Oil Tutorial by Heidi (LHC)

A common myth is that oil is used to moisturize the hair, but oil is meant to condition and protect the hair from the elements. Learning how to properly use oil so that we can best benefit from it is very important and that's why I am posting the link to an article from Heidi W. on The Long Hair Community (LHC). (Posted by RainyDZ) For the full article, Click Here.

Joico - A Staple for My Fine Hair

When I first began my hair care journey, I bought a whole gang of products. I was in search for something to give me "industrial-strength" hair. Having been born into a family where fine hair is an annoying but inevitable truth, I knew there was nothing I could do to necessarily "change" my hair (vitamins help, but the size of the strands will always be fine). And starting to using relaxers again in 2005 (after being natural for 4+ years) didn't help matters.

A year and a half later, enters Joico - the love of my life, lol! I think my hair loves Joico so much because it maintains a constant moisture/protein balance in the hair. Every product has human hair keratin in it for strength and resilience, but not so much to leave the hair hard or brittle. And the moisturizing ingredients are top notch - meadowfoam, evening primrose oils, shea butter, aloe vera to name a few.

So I think during the life of this blog, when I start posting reviews on various products for fine, relaxed hair...Yeah, I'm gonna bring them up. They rock, haha.

Relaxer Stretching

Ok, so what is "relaxer stretching"? Quite simply, it is waiting longer to relax your new growth longer than usual. If you are like many of women who still relax every 4-6 weeks, consider this: There are 52 weeks in a year, so by relaxing every 4-6 weeks, you are creating the potential of high-level scalp damage 9-13 times per year! Sound a little excessive? Want decrease the risk of hair loss? Start stretching. Also, if you just want to minimize the frequency of potential overlapping that occurs with chemical relaxing, stretching is for you. And, if you are experiencing thinness in the bulk of your hair, and your doing everything else right (deep conditions, scalp is clean on a regular basis, no damage to the hair), relaxer stretching can be a way to thicken it up.

What determines a "good" stretch is purely subjective. However, generally a good rule of thumb is to stretch not based on the number of weeks you wait between touch-ups, but by the amount of new growth you have acquired, anywhere from 1"-2" of growth. So if your hair grows the average 0.5" per month, you should acquire about 1" in 8 weeks or so. If you get 0.75"-1" per month, I would still wait it out maybe 6-8 weeks, respectively. (Most cosmetologists recommend this window of time anyway, again basing it on how much new growth you have.) If your hair grows less than 0.5" per month, then you'll likely be waiting a while, lol! Either way, I think your hair will thank you for it!

I am starting my own personal challenge for 2008 to start stretching my relaxers for 3 months (approx. 1.5"-2") of new growth for the entire year. I normally wait 8-10 weeks. I am doing this for a few reasons:

1. I want to increase my hair's overall thickness
2. I am no longer self-relaxing in '08, and want to make sure my future stylist has enough new growth to work with to minimize overlapping
3. I want to minimize the potential for high-level scalp damage from the relaxer
   

I'll keep you guys updated on how this is going for me. I haven't decided if I will link my Fotki to this blog, or if I will just continue my journaling here. Either way, when I know, you will know :)

Deep Conditioning

Using a deep conditioner is probably the #1 most important thing you can do for your hair, especially as a fine-haired chica. Deep conditioners feed the strands, protecting and preventing damage from the elements. Since we fine-haired gals don't have as many cuticle layers as our coarse-haired counterparts, we need all the supplementation we can get.

I personally deep condition my hair once a week, faithfully. Typically I apply deep conditioner to damp hair in small sections, making sure that all my hair is covered (esp. the ends), cover my hair with a plastic cap and sit under the hooded dryer for 15-20 min on medium heat. If I want to let the conditioner sit longer, I do so, but not under the heat source. I find that DC-ing under heat longer than 20 min can over-swell the the hair shaft to quickly, doing more harm than good. Afterwards, I rinse the conditioner out well, then proceed to styling.

Make sure that the conditioner you use to deep condition has ingredients that can actually penetrate the strands. Don't cut corners here, ladies! VO5, and Suave are NOT deep conditioners!

Some popular DCs are: Paul Mitchell Super-charged, Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner, Joico K-pak Intense Hydrator, Pantene Women of Color Breakage Defense Mask, and Lustrasilk Shea Butter Cholesterol Plus (cheapie but a goodie!)

Happy Holidays!

Hope you all were very good girls this year and got everything you wanted. I am still holding out on my Pibbs 514 (Santa, sleep with one eye open, sucka!) but I'm sure it's just late arriving...lol.

Anyways, if you see any awesome buys in the stores tomorrow, let a girl know. Sephora, Trade Secret, Ulta, y'know...The usual hot spots.

Peace & Blessings!

Products - How to Choose What you NEED

In general, I think a lot of people are trying methods that work for people with different hair types or for a specific hair need unlike what their own hair needs at the current moment. The same goes for a review of a product on non-clarified hair. Hair that has not been properly clarified can still hold on to properties of previous products, thereby skewing the final results. Also, sometimes changing many different products in your wash day rather than just one can have the same effect. You’ll never know what product caused what effect with this method.

So let’s say, for example, that your hair needs moisture and you give it protein. Clearly the products will not work for you the way they worked for someone else who actually needed protein, even if both of you have the exact same hair type. Now, if you feel your hair needs protein at the moment, and normal protein on clean wet hair doesn't work for you, then try it a different way (such as pre-pooing with the protein on dry hair).

One of the best things to do when testing a new product is to try things based on your hair type and specific hair need (before saying something "doesn't work"). Wait until you need a type of product (moisture/protein) to try it, so that your hair gives it a fair shot.

In general a method that a coarse-hair uses may not work for a fine-hair (like pre-pooing your protein or using an extra-thick moisturizer). Now if you're just bored and want to try it anyway, then go ahead, but just be aware that there may be consequences...

If a product doesn't work for you one time, just remember that there are so many factors that go into that one experience; that one time could just be a fluke. At least give that product a fair shot on your hair before you chuck it or throw it away.

What is Fine Hair?

Fine hair is determined by looking at the individual strands of hair on your head. The actual diameter of the strand is smaller than most, and has a tendency to be flyaway or wispy. Fine hair has the least amount of cuticle layers than medium or coarse stands, coarse hair having the most. “Thin” hair is not the same as fine hair, but sometimes you can see this occur together. If you have a problem keeping volume in your hair, you probably have fine hair.

Furthermore, just because someone has fine hair, doesn’t mean they have thin hair, either. Density of the hair refers to how many strands of hair are actually on the head. The categories for density are: thin, medium, or thick. So it is possible to have fine, thick hair or even thin, coarse hair.

During my time on hair boards, I have observed that most fine-haired ladies have certain issues in common, regardless of strand density. The following is a list of factors that fine-stranded women much keep in mind when deciding to grow out their hair:

1. Porosity
2. Relaxer Schedule/Degree of Straightness (if you choose to relax your hair)
3. Protein/Moisture balance of products
4. Vitamins
5. Heat or No Heat

These factors will be discussed individually in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!