s women of color, our choices for hair care products and styling options are better than ever. Whether we wear our hair straight, natural, braided, weaved, with extensions, in cornrows, or in twists—or some combination—our hair texture and cultural inheritance give us so many ways to experiment. On the other hand, many of the styling and processing techniques we use—chemical relaxers, hot combs, curling irons, and tight braids with extensions and weaves—can leave us with dull, dry, broken hair.
Five Steps to Repair Damaged Hair
If your hair has been damaged (split ends and breakage) by chemical processes and too much heat, here are some tips for repair:
- Stop using chemical relaxers, hair dyes, blow-dryers, curling irons, and hot combs for at least six to nine months.
- Wash and condition your hair weekly. Use deep-penetrating or restructuring conditioners each week and alternate with hot oil treatments if your hair is very dry.
- Air-dry your hair or wrap it before using a warm hood dryer.
- Get your hair trimmed every six to eight weeks.
- Resume relaxers or hair coloring much less frequently, no more than five times a year.
African-American Hair Care
Here are my suggestions for managing relaxed, hot-combed, and natural hair to help keep it healthy every day.
How to Take Care of Relaxed Hair
The chemicals to relax hair (75-80 percent of us do this) make our hair more fragile and prone to dryness and breakage. Even no-lye relaxers can damage hair. A big mistake with chemically relaxed hair is getting touch-ups too frequently. Here are some suggestions for maintaining healthy relaxed hair.
- Get touch-ups every ten to twelve weeks in winter; every seven to eight weeks in summer.
- Be sure chemicals are applied only to the new growth.
- Make sure the stylist uses the strength of hair relaxer most appropriate for your hair type.
- Avoid touch-ups if you have recently dyed or colored your hair or if your scalp itches.
- Do not let the stylist leave the relaxer on for longer than the suggested time.
- At the first sign of tingling, remove the relaxer. Don’t wait until it burns.
- Always deep condition after a touch-up to seal the cuticular layer and add shine and manageability to your hair.
- Wash every seven to ten days with a conditioning shampoo for chemically treated hair.
- Condition after every shampoo and deep condition every seven to ten days.
- Opt for rollers over curling irons or at least use a warm—not hot—iron.
- Get hair trimmed every eight weeks; if it’s badly damaged, cut off one or two inches.
- For looser curls, but not straight hair, ask for a texturizer.
Tips for Safely Using Hot Combs
The hot comb is an alternative tool to straighten thin or coarse hair, but hot combs can cause damage to the hair and scalp if overused or improperly used. Hot comb alopecia is hair loss from burning the hair follicle when using the hot comb. Here are tips for your hair’s care with hot combing:
- Use only an experienced hair stylist.
- If the hair comb turns a piece of tissue paper brown, it’s too hot,
- Use rollers, not a curling iron, after the hot comb,
- Don’t use a hot comb more than once a week.
- Wash hair every seven to ten days.
- Select a conditioning shampoo for dry, damaged hair.
- Use a deep conditioner or reconstructive conditioner after each shampoo.
- Condition squeezed-dry hair for 30 minutes or follow the product's instructions.
- Style the ends with a warm curling iron at home.
- Trim your hair about every eight weeks.
How to Take Care of Natural Hair
Natural hair is not chemically treated, hot-combed, or weaved. These styles tend to work with the hair’s texture instead of against it, minimizing potential damage. Some recommendations for natural hair care include:
- Wash once a week with a moisturizing shampoo containing mild cleansers.
- With braids or cornrows, wash every one to two weeks, giving your scalp extra attention.
- With locks, shampoo weekly or every ten days with a dry hair product.
- Follow shampooing with an instant conditioner. If your hair is dry, use a deep conditioner once a month or so.
- Trim close-cropped hair once or twice a month and wrap at night to prevent frizzing and drying.
The best way to complement a healthy complexion is with a healthy, lustrous head of hair. Listen to what your hair is telling you and treat it kindly.
By The Doctor, Jan 05, 2009
Women of color ESPECIALLY in the winter and dry climates need a good hair Moisturizer! I didn't say grease, I said moisturizer! Flat celled hair needs to be in a moist (not wet) environment (like a plant) to grow to its full potential. A lite moisturizer like Mikal Clay's Moisture Healing Balm or Aveda's hair moisturizer. Mikal Clay's helps heal hair and scalp to creat a healthy environment for hair to grow. All hair flat celled (black hair) and round celled (everyone else's) are made of 5 elements before they exit the scalp from the follicle. Those are carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Flat celled hair looses OH2 & H2 daily therefore needing the addition of moisture to the daily regimen.
Round celled hair makes it's own moisture in the (ROUND CELL) daily (with the exception of bleach blond hair) therefore having the need to shampoo out the moisture residue daily. With out moisture, breakage and access shedding will come about. I am a Chemist & Haircare specialist, you can get more info by logging onto www.mikalclay.com
By Elly G, Apr 06, 2009
great article, but i'd like to add something... I had damage hair 2 years ago.. due to over-dyed. I used to dye my hair 5 - 8 times a year.. I had a really bad split ends. So i started using herbal esseces shampoo and conditioner for dry and damage hair.... i wash my hair 3 times a week and now, my hair is fabulous and shiny..
By Janee P, May 11, 2009
I don't relax my hair...but, I color it often. I also bleach by brows to match my hair. - I love the look. I get a lot of compliments. The bad news is, my hair is really dry and brittle. I am shedding a lot of hair (my hair is getting thinner). I have been holding off on doing color in a last ditch effort...but I see broken hair in the sink every morning. And, YIKES!!! -I have about 3 inches of dark roots. -Can I do hilights? -What now?
By Karyn Polewaczyk, Jun 09, 2009
Although I'm not necessarily the target audience for this article, I can vouch that, as a former hair model (where my hair was regularly abused with dye, bleach, glue, extensions, twists and styles beyond your wildest imagination), one of the most important things anyone can do, of any color, is to not wash her (or his) hair every day. The secret to keeping it 'clean' is to use conditioner primarily at the ends, working your way up and avoiding the scalp and crown entirely. I do condition my scalp about once a month, but that's it. I've never washed my hair every day, and if it's feeling gritty, I'll rinse with a lightweight conditioner between shampoos (which happen twice a week, max). My hair is the healthiest its every been. Fish and flaxseed oils are winners for healthy shine, too!
By Gift D, Oct 23, 2009
Thank you doctor hair. I think that following the methods you suggested will give me the type of hair I would like to have. It seems that your suggestions may need a regular salon visits.
I like to go to the salon, but I have difficulty of being satisfied by my stylist. Therefore, I like to do my hair, but once a while I do visit. Now, for my kind of hair, which is very dry and lots of split ends, what type of deep conditioner, shampoo conditioner would you recommend for me to use. I would like your recommendation for a texturizer too because I love having curls and since my hair is very dry no matter how much oily product I pour in it, my curls are somewhat. Also, I do use hot iron too sometime, like on the go. What type of reconstructive product can I use.
Thank you very much again on this matter.
Gift