Black Hair: Tips and Tricks to Get Your Hair Healthy

Once I decided to "go natural" I found many tricks and tips from other natural women that have helped me have stronger, longer hair.

Shampoo
The shampoo usually contains harsh chemicals. These chemicals make your hair worse off than before you used it. An example chemical is sodium lauryl sulfate. It can be found in your shampoo, detergents, engine degreasers, toothpaste, or floor cleaner. It strips your hair of moisture and oils. You can avoid washing the strands and only wash the scalp. The strands will be cleaned when you rinse the shampoo out. The suds will run down the hair, and that is all the washing it needs. Minimize how much you shampoo, and eliminate the task if possible. I co-wash only. To co-wash you simply skip shampooing and use a rinse out conditioner. This will give you incredible results

The Baggy Method
The baggy method can help you retain length by keeping your ends extra healthy. A simple example of a baggy method is to put your hair in a ponytail, moisturize the tips, apply an oil (such as coconut oil, castor oil, olive oil etc.) Then you tie a sandwich baggy around the ponytail. When choosing your oil be aware that mineral oil shouldn't be a part of your options since it is bad for your hair. The tips end up softer, moisturized, stronger and overall much healthier from baggying. You can baggy several times a week or all day long. When I baggy I wear wool cap over my head. Some women wear a drawstring ponytail made of synthetic or human hair. There are videos on YouTube demonstrating the baggy method and different ways to do it.

Protective Styles
Wearing your hair down makes the tips vulnerable to the harsh weather. The sun will dry your tips out. A protective style should protect the tips. An example of a protective style is a French braid. Do not get stuck on one particular protective style and wear it every day. That may cause the hair around your edges to break off especially if the style involves pulling your hair in a certain direction (for example French braids.)

Don't Rip Them out
Combing and brushing rips out your hair especially if the comb is made of cheap materials like plastic. Brushing actually thins your hair out. Many African American women with natural hair are crazy about the Denman brushes. On the company's site there is a Brush Genie that matches your hair type to a specific brush. Finger combing is the long route, but it is the healthiest option. If you finger detangle your hair while co-washing your hair will be more manageable during the week. Some hair accessories rip out your hair. Try to buy hair bands that aren't held together by metal, plastic or anything that can snag your hair.

Clipping Split Ends
Don't try a shampoo or conditioner that promises to repair your split ends. Nothing can do that, and those products only temporarily glue your ends. They will cause more damage in the long term. If you are someone that clips your own split ends then you should use barber scissors since they are sharper, cut about half an inch above a split end so it won't reoccur, moisturize the strand and seal it with some type of oil (coconut, olive, castor etc.) For women with natural hair ripping out single strand knots will cause split ends. Treat them like they are split ends and cut them off. Keeping hair moisturized can prevent these knots.

Heat
If you feel like using heat on your hair, then you should protect it as much as possible by using a heat protectant. It is ideal to avoid heat as much as possible. Allow your hair to air dry instead of blow dry. There are deep conditioning caps available that use body heat to warm up instead of electricity. Some women with natural hair claim that heat ruins the pattern of their curl, and in some cases they cannot get that curl pattern back.

Roller-setting
My hair is super curly and dry, so I am extremely vulnerable to single strand knots. Roller-setting is a way to prevent single strand knots since it keeps the tips straighter. Single strand knots are unhealthy and may cause damage to strands around it. To roller-set you wash your hair, conditioner it, and put it in several rollers. Most women blow dry their hair while in rollers, because they're trying to get straighter hair. I allow my hair to air dry and the hair turns out with soft, defined, loose curls.

Diet
Your hair needs to be hydrated, so you need to be hydrated. Drink water instead of soda or artificial juices. Deep condition your hair weekly for healthier strands and tips. Taking vitamins such as MSM, biotin, b-complex vitamins, or even natural silica (horsetail) can aid in hair health.