Healthy Hair Tips

Many African American women opt to keep their real hair under weaves not because they don't have any, but because it is easier to manage and your hair grows better when you are not constantly bothering it. However, as soon as the weave is taken out the healthy hair battle begins and the length you accumulated starts to fade away. For the sake of manageability, a lot of women opt to use chemical relaxers in between weaves but as we know  these can be even more damaging than the regular wear and tear of brushing, combing and heat styling your hair.  Using the following tips will help to keep your hair healthy and growing long regardless of your hair type and whether you decide to be natural or get relaxers.

• Pay attention to your diet. Eating foods that lack nutrients for your body can also result in unhealthy hair and stunt growth.
• Explore multivitamins that provide nutrients essential for strengthening hair and expanding the natural growth phase.
• Protein treatments repair the natural structure of the hair and increase strength to prevent breakage, Protein treatments are great for repairing heat damage as well. You can purchase pre-made protein treatments or use egg. If you opt to use egg you should leave it in for 60 minutes. Do not use heat or rinse the egg out with warm water because it will cook!
• Moisture treatments prevent breakage that results from dry hair.
• Water based moisturizers work better than oil based ones. Oils serve to seal the hair and add shine and can work against you by sealing the hair and preventing moisture from getting to it. Thus it is better to use oils after using a water based moisturizer or conditioner in order to seal the moisture in.
• Many of the ingredients that are good for a Homemade Face Mask (honey, avocado,egg) are also good for conditioning hair masks. The same benefits they provide for the face (moisture, vitamins and protein) they give your hair as well.
•  Alternate weekly between protein and moisture treatments.
• Use protective styles that do not expose the ends of hair, require constant maintenance or require heat tools for styling.
• Use heat tools as little as possible. We all know that this is a large factor in causing hair damage but it can be difficult to avoid. Try shortcuts such as air drying your hair or using an overhead dryer instead of a blow dryer. When you do use heat tools, it is essential to use heat protectants to reduce damage.
• Shampoos are so good at stripping the hair of dirt and excess buildup that they often strip the hair of natural oils that are required to keep it healthy. Use pre-shampoo treatments (e.g. hot oil) to minimize damage that is done to the hair during the shampoo process.
• Utilize co washing instead of washing your hair with shampoo all of the time. (Read about co-washing Here)
• Trim your ends. It can be hard to follow through with this because you may feel like you are losing length. Just remember that you are cutting split, unhealthy ends that will stunt growth. If you follow through with the other tips you will see the benefits of trimming your hair regularly.