the braids, hair extensions, weaves etc could cause allergic reactions and therefore unbearable itches. To solve this problem try to avoid very cheap quality synthetic hair and listen to your body - if your scalp wasn't itchy before the hair extensions it is likely that they are the cause
• Temporary scalp exposure: sometimes when you braid your hair and the scalp isn't used to be as exposed as it would be in that state it reacts by becoming itchy. In this case the scalp is merely telling you it is adjusting to 'new' conditions although this might only be a temporary hair do. So with time it should go away. Remember to moisturise the scalp as it might also get too dry when exposed to air and therefore cause itchiness
• Dry scalp: some people naturally have dry scalps and others get dry scalp due to:

                  *harsh weather conditions (very hot or very cold)
                  *not washing hair (dirt build-up and therefore clogged pores)
                  *over doing hair washes - yes it is possible to 'over wash hair'. Your scalp naturally        produces sebum in order to moisturise your scalp. If you over wash it, you strip the hair and scalp these good oils and cause dryness that leads to itching and even dandruff or flaky hair
                  *using shampoos with sulfates: sulfates strip hair of good natural oils as well as oils you may have applied, therefore causing dry itchy scalp.mto solve this problem use light density oils that mimic the natural sebum produced by the glands under the skin/scalp. Oils such as Jojoba, Coconut and Grapeseed are great for moisturising the scalp and preventing itchiness. Apply directly to scalp and massage gently, also apply a reasonable amount to the hair to moisturise, especially if you have curly/coily hair such as Afro. Also incorporate a consistent hair regimen, I find that when I miss my washday and the deep conditioning treatments I normally perform, my scalp is the first to complain through itchiness!

• Medical reasons: you may have fungus/bacteria/other medically related reasons. So seek the help of a professional doctor! It could be lice, eczema, chronic dandruff amongst many other illnesses. Could be something you can't treat at home, don't be shy, consult with a doctor! 

                 

Why do you have itchy hair/scalp? Personal Experience

I have noticed that I often have weeks when my scalp hardly itches and weeks when the itch is quite frequent and as such decided to find out why. My research was based on personal experience as well as some internet searches.

Personal experience
Since December 2014 I have been observing and listening to my scalp more carefully than before. The aim was to listen to my body, feel my hair's texture and just make notes of what I was experiencing. The following were my observations and lessons learnt:

• When I had a weave (for 2 weeks only) my scalp was dry and more itchy than normal. By the beginning of the second week of the weave, my itches became more frequent and the scalp began to be flaky. The lesson learnt from the 2 week period was that even if you have a weave, you should still care for the scalp and hair underneath. I missed my weekly wash and conditioning, therefore my scalp became dry and itchy. 

• Whenever I wash my hair and simply moisturise the hair strands and leave out the scalp, by the 4th day after the wash my scalp starts itching (not too badly though). The lesson I have learnt is that scalp also needs care and shouldn't be left too dry. So I now use good oils on my scalp (e.g. Monoi, coconut, avocado or vitafro (careful not to clog pores, using just enough quantity). 

• Leaving out the water spritz out of my routine makes me find my hair quite itchy. I live in a Johannesburg, it is a very hot and dry city and as such I try to spritz my hair with a mixture of water & a small amount of conditioner/Monoi oil. Whenever I get lazy and do not spray my hair with this mixture, I get very itchy hair, it also gets really dry and brittle.Lesson learnt is - consider the environment you live in and it's effects on your then perform appropriate damage control; and be consistent.

My next post will discuss itchy scalp based on Internet/scientific research. 

Happy healthy hair!!!! Team Natural Hair! Team Afro! Love your hair!

Best shampoo for Afro hair

The best shampoo for natural hair (Afro) is one that has no sulfates. The container will have writing saying "sulfate free" as per example in the picture below.

Why sulfate free shampoo?

Sulfates are a type of "cleaning agent", the technical term in the shampoo industry or chemistry industry would be "surfactant". While there are various cleaning agents that manufacturers could use in shampoos, sulfates are the cheaper form and obviously to maximise your profits as a manufacturer you would look at minimizing your costs. Hence most shampoos have sulfates in them. 

What's the problem with sulfates?

Shampoos with sulfates tend to 'over clean' natural hair and strip it of good oils that would rather be retained. As you may know your hair gets natural nourishment from oils secreted in the sebum, they travel through your hair strand (hair follicle) to give your hair a natural glow. Due to weather conditions, food we eat, lifestyle etc, these natural oils on their own aren't sufficient for moisturizing your hair. That's why it is advisable to make extra effort to moisturise your hair. 

If you use a shampoo with sulfates and don't compensate by moisturizing adequately, your hair will dry out easily and become brittle. Brittle hair breaks easily, and as such you will struggle to see growth as you won't be able to retain length! 

Happy healthy hair! Team Natural Hair! Team African Afro! 

Stretching hair with wool - no heat!

This year one of my focuses on healthy hair will be to minimise the amount of blow drying I tend to do. On average I blow dry my hair once a week (on every wash day). Last year I used to blow dry my hair the same way that ladies with relaxed hair would, but later on I discovered the tension method, which I highly recommend as it is much more gentle to my African coils of hair. Nonetheless I still want less heat on my hair, mind you when I do use the blow dryer I usually apply a heat protector so the new method of stretching that I'll explain now is just merely out of being super cautious and trying to grow healthy hair.

After washing my hair and deep conditioning, I moisturised and sealed my hair, then started plaiting it into individual braids using wool. The plaits are called 'maphondo' in my language. Here are photos of the plaits and the hair after:

The plaits

 The hair afterwards

Method:

1. Section the hair then wind the wool around each small section

2. Tie a knot at the end of the plait so that it doesn't in-do itself

3. Leave the plaits overnight or until the hair is dry

4. Remove the wool and style as desired!

Hydrating Afro with Coconut Oil

For the past two weeks, I didn't comb my hair at all. In the mornings I sprayed it with a mixture of water and castor oil, then applied Shea butter leave in conditioner. I had never done this before and am not sure why I let laziness get the better of me.  In this period I thought giving the hair moisture would protect it but I ignored/forgot that the hair would tangle even more and now realise (in retrospect) that I was somewhat delusional to think I wasn't damaging my hair. Guess what I discovered today on my wash day? A lot of breakage and knots, grrrrr!

Anyway, no use crying over spilt milk. So I performed a deep hydrating treatment using coconut oil. Here is the Coconut story and a picture:

Why coconut oil?

• Coconut oil is able to penetrate the hair shaft and fully hydrate your hair because of its light density. Oils that are heavy simply give your hair a shiny glowing look when in reality the hair is dry inside. Other light oils are Avocado oil and Olive oil. 
• Coconut oil doesn't easily evaporate from your hair and therefore helps your hair stay hydrated/moisturised for longer
• The oil is good for conditioning your hair, softening it, preventing dandruff and keeping the hair strong and less brittle.

Method I followed

• Washed my hair and dried it with a T-shirt
• Smeared/smothered the oil on my hair
• The oil looks solid, don't panic, when you place it on your hands it melts from the natural heat of your body temperature
• Applied a plastic cap, then wrapped my hair in my heat wrap (heat accelerates the rate at which the oil penetrates the hair shafts). Think of it this way, if you put sugar in cold water it will dissolve after some lengthy time but if you put it in hot water it melts in few seconds! 
• I stayed with the heat for 30 mins, washed off the oil (must be a thorough wash), then conditioned and sealed in moisture with other products because my hair is super dry. I'll blog about a detailed wash day explaining the process of conditioning and sealing in moisture in more detail. 
• Applied heat protection then blow dried my hair using the tension method. Will explain the tension method of blow drying in a separate post.

Happy healthy hair! Team Natural Hair! Team African Afro!

Length check end Dec 2014

On this day, I had a normal hair wash day, followed by a hydrating and protein treatment, then a length check as per attached picture.