09 BEAUTY
This is so because I rarely cared for
it, and by that i mean it was just waBy Charlie /Allthingsmodish.weebly.com ter and vaseline. Then another season of cutting. In not so many
words, it was neglected and had no
Hair 1,2,3….
chance of ever getting any length.
So why is your hair “not growing”?
Genetics could be for the most part,
but usually it is due to doing too
much or too little. One of the most
common mistake is during bedtime.
At the very least always braid your
hair for bed and the best and the
best method is to either wrap your
hair in a silk scarf or get a silk pillow. The friction between the hair
and pillow is not good because it
dries and causes hair breakage.
A common observation in
most salons the addiction
to heat. I remember how
much my hair used to
break after constant “overblowing”, this is the process
of blow drying hair to the
point where it straightens
to look like relaxed hair.
Now this is torture. All hair
types, be it Asian, Caucasian or African, get heat
damage. Heat breaks down
the strength of hair.
My hair is not growing…
Most people don’t know this but
hair never stops growing, it just
stops retaining length and grows
slower. I had natural hair most of
my school life and it was always
tapered but funny thing is no one
would guess the actual length.
Moisturising is equally beneficial to
natural and relaxed hair. This can be
done daily, a little oil and water in
that hair goes a long way. We always think more pomade/oil and
less water, but the fact is oil is used
to add and to seal moisture and nutrients, so its more water less pomade/oil.
Moisturizing is
equally beneficial to natural
and relaxed
hair
Conditioning hair is a great way to
ensure that moisture penetrates the
hair. Once or twice a week could be
great, but if you have natural hair it
could be more if you like that hair soft
with less frizz. A deep conditioning
can be done from once a week to every fortnight. Heat can be added during
conditioning to activate the ingredients and to also make the process
shorter. Try to avoid direct heat. African hair in particular is the weakest so
best to reduce on that heat.
What chemicals do to your hair?
which is good
The biggest offender would be relaxers, they basically are alkaline and
usually have a pH of 10 -14, hair and
skin have a pH of between 4.5 and 5.
Its only a matter of imagination to
figure out the stress relaxers cause to
hair. The strong chemicals in the relaxer break the bonds in the hair permanently to create straight strands of
hair. Hair is already weak hair, chemicals, such as hair to straighten it.
The pH goes from 4.5 to 10+ then it
has to be neutralised back to 4.5.
Most shampoos and conditioners can
help neutralise the relaxer but usually
labels do not state the pH level to
consumers. Self mixed relaxers always
come with a neutraliser
cause then you know your hair is neutralised.The strong chemicals in the
relaxer break the bonds in the hair
permanently to create straight
strands of hair. Hair is already weak
hair, chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, lithium
hydroxide, or guanidine hydroxide,
break down the protein bonds in our
I would suggest rinsing hair with vinegar
after relaxing hair, it is the best alternative to nothing all at. Simply because
vinegar is a weak acid that can,at the
very least, drop the ph of the relaxed
hair. Vinegar is also good for natural
hair as a rinse.
On the opposite side of the pH scale are
alkalines, its been mentioned that hair
relaxers are made from alkalines at the
very end of the pH scale because these
have the strength necessary to straighten hair, now let see what happens
when you use weaker alkalis such as
baking soda or simply sodium bicarbonate. This can be treated like a weak
relaxer though the results are barely
obvious. It is also used to wash hair for
people who do not like multiple chemical laden shampoos. In reality think of
oil as an acid and everything that removes grease/oil as an alkaline. The
main ingredients in shampoos are usually ammonium lauryl sulfate, ammonium laureth sulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate. They are terrible for hair as
they do more than cleaning off dirt but
also strip hair of its moisture and
oils.Take note; the cheaper the shampoo the more likely its harmful to hair.
The essence of this knowledge is to
learn to balance the hairs chemistry.
Acids close the hair cuticles and alkalis
open the cuticles. Oils and vinegar close
the cuticles and seal in the moisture
while shampoos and soda open the cuticles to allow the moisture to get absorbed. Neither one should be done
more than the other, meaning do not
over condition hair and do not use too
much oil simply because hair can become over hydrated when cuticles remain open in water and also can be
stripped of moisture if too much oil is
used.
BODY-Three Healthy Eating Goals
Drink water instead of
sugary
dr