Category: stop relaxing my hair
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.
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.
Hot Hair Fixes: 4 Quick Ways To Cure Damaged Hair
As we nearer further and further into the summer, many of us experience damaged hair. Hair damage can take various forms including split ends, single strand knots, hair thinning, frizz and even traction alopecia.
Hair damage can also be particularly frustrating for those of us with curly, kinky and afro textured hair because our hair is dryer and therefore tends to be more prone to breakage.
However, most types of hair damage can be cured. Here are 4 of the best ways to cure your damaged curls.
Use the best conditioner for your hair type and texture. You know your hair best and you therefore know what products on your hair. In order to find the best conditioner you do have to experiment a little by testing different products on your hair. Once you find a great conditioner that really nourishes your hair, hold onto it and make it your go-to co-washing product.
Focus on protection. If you have split ends, lots of single strand knots or hair breakage then there’s a possibility that you’ve been over-manipulating your hair. To reverse the damage done it’s best to keep your hair protected. That might mean parting with your favourite hairstyles (like braids or weaves) and instead, focus on wearing your hair in simple styles that elevate the hair away from the shoulders. Good options for protective styling are ponytails, high buns and twists. Wear your hair in protective styles until it’s in better condition.
Don’t towel dry your hair. Towels and curly/afro hair don’t mix. If you need to dry your hair use a cotton t-shirt because it’s softer, reduces frizz levels and won’t cause your hair to rip or tear. Put simply, cotton t-shirts are amazing for drying natural hair.
Get your hair back to tip top shape. The best way to do this is to make sure you are deep conditioning your hair at least once every 2 weeks until your hair is restored to good health. Make sure you use a good deep conditioning treatment or hair mask that contains natural ingredients, is silicone free and contains good proteins.
If you’d like more advice on caring for your curls join our VIP newsletter list.
Till next time,
Victoria.
Founder, www.mycurls.co.uk
How To Look After A TWA (Teeny Weeny Afro)
Whilst there’s a lot of talk in the natural hair community about growing long hair, many women aspire to have beautiful short kinks and curls.
Reasons for choosing a shorter do can vary. Some women love the convenience and versatility that short hair brings whilst others rock a short hairstyle whilst transitioning from relaxed to natural.
Opting for a shorter hairstyle is also ideal for women who are busy, pressed for time or just simply look better with shorter hair.
How do you maintain short natural hair? How do you style it? What do you do to keep your kinks or curls in great condition?
Here are some tips to help you to nurture your gorgeous afro.
#1. Keep it nourished.
Natural afro hair needs moisture- lots of it! And just because your hair is sure that doesn’t mean that you can get away with not moisturising it. To keep it in great condition, apply a natural hair lotion and oil (such as coconut, olive or jojoba oil) to it daily. If you neglect to moisturise it you’ll be faced with super dry hair that is brittle, fragile and will eventually break. Moisturise is a natural girl’s BFF. Don’t forget that.
#2. Spritz it.
In a rush to work? Pressed for time? We’ve all been in those situations where our hair was the last thing on our minds because we quite simply had a lot of on our plate.
However, it’s no excuse to not take care of your hair. One way to keep your curls in impeccable condition (even if you’re time short) is to grab a spray bottle, apply a mixture of water, conditioner and your favourite oils and then spray it on your hair each day. Spritzing your hair is a fantastic way to ensure that it looks great and stays in top notch shape.
#3. Accessorise.
From pins to bows to flowers and headbands, there are so many accessories that you can use to add some pizzazz to your hair. What I love most about hair accessories is that they allow you to look girly and dolled up even if you’ve put little to no effort into styling your hair. They give you that ‘quick styled look’ in seconds. How great is that? Accessories are also really affordable and you can find some wonderful items on Amazon, Ebay and Etsy.
#4. Style it up.
Whilst pins, bows and flowers are great, there are other options for styling your TWA. You could add a side-part or have your stylist cut/shape your hair into a particular style. Another way to style your TWA is to play around with hats and scarves which can give you a variety of new looks.
#5. Co-wash your curls. Co-washing (which simply means washing your hair with conditioner rather than with shampoo) should ideally be done once a week or once every two weeks. Co-washing is great because it ensures that your hair is clean without stripping it of it’s natural oils (like shampoo often does). To get the best results, co-wash your hair with a silicone free conditioner that contains ingredients like coconut oil as this will help with adding moisture and will keep your hair is excellent condition.
Finally, remember to be confident with your hair no matter what it’s length, shape or texture. Confidence is beautiful! For more hair care tips, join our curly community. Have a fab day.
Victoria. Founder, My Curls.
How Do I Get My Curls Back? 3 Steps To Transitioning From Relaxed To Natural
A while ago, I received a message from an aspiring naturalista who was stuck with a problem.
Question: ‘I relaxed my hair five weeks ago but now I miss my curls! Is there a way to get them back?’
For those of us who’ve been natural for a while, it’s easy to forget that going natural is a process. It’s nothing short of a journey that involves learning a lot about black hair and then applying that knowledge into our daily hair regimens. However, for women who have relaxed hair, it can often seem as if it’s easy to go natural and that it can happen over night. That’s not true.
Now to answer this lady’s question. If you relaxed your hair less than two months ago there will be no easy way to go natural. The simplest option is to cut off your relaxed hair and rock a TWA (teeny weeny afro).
However, before doing that, I strongly recommend that you take some time to really figure out if going natural is for you.
Answer these 3 questions:
- Do you know how to maintain natural hair or are you willing to learn about natural hair maintainaence?
- Are you committed to going natural or do you just want a bit of a hairstyle change? If you just want to switch hairstyles up, I recommend trying a natural wig or weave so that you can get the natural look without going natural straight away. Doing so will allow you to figure out whether natural hair is really for you.
- Are you self-conscious about your hair? Natural girls often have to be confident about their hair because natural hair isn’t the norm in most places. Furthermore, no matter how you rock your hair, it’s important to be confident any way.
If after answering these questions you decide that you still want to go natural, go for it!
Start off by doing some research on natural hairstyles, natural hair maintenance and find some natural hair quotes to give you inspiration.
Then consider either cutting off your relaxed ends or growing out your natural hair until you’re ready to cut the ends off at a later date.
Throughout the transitioning journey keep your hair really conditioned and moisturised so that it is in the best possible condition.
Transitioning can be a complex process but if you follow the above advice you should be in good stead to do it with ease.
PS. If you’d like more tips on transitioning don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter where I share advice, tips and hair care treats.
Now, in the comments below tell me how you transitioned to natural. What was it like? Did you enjoy it? What did you learn about yourself while transitioning?
Natural Hair Tips: How To Get Rid of Frizzy Hair
Over the past week or so I’ve been busy in the My Curls kitchen whipping together some sweet-smelling hair recipes. I’ll be sharing a few of the things I’ve come up with in an upcoming newsletter so make sure you’ve signed up so you don’t miss out! Click here to sign up (it’s free!)
Since frizz is one of the hottest topics amongst our Curlettes (that’s the name of our amazing community of curly customers and VIP newsletter subscribers), I thought it would be a great idea to create a cute but highly effective graphic on how to get rid of frizz.
How to get rid of frizzy hair
Take a look at the picture and if you learnt something new from it, leave a comment sharing it below.
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Have an amazing week!
Victoria x
How To Care For Thinning Hair
Have you ever felt self-conscious because your hair was thinning?
Have you had to cover it up with scarves and hats to hide thin spots or worried that it was excessively breaking?
Don’t fret because you’re not alone.
Women (and men) of all hair textures and ethnicities experience hair thinning at some point or another.
In fact statistics show that more than 21 million women in the USA alone experience hair thinning at some point.
How can you prevent or reduce thinning hair?
Here are some steps to take:
1. Ditch tight weaves and tight braids. Many women make the mistake of sacrificing their real hair’s health for the fun of wearing a glamorous looking weave or thin braids.
The truth of the matter is that many women fail to keep an eye on how tight their extensions are and as a result they experience traction alopecia (a severe form of hair breakage) because the hair has been pulled too tightly.
If you want a headful of luscious natural hair, avoid getting your hair styled too tightly and tell your hair stylist to be cautious with your hair.
Always remember that your hair is fragile and should be handled with care.
2. Don’t comb excessively. There’s an ancient Greek adage that says ‘nothing in excess.’ That definitely rings true when it comes to your hair.
Combing or brushing your hair excessively or harshly causes it to break, tear and snap. Be careful with how often you comb your hair and try to finger comb instead of always combing it with a brush or comb.
3. Be health conscious. Believe it or not, your diet plays a crucial role in your hair’s condition. If your health isn’t in check, it will often reflect in your hair’s condition.
Firstly, if you experience persistent hair thinning, go to the doctor and get checked out. It could for instance be a sign of an under active thyroid.
If however, you’re experiencing thinning hair despite the fact that you have no medical problems, you might want to pay closer attention to your diet by upping your vegetable, fruit and water intake.
Also, if you haven’t been working out, get moving! Aim to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day and don’t forget that doing things like walking up a flight of stairs, jogging in your living room and dancing all add up.
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Hair Food: 3 Delicious Foods Your Hair Will Love
Did you know that our hair loves certain foods just as much as our body does?
Yup, it’s true!
There are 3 particularly delicious goods that are loved not just by the body but by the hair too.
These foods are nutritionally rich and are often high in protein. They’re essentially hair foods.
Hair food #1
Eggs. Hair is on average, composted mostly of keratin protein. Eggs are therefore essential because they replace lost proteins and help rebuild damaged hair. To get the most out of eggs, not only should you include them in your diet but you should also apply eggs to your hair. To get the best results, apply eggs from root to tip to your hair, leave in for 20 minutes and rinse out with cold or warm water. Using hot water could potentially damage your hair and will cause dryness.
Hair food #2
Coconut Milk. I love coconut milk. It’s delicious, smells yummy and has big benefits for your hair. Because coconut milk contains protein, it protects your hair from losing protein and helps prevent damage to your hair. To top it off, coconut milk contains iron which is also important for hair strength and growth.
Hair food #3
Chocolate. Hailing from the cacao plant, chocolate has several benefits for the hair. Firstly, it can stimulate your scalp, conditions your hair and reduces hair loss. Chocolate with a high cocoa content (of at least 70%) is particularly good because it contains antioxidant and vitamin benefits for your hair. (Source: A Healing Grove: African Tree Remedies and Rituals For The Body & Spirit by Stephanie Rose Bird).
As you can see, foods serve an important role in hair care. Incorporating hair foods into your hair care routine doesn’t need to be complex or difficult, it can be straight forward and even fun. It’s always great to test things out, see what works for your hair and be a little bit experimental. As always, please make sure you check to see if you’re allergic to certain foods before applying them to your hair.
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How To Get Rid of Frizzy Hair Using This Secret Source
Frizzy hair can be a nightmare!
Most of us have experienced frizz at some point in our lives and it can be one of the most annoying hair qualms.
If you’ve been battling with frizz, don’t fret.
Here’s one awesome thing you can do to stop your hair from frizzing up and driving you crazy.
Wanna know what that tip is?
It’s simple. Stop using a towel to dry your hair and instead us a t-shirt.
Yes, a t-shirt!
Why ditch a towel?
Firstly, the rough texture of towels not only dries your hair out but also causes friction when it rubs against your hair. This in turn leads to frizz.
Imagine, rubbing something rough-textured against something fragile and frail.
Now contrast that to using something a soft-textured t-shirt on your hair?
When you think about it, using a towel on your delicate tresses makes no sense if you want softer, frizz-free curls.
So, if you’re experiencing frizz, the first thing you should do is swap your hair towel for a soft, cotton t-shirt.
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My Curls 