Category: co-washing
Nappy Hair is Strong Hair: Tasha Smith
I recently spotted this wonderful video of actress Tasha Smith discussing black hair and I absolutely love it!
One of the takeaway quotes for me was when she said:
“Nappy hair is strong hair.”
I love that!
For so long, many of us have deemed our kinky hair as being weak, broken, fragile but in actuality our kinks are strong.
I’ve heard many people (women and men equally) describe kinky hair as “tough” in a derogatory way but we need to swap that word with strong.
Tough gives the implication that our hair is hard to manage, hard to deal with but it’s not.
As us naturally curly girls know, with the right management and tools our hair is really quite easy to handle.
It’s far from being “tough.”
So, the next time someone says you have hard to manage hair, look them in the eye and tell them:
My hair is strong!
Check out the video below and leave a comment sharing your thoughts.
HAIR TALES_TASHA SMITH from MADFREEtv on Vimeo.
Victoria xo
4 Hairstyles That Will Make You Ditch Your Bonet
There’s a lot of controversy about whether hair bonets are a YAY or NAY for curly girls.
Although they’re great for protecting curls, many men and women feel as if they’re not exactly the cutest of choices when it comes to helping you look great at night time.
So, what’s a girl to do when she wants to look cute for bed but always wants to make sure her tresses are protected?
It’s simple.
She simply needs to check out these gorgeous hairstyle options that will make sure you can protect your curls whilst still looking smoking hot in the bedroom.
What I love about these styles are that they enable you to look great at night and then wake up with perfect hair.
If you like these styles, please share them with a friend. It could just help her to feel and look amazing during the day and at night.
4 FroHawks That Will Make Your Mouth Drop
I just love a frohawk!
Why?
Well, it’s easy to do, looks am-a-zing and is perfect for the slightly colder months and the humid months where it’s easy to get frizzed up.
Here are 4 gorgeous frohawks that will leave you in awe.
Check them out below and if you like them, leave a comment below sharing what your favourite hairstyle is.
How Can I Find Out The Texture Of My Hair?
How do I figure out my hair type?
I have no clue what my hair type or texture is, help!
Is my hair 4b, 4c or 4a? I have no idea!
These are just a few questions that many naturalistas ask when it comes to the whole hair type debacle.
We recently came across a brilliant chart by the folks at BuzzFeed that makes finding out your hair type super quick and easy!
Take a look at it below and in the comments tell us what your hair type is based on the chart!
Hair Type Chart by @BuzzFeed
PS. It’s perfectly normal to have several hair types! Mine varies from 3b to 4b which means I have a lot of textures to deal with, understand and manage. It’s not always easy dealing with multiple hair textures but it is a lot of fun 🙂
Here’s to knowing more about your hair and loving every inch of it!
As always, if you have a burning hair care question tweet it to us @mycurlsuk and we’ll answer it in an upcoming blog post.
Victoria xo
4 Simple Steps To Longer Natural Hair
On top of that, throughout my childhood and early teens I’d constantly been told that “afro hair doesn’t grow,” OR “black girls can’t grow long hair” which led me to believe that growing long hair was simply impossible for a girl like me.
Opt for hair accessories like ribbons, scarves and flowers rather than applying heat to your hair.
How Often Should Curly Hair Be Washed?
Do you sometimes wonder whether you’re washing your hair too rarely or too often?
As a curly or afro haired girl, it’s important to have a regular hair regimen which will make your hair easier to manage.
Keeping a good, healthy hair regimen will also enable you to look after your hair even when you’re super busy and pressed for time.
How often should you wash curly and afro hair?
So, how often should you wash your tresses?
Firstly, it’s important to remember that there are two types of hair washing.
Shampoo washing (simply washing your hair with shampoo and then conditioning it)
AND
Co-washing (washing your hair with conditioner only e.g. no shampoo required)
If your hair is out (not in braids, weave or plaits), you should co-wash it once a week using a silicone-free conditioner.
Typically, you should shampoo curly hair once a month and co-wash in between shampooing.
However, the looser your hair texture is, the more often you need to shampoo it. For example, if you have wavy textured hair, you’ll need to shampoo either once a week or once every 3-4 days.
If however, you have afro textured hair, you’ll only need to shampoo once a month. If your hair is mixed (e.g. contains a mixture of hair textures that vary from wavy to tightly curled or afro) then you’ll need to do a bit of testing to see how your hair responds to being shampooed less often.
You can then adjust your hair regimen to meet your mixed hair’s needs.
As a rule of thumb, you should shampoo once a month and condition once a week.
Now you might be wondering why shampooing too often is bad. For curly and afro textures, our hair has a tendency to be more dry and vulnerable to breakage. It’s therefore essential that we are cautious with it and handle our hair with care.
When you over-shampoo curly, mixed or afro hair, the hair’s natural oils are depleted which causes dryness, knots, split ends, frizz and tangles! In essence, it’s not good!
In contrast, if you condition your hair regularly, you’ll restore lost moisture whilst also keeping your hair tangle and frizz-free. Conditioning is quite simply one of the best things that you can do to your hair which is why it’s recommended that you condition once per week.
If your hair is in braids, a weave or any other ‘covered’ style then you’ll only need to wash it when it’s out. However, your hair is likely to be dirtier than usual because the dirt in your hair will have built up over time.
How often do you usually wash your hair?
Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.
Victoria x
5 Life-Changing Secrets To Growing Longer Natural hair
“My hair could never be that long!”
“My hair’s too tough to comb!”
“Girls like me don’t grow hair to that length!”
These are just some of the many misconceptions that women of African heritage hold about their hair.
If you’ve ever made any of the above statements then this article was written for you in mind.
That fact is that although many of us have felt as if our hair is incapable of growing beyond shoulder length, this is simply untrue.
The actuality is that with proper care and caution, every one of us can significantly improve our hair’s growth and retain far more length.
Here are 5 life-changing secrets that will help you to drastically transform your hair’s length, strength and overall health.
Secret #1
The way you feel about your hair internally has a direct effect on its external progress.
In essence, this means that the way you feel about your hair, your self-esteem and your hair’s ability to grow has a direct correlation with your hair’s actual chances of growing longer.
Why?
Well, think about this. If you believe that your hair is ugly, impossible to look after and difficult to manage, you’re ultimately going to treat your hair as if it the bane of your existence. If however, you have a positive attitude towards your hair, see it as being beautiful and strive to improve it you’ll naturally feel the compulsion to take better care of it. Ultimately, that will mean that you’ll handle your hair with more caution, you’ll treat it better and in doing so, you’ll reduce the damage caused when handling it. Don’t believe me?
Think back to a time when you visited a salon and had your hair treated by someone who didn’t like or understand naturally curly or afro hair. Their disdain for it was evident and so they yanked your hair with a thin-toothed comb and practically ripped your hair out of your head! The way they felt about your hair had a direct correlation with how they treated it and the same applies for when you manage your own hair. Remember, the way you feel about your hair internally has a direct effect on how you treat it!
Secret #2
This secret is an extension of #1. Longer hair comes from great internal and external care. If you want to see your hair grow, start off by reciting positive affirmations to yourself on a daily basis. Examples include things like: “my hair is beautiful and I love it,” “my hair is getting stronger and longer every second of every day,” and “I love every kink and curl that God has blessed me with.”
By reciting these affirmations you’ll open up your heart and mind to a world of self-acceptance and personal growth. Furthermore, you’ll feel happier about yourself which is always a great thing.
Secret #3
Create your own unique, custom-made hair regimen. There’s a lot of talk these days about hair regimens and it can sometimes feel as if the advice you receive on how to care for your hair is contradictory. That’s why it’s essential that you get into a habit of not only finding products that work for you but also finding a regime that works specifically for your hair type.
Once you’ve come up with your regime, get into a habit of making it a daily ritual to look after your hair. For instance, you could spend 5 minutes each night moisturising your scalp and 5 minutes in the morning spritzing your curls with a home-made hair spray.
Secret #4
Stick with the fundamentals.
Fundamental hair care practices for curly and afro-textured hair include:
- Washing your hair with a sulphate free shampoo (about twice a month)
- Co-washing your hair (using conditioner to wash your hair rather than shampooing it) on a weekly basis
- Moisturising your hair every day without fail
- Trimming off unhealthy ends as you see them (also known as dusting your hair)
- Deep conditioning your hair once per month.
These 5 things are fundamental practices that natural (and even relaxed) haired girls should follow. Rather than getting distracted by the newest hair care craze, focus on making the above 5 things a part of your hair care schedule so that you keep your hair in great condition.
Secret #5
Last but not least, set yourself hair goals. For instance, science tells us that the average person (regardless of ethnicity) grows about 6 inches of hair per year. Therefore, you should aim to give yourself a hair growth goal that is in line with this. The main focus however, should be on setting yourself a goal that is realistic and attainable for your hair type. Also, try not to compare your hair’s growth to someone else’s because quite frankly, your hair is not the same as the next person’s and therefore your hair will grow at a different speed.
If you liked these tips, sign up for great free resources by joining our newsletter at mycurls.co.uk.
Will dyeing my hair cause it to break?
Sometimes as a naturalista, you might feel as if your hair could do with a bit of a change. For some people change can come in the form of straightening their hair for a few days, adding clip-ins or wearing a weave. However, if you’ve been thinking about dyeing your hair and you’re unsure whether it will cause your hair to break, consider these things.
Hair dye can cause damage to your hair if your hair is already suffering from some form of damage. That includes breakage, excess shedding or scalp dryness.
To reduce the chances of your hair breaking when it has been dyed, it’s best to only dye your hair if it is in optimal condition prior. If you’ve noticed that your hair shows any signs of damage whatsoever, then don’t dye it. Simply wait until it’s in a better condition before going ahead.
Another thing to bear in mind is that semi-permanent dyes (which last for about 5-7 washes) are a better alternative if you’re simply looking to add colour to your hair or you want a quick change of style or a new look. permanent dyes aren’t necessarily damage-free but they are less strenuous on your hair.
Furthermore, if you want to avoid breakage when dyeing your hair, make sure that you keep your hair very well conditioned and moisturised after colouring it. Hair dyes are notorious for causing dryness which in turn leads to thinning and breakage and it’s for this reason that so many women experience signs of damage after dyeing their hair. To keep your newly coloured hair in great condition, deep condition it at least once a month and co-wash (which means washing your hair with conditioner only) on a weekly basis.
Be sure to trim any damaged ends and moisturise your hair like there’s no tomorrow! Seriously, moisturising can literally make or break your hair’s health. I can’t stress the importance of moisturising it.
If you’re unsure about how to moisturise, do the following:
- Co-wash your hair once a week
- Apply a silicone-free, moisturising hair lotion to it twice a day
- Follow with a good, natural oil like jojoba or olive oil
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 twice a day. Try moisturising once in the morning and once at night.
Keeping your hair in good condition after it has been coloured isn’t impossible. You just need to be more mindful of your hair’s health and fragility and moisturise on a regular basis.
Natural Hair Care: How To Get Amazing Curl Definition
How to get great curl definition
How do you get my curls to be really defined?
This is one of the most common questions that I get asked about caring for naturally curly/unrelaxed hair.
Here are 3 ways to get amazing curl definition.
And don’t worry, you won’t need to spend hours on your hair to get really defined curls.
Step 1
Keep your hair clean through conditioning (co-washing) and not through excessive shampooing.
Over shampooing dries out naturally curly hair and therefore it’s best to shampoo your hair approximately once every 2 weeks or once a week at most.
Instead of shampooing all the time, wash your hair with a silicone free conditioner that does not contain parabens or synthetic oils. A great conditioner will transform your hair so it’s therefore best to be selective about which conditioner you use and don’t be afraid to do these two things:
- Read the ingredients on the label of your conditioner
- Invest in a high quality conditioner
Sometimes people think that the cheapest conditioner is the best but that isn’t always the case. It’s therefore wise to spend more money on a conditioner that is filled with high quality ingredients and is therefore slightly higher in price. I always tell customers that an investment in good hair products is an investment in the health of your hair. Think about it, what’s your hair worth?
Step 2
Play around with twist-outs and braid-outs.
These hair styles can give you incredible curl definition and they work on almost any hair texture. One thing I like to do is to braid or twist my hair at night and then unravel in the morning. That way, I end up with gorgeous curls almost every day. Plus, creating twist-outs and braid-outs isn’t time consuming. Try it!
Step 3
Keep your hair super moisturised.
Curly and afro hair are the driest hair types and that means that our hair needs to be moisturised a lot. To get gorgeously soft and well-defined hair, moisturise once in the morning and once at night. If your hair is wavy or only slightly curly then only moisturise once in the day. As a rule of thumb: the curlier your hair, the more moisture it needs.
Follow these three steps and your hair should be more defined, softer and shinier.
PS. For more hair tips sign up to my free newsletter at mycurls.co.uk.
Trimming Natural Hair: How To Trim Your Hair With Ease
Trimming or cutting your natural hair can be daunting especially if you’ve typically relied on hairstylists to do it for you.
Despite seeming like a nerve-wrecking thing, trimming your curls is actually not that difficult to do if you follow these 3 simple steps:
1. Always trim/cut with a professional hair scissors. Never scrimp by cutting your hair with a household scissors that just happens to be lying around. If you do that, your hair might potentially become more damaged!
2. To get the best results from trimming always hold the tips of your hair towards the light so that you can clearly see split ends and single strand knots. Sometimes, knots and splits have a way of disappearing or seeming difficult to find. By holding your ends up to the light you’ll be able to see damaged hair far more quickly.
3. Get used to ‘dusting.’ What’s that? It refers to the process of only trimming the unhealthy and damaged parts of your hair and not the rest of it. For example, traditionally, stylists and hair professionals have encouraged us mere amateurs to trim our hair in sections. Whilst this is great if you want your hair to be more even in length, it has the unfortunate downside of causing you to lose both your healthy and unhealthy hair. If you’re looking to retain as much length as possible, only trim off the unhealthy ends rather than trimming your hair in sections. This process is called dusting.
Now it’s over to you: do you have a secret or special method for finding dodgy strands and snipping them? Leave a comment below telling us what you do to keep knots and splits at bay.
PS. if you’re looking to get shinier curls this summer, check out our range at MyCurls.co.uk.
Till next time,
Victoria xo
Founder, MyCurls.
My Curls 