Hair Questions! Post Them Here

I am fairly knowledgeable in hair - Natural hair, extensions, and wigs,  Post your questions here.
Questions regarding growing your hair; wearing extensions, styles etc,  post them here!
This will be good for anyone else to drop some knowledge here.  I will post information here on growing your hair tomorow!

Coloring will ultimately damage your hair,  the safest way to color is to use Demi Permanent hair color. I recommend Loreal Color Gems or Wella Color Charms. If you do lighten/bleach your hair, you have to be very vigilant and moisturize constantly!

Here is a great blog about Color:
http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/

Not sure what you mean about staying up and natural - Please explain,  or post a picture of the look you are going for!

Gators: are you relaxed? If yes, its not happening! lol, 
The only thing I can advice is a two strand twist,  which  looks like this
http://indulgenceiskey.blogspot.com/2009/02/two-strand-twists-meets-flexi-rods.html

I like this style, 


Yes oh! you have to moisturize daily,  its not bad,  and it keeps your  hair soft and healthy!

Since I can not sleep -- let me add my Grow your hair long tips!
If you have any questions about any of the products or steps listed,  let me know.
The first step is to make sure your shampoos(poo) and conditioners (con) does not have sulfate. Sulfate is bad for your hair,

I do not use poo anymore, I mainly condition wash my hair.but if you have to use poo then I will recommend the following product line:

Recommended Sampoo and Conditioners
Aveeda
Abba
Giovanni
Burts Bee
PUREOLOGY
SEXY HAIR- 'Healthy Sexy Soy Milk Chocolate'

I use Aveeda or Giovanni or Abba Personally
Second step:
Do not be afraid of water,  u have to wash your hair at least once a week. at the lattest 2 weeks, and at the most 3 days a week. I wash my hair every sunday.

Third Step:
Deep condition,  you have to deep condition once a week.
this is the steps I take:

I use Lekair or queen helene's cholesterol
you can add egg, or 1 table spoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of castor oil to it. I add 100% natural coconut oil to mine.

I slather it on my hair and use a bonnet dryer for about 45 minutes. I sit with a shower cap on for about another 30 to 45 mins. depending on time.

after this, I go and wash my hair.

Step 4.
you need a good clarifying shampoo to rid your hair of product build ups!
I do not have one, I use Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) which does the same thing.
I use this once a week. this is the last thing I do, I just dilute it with a little cold water,  pour it on my hair, and rinse with cold water.

If you do not want to use ACV here are a list of other clarifying poo's:

Frederic Fekkai Apple Cider Clarifying Shampoo
Pantene Pro-V Purity Clarifying Shampoo
Paul Mitchell Clarifying Shampoo
Herbal Essence Clarifying shampoo


Step 5: Protein treatments
I do this once every three to four months(when I take my weave out) you can do this every 2 to 3 months,
here are some good Protein treatments:

ApHOGEE Treatment for Damaged Hair(cheap- this is what I use, although I read somewhere recently that they have changed the ingredients and its not as good as it used to be)
http://www.folica.com/ApHOGEE_Treatme_d115.html
Dudley DCR 28
Motions CPR
Aubrey Organics GPB
Affirm 5-n-1 Reconstructor


Daily care:

its best to moisturize your hair on a daily basis.
I use either Nexxus Humectress or Curl Free Gold Activator (yes, its jerry curl juice) to moisturize. you have to use oil to seal the moisture in. I use EVOO or coconut oil. Evoo is a little lighter so its good for daily use

other good daily moisturizer: (make sure the first ingrident in your product is water)
Neutrogena triple moisture leave in conditioner
Joico
Organic Root Stimulator Carrot oil creme moisturizer
SheaMoisture Sheabutter leave-in


Tips:
Try not to manipulate your hair too much- Do not comb too much; pull on it. Always use wide tooth comb to comb your hair,  use a Denman brush to de-tangle.
Use as little heat as possible,  stay away from daily flat ironing- use rollers instead.
Try to do a lot protective style (sew in weaves, wigs, buns, braids healthy ponytails (not too tight) scarves etc.
Use Fantasia IC styling gel instead of the regular Gel.
Stay away from products with Alchol, sulfate etc.
Glycerin, aloe vera, and peppermint are good for your hair. I buy natural oil from Amazon,  my next thing is to massage my temple and nape area with peppermint oil at least twice a week.

DO NOT OVER PROCESS YOUR HAIR!!!
If you are relaxed, please keep relaxing to a minimum. Do not over process,  use Vaseline, oil, or grease to coat already process hair, that way you reduce the risk of over processing. It takes about 2 to 3 days for your hair to return to its ph balance level afer chemical processing so in that three days, stay away from heat etc.
Always wash your hair 4 to 8 times after relaxing and use a clarifing poo afterwards. Do not leave the relaxer in for too long,  this will damage your hair. i basically relaxe my hair 80%!!! I do not let it stay in too long, my hair is more of a looser curl than a straight texture after relaxing.

I perm my hair every 3 to 4 months, I can get away with this, cause I wear weaves(protective style). if you can not wait that long, at least wait 2 months.

Baggie for your ends and your hair:
I also baggie my hair to keep it healthy and strong.
this how I baggie:
I put my hair in a ponytail, I put CFCG and seal with oil (evoo) and I put it in a bag(sandwich bag) and wrap a scrunchie around it. (i will post pic if you want to see) I sleep with the baggie, in the morning you wake up with nice, soft, easy to manage hair.

you can also baggie your whole head if you want,  I do not,  but some pple do. its just a matter of putting in moisturizer, seal with oil, and put a shower cap on it,  let it sit overnight or a couple of hours. no heat.

if you do not have a protective style, you should baggie daily or at least 3 times a week.


Supplements- you need a supplement, you may just get, skin, hair and nails(From GNC) or pple use MSM,
I use one a day.

Baggie - its a way to moisturize your ends,  it keeps your ends from breaking,  I would do this once a week
Here is how I baggie:
put my hair in a ponytail, I put CFCG and seal with oil (Extra virgin Olive Oil, or Coconut Oil) and I put it in a bag(sandwich bag) and wrap a scrunchie around it. (i will post pic if you want to see) I sleep with the baggie, in the morning you wake up with nice, soft, easy to manage hair.

you can also baggie your whole head if you want,  I do not,  but some pple do. its just a matter of putting in moisturizer, seal with oil, and put a shower cap on it,  let it sit overnight or a couple of hours. no heat.

Actually thats what I did,  I just stopped relaxing my hair -- but I used extensions (sew in weaves) to protect my hair, I trimmed the ends every 2 months to cut off the relaxed ends - It was hard at first,  because the relaxed ends was causing my hair to tangle at some point, I ended up cutting it all off about 3 months ago! My hair is super healthy and strong! All Natural.

I would not mix the castor oil with conditioner, I would use it separately

CFCG is Curl Free Gold - Image attached

Here is what Baggie'ing looks like:
http://www.coarsehairdiary.com/2007/09/baggy-method.html

Gator,  I know this sounds like a lot,  however, if you do it for a month, you will see the difference in your hairs health! And you will figure out what works for your hair and what does not,  I really like using natural/organic products for my hair.

Things like:
Apple Cider Vinegar
Peppermint Oil
Coconut Oil - 100% natural
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Baking Soda
Burts Bee
Shea Butter - Ori
Chi Organics
Aloe Vera
Vegetable Glycerin
Whole Foods has lots of Organics products too! Do not be afraid to try new things,  also, dont label things as white pples products,  or black pples products.

I do not like Cantu Products,  I personally do not like most products that are "made for black women" as most are filled with sulfates! When you are looking to purchase a product look at the ingredients.

Products I hate:
Cantu
Dr Miracle
Pink Oil moisturizer
Pantene
Dove
Oil Sheen,  I hate Oil sheen in general,  I prefer Serums, 

I also love Chi Organics, 

do you use protein treatments?

@ Sissy- yes, I use Aphogee Protein treatment - it helps to strenghten your strands.

@omonaija - You may think the braid is not tight, however you may be putting undue pressure to the hair,  bumbs are bad! do you add extensions to the braids? maybe the weight of the weave is causing the stress- I suggest, using a warm towel whenever you feel the bumps, add shea butter(Ori) to treat.

@ Gators - Just say No to Cantu! I personally did not like it! Use Sexy hair chocolate products for scent. Or just add pepermint oil to your products!

Sissy, you only need the protein treatment once every 2-3 months. Its good as it strengthens your hair.

@ Blue

When I transitioned– the whole thing was about a year,  I clipped my ralxed ends every two to three months – at some point I had more natural hair than relaxed hair and it was causing my hair to tangle ridiculously, I finally had to snip all the relaxed ends off!

The most important thing is to not thug, and pull on your hair, don’t use those small tooth combs to comb your hair! Your hair is fragile, although it may not look it, it is, treat it like you would silk!

Here are some tips!
1.   Moisturize daily - -Its easy,  you can spray with Curl Free Gold, and seal with some sort of oil, use Coconut oil, or Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
2.   Use protein treatment every two to three months
3.   Find protective styles, this is to protect your hair while it grows,  ponytails, two strand twists, braids wigs, extensions are all examples of protective style. I use extensions (sew-in) as a protective method! Hide your hair while it grows!
4.   Use a supplement. Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin E etc, are all good supplements!
5.   If you want you can use a growth aid, ex. Ovation - http://www.ovationhair.com/
6.   Minimal Heat,  try not to use Heat on your hair! Heat is damaging – it will kill your natural hair! Whenever you use heat, make sure you are using a ceramic iron, and use a heat protectant serum
7.   stay away from products with Alcohol and sulfates!

We should have a growth challenge on here! It will be fun!

@blue
You can get Curl Free Gold in any store,  walgreens; duane reade etc

The most important to know is that you do not want products with alchol, sulfates etc, you want your product to have:
water; glycerin, as #1 and #2 listed on the ingredients list. You can also make your own products! this is another topic though!


I love this site for hair like us
http://tightlycurly.com/Welcome.aspx

laniks, aint no walgreens or duane reade where i live 

If no store around you have it, google it up and buy it online.

Do you have a CVS or hairsaloon around you?

gators, hair salons are next to air
they that many
but as many as they are, less than 1% understand english
and less than 1% of that 1% have dealt with african hair
uhn uhn i aint 'bout to let amateurs touch my hair
one amateur hand- mine is many enough