Relaxed Healthy Hair

Relaxers are used to chemically straighten hair that is naturally curly. The process involves using extremely powerful chemicals to virgin hair to remove the curl pattern. The chemicals used actually make the hair weak by breaking the bonds that provide strength to African-American hair. The result is hair that is fragile prone to damage and breakage.

The relaxing process also negatively impacts the natural oil levels in black hair thereby leaving the hair in an even weaker state than before the relaxer. Many people wonder why relaxers should even be used if they cause such damage to black hair. One reason is because of the increased versitality in hairstyle options one has with relaxed hair. Some even argue that relaxed hair is easier to manage on a day-to-day basis. The most important thing to understand is that while relaxed hair may seem to be more manageable, it is in an exteremely delicate condition. Knowing how to properly take care of your relaxed hair is key to acheiving length and having shiny hair that maintains elasticity.

Your relaxed hair needs lots of extra attention if you want to maintain its health. Because relaxed hair is robbed of much needed moisture, you must make every effort to both replace lost moisture and to retain what moisture your hair does have.

Many women with relaxed hair use heat styling methods to help preserve the straightness of the hair. Heat added directly to the hair may give the hair the appearance of health, but actually works to further promote damage to the hair.

Caring for relaxed hair means that you should:

1. Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize-I recommend that you wash your hair at least once a week. This is a critical opportunity to replace lost moisture that your hair needs. You should be sure to deep condition with heat for a hooded dryer. This process will help the conditioner to penetrate into the hair shaft. Conditioners are broken up into two categories, conditioning and protien. The relaxing process breaks down the protien makeup of the hair therefore it becomes critical to replace the protien during conditioning. I recommend that you alternate between protein and mosturizing conditioners every other wash. Some women find that too much protein can make the hair stiff and lead to more breakage.

2. Oil-Natural oils are crucial when taking care of relaxed hair. Some women prefer heavier oils such as castor oil and others use lighter oils like jojoba or coconut. I experimented with various oils to find which one worked best with my hair. If an oil was too heavy, I simply used it as a hot oil treatment or as a pre-shampoo treatment. Once I began using natural oils, I gave up using 99% of the commercial hair care products which used the same oils as an ingrediant along with fillers and undesirable products such as silicone.

3. Routine-I recommend that you work to create a standard hair care routine that works well for you. Once you have mastered a routine, stick to it! Your hair will begin to respond positively to your efforts and you will surely benefit from the extra time and effort needed to build a solid hair care ritual. The next section will give you tips on important things that you should add to your hair care routine(s).

Creating a hair care ritual is a fundamental practice when maintaining healthy relaxed hair. Unlike natural hair, relaxed hair needs lost of constant attention if you wish to preserve it's health. I will give you some tips and ideas on the basic steps you may want to include in your daily and weekly routines. Feel free to use what is already working for you and add the steps that are missing from your basic hair care routine.

1. Nightly Routine-Before going to bed you must take the time to prepare your tresses. If you take care of your hair properly before going to bed, you are less likely to wake up with tangled hair in the a.m. Before going to bed make sure that you add your favorite moisturizing hairdress or oil. Concentrate on the ends where hair is the oldest. I like to part my hair and add the oil in sections to make sure that my all of my hair benefits. If you use a moisturizer, be sure to use it before you add oil. Oil does not actually moisturize the hair but acts to put a protective barrier on the hair.
Once you've finished you must be sure to use a scarf or bonnet to protect the hair. You must use the bonnet every single night witout excuses. This will keep your hair in place while you sleep resulting in less need to manipulate the hair while styling in the morning. Another tip I will give you is to find an easy way to do your hair in the evening that will make it easy for you to get ready with little or no fuss. I like to put my hair in several lose buns before I tie my hair. In the morning I take the buns down and have lose curls that I acheived without the use of rollers or heat.

2. Daily Routine-You daily routine should consist of as little manipulation as possible. The less manipulation, the less breakage you will have. My hair thrives when I take a few minutes during the day to rub oil or moisturizer in my hair. The key is to use something light that will not cause much build-up throughout the week. Experiment until you find the perfect one for your hair. I find that my hair likes an avocado/vitamin E blend that I bought from Vitamin Shoppe. I still use oils such as jojoba, castor, and olive oil for specific purposes but I have one main oil that I can use as my hair needs it during the day.

If you are able to wash your hair more than once a week, you will see the benefit from the added moisture. When you wash your hair, I recommend that you incorporate the following steps:

1. Pre-Shampoo Treatment-This is the step before your shampoo. You can start the pre-shampoo treatment as early as the night before the wash or, if you do not have time, you can start the pre-shampoo treatment hours or minutes before the wash. The basic steps of the pre-shampoo treatment are to add an ample amount of oil and/or conditioner to your dry hair. I like to place a plastic cap on my hair and sit under the dryer for 15-25 minutes during a pre-shampoo treatment. The heat intesifies the conditioning process. You will not need to wash out the oil/conditioner prior to shampooing. A pre-shampo treatment helps the hair by adding extra moisture to the hair for the shampoo strips the hair. The hair is then better protected during the washing process.

2.Wash and Set-While washing the hair, it is best to use as little manipulation as possible. This will help to keep the hair from tangling which may lead to breakage during the comb out process. After shampooing you should use either a protein or moisturizing conditioner or both. Experiment to find out which conditioner works best with your hair. Use the ones that don't work out so well in your pre-shampoo treatment. Once the hair has been washed I recommend rollersetting the hair. One reason I recommend the rollerset is because you can straighten your hair after the rollerset without having to use additional heat or you can wear your hair curly without having to use a curling iron. I have not used a curling iron or flat iron in years and my hair has never looked better or healtier. Rollersetting does require the heat of a hodded dryer but the heat is not directly applied to the hair like most styling tools. You can even air dry your hair if you have the time. This method saves your hair from even more exposure to potentially damaging heat.
I used to air dry my hair without the use of a rollerset but I found that his method would sometimes lead to additional breakage throughout the week. Airdrying does work well to flatten new growth but extra care must be taken to style the hair in a way that minimizes breakage. View the video below for mini tuturials on rollersetting and caring for your relaxed hair.

I taught myself how to roller set because I realized that it was one of the best methods for obtaining straight hair without the direct heat of a flat iron or curling iron. Roller setting is not an easy process but it can be learned with plenty of practice and patience. Here are some key things to remember when roller setting your hair.

1. Make sure your hair is very wet. If your hair begins to dry, you will not be able to get the hair to lie smoothly against the roller. This is a key to roller setting.

2. Use small parts. If we create too large of a part, the excess hair will be too much to fit neatly around the roller. Any hair that does not fit neatly around the roller will not dry smoothly.

3. Use less product. I find that the less product I use in my roller set, the lighter and better my hair feels. Try using a diluted solution of water and your favorite leave in if you want a light bouncy roller set. You can use setting lotion if you want your curls to remain defined.

4. Practice, Practice, Practice. This is the real way to get a great roller set. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Always have a plan B for the first few times you complete your roller set in case your hair does not come out as you desired. Perhaps you can wrap the hair afterwards or flat iron the roots.

5. Make changes. After every roller set, I ask myself what I can do better next time. Should the hair be more wet? Should I have used a different size roller? Then I make sure that I incorporate into my next roller set. Every time I do this, I get a better result.

6. Do not roll too tightly. I once was experiencing some breakage after removing my rollers. Then I decided to roll my hair a little looser then I have done previously. I am still careful to keep the hair smooth against the roller. Hair stretches when it is wet then goes back to its natural length as it dries. If you roll to tightly, you hair may snap as it goes back to its normal length.

Looking for more information, check out my blog where I talk about my experiences of trying to acheive the healthies head of hair possible.

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I can not stress to you how important it is to eat natural healthy foods to have healthy hair. What we see on the outside is a direct reflection of what goes in on the inside. Over the years, I find that when I eat a healthy diet, and supplement my diet with vitamins, I was rewarded with stronger, healthier, longer hair. When I diligently stuck to my routine of healthy eating, my hair flourished. I absolutely could see the benefits of vitamins in my hair especially with my new growth. The texture of my growth changed from tight, dry and coiled to a more wavey texture which allowed me to stretch my relaxer much longer than I ever could. Stretching your relaxer will help you in your journey to longer hair more than you know. I'll share some of my favorite supplements that helped me retain my length and create stronger healthier hair.

Biotin-This vitamin your secret weapon to achieving healthy hair. If you are deficient in Biotin, your hair will become thin, weak, and prone to breakage. When I've consistently taken biotin supplements, my nails and eyelashes have also benefited along with my hair. Eggs are a good source of biotin from your foods, but I recommend a biotin supplement to help with your healthy hair needs. Biotin has also been know to "thicken the the actual hair cuticle providing a fuller appearance because of the increased diameter of the hair shaft." Best of all, "it increases the elasticity of the hair's cortex preventing breakage.

Fish Oil-These necessary oils provide essentail Omega 3 fats. Because your body can not produce these essentail oils, you must supplement your diet with fish oil. Your skin will and hair will benefit from consuming omega 3 oils. I noticed that my skin clearned and improved when I consistently include fish oils in my supplementation routine. Make this part of your overall hair strengthening regime. You'll be glad you did.

Spirulina -This green algea is one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. Spirulina is the worlds highest source of complete protien and contains all eight essentail amino acids. I take it in powder form for faster absorption. I mix some powder in my favorite flavored yogurt. I also enjoy spirulina in a smoothie. The taste of the powder is usually overpowered by anything you mix it with. My hair thrives as I take this supplement in the mornings in my breakfast shake. And best of all, because of the B-vitamins, my energy levels increase as well.

If you are on a quest of obtain more length, you should really get serious about protecting your hair. Adding oil is one way of protecting your hair. Wrapping it down at night is another way to protect your hair. One of the most impactful ways to protect your tresses is by wearing your hair in a protective style. I remember years ago when I ordered a free booklet written by former model Wanakee. In the booklet she described how important it is to keep our ends from the open air. She used an analogy of an ear of corn by saying that the silk strands exposed to the air were dry but the strands that remained covered retained their mosisture.

That advice stuck with me even though I rebelled against the idea of wearing my hair up and tucked away all the time. I thought to myself, "I want long hair so that people can see my hair and so I can feel it drapping over my shoulders." I did finally give in started started to wear my hair in a bun once or twice a week. I would moisturize my ends before putting it in a bun. When I took my bun down at the end of the day, I was amazed at the condition of my ends. I couldn't believe how much moisture my hair retained.

I used this method for a while when I really wanted to retain my length for special occaisions or when I am due for a wash. You may find you hair usually becomes dry and harder to manange closer to when you need a wash. This method works to preserve your ends until you can wash and condition your hair.

You can take the protection a step further by bunning your ends in a baggie. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Put your hair into a ponytail. You can make this ponytail low or high depending on your preference

Step 2: Saturate your bun with your favorite moisturizer and oil. The product(s) will work on your hair throughout the day to retain the moisture.

Step 3: Take piece of saran wrap or a piece of a plastic bag big enough to wrap around your ponytail.

Step 4: Put your ponytail in a bun. Make sure that the plastic securly covering the hair.

Step 5: Place a bun cover or a weave ponytail, bun, etc. over your bun making sure to cover the plastic completely.

By using this method, you will be protecting your ends all day long not just at night. I even use this when I want to do a pre-shampoo treatment but can not because I have to go to work. By using this method, I can at least do a the pre-treat on my ends.

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