What do I need to do to my hair after I wash it?

Question

Ok so I am a black female and now adays, I'm having a lot of trouble with my hair. My hair used to be really really long, but it started breaking. So, sometime in 07, I cut it to where I had it slicked down. My hair has grown back a lot in the front and top, but in the back, sides, and center, it still seems to be breaking. The hair on the top is now about 6inches, but the rest goes from <1 to 3 or 4 inches. I have no idea what to do to it after I wash my hair. Should I blow dry it and then add something in or should I put something in before I dry it... I have absolutely no idea.... And please give me the names of hair care products that you know work.... I only want info from people who know what they are talking about... thanx

Answer 1

Well, I don&#039;t know if you have relaxed or natural hair, or some other chemical in it.

Firstly, you need to figure out if anything in your regimen is causing your hair to break off. You mentioned blow drying. Heat can damage your hair. If you fry your hair too much then you can permanently damage your hair and cause it to break. I know because I&#039;ve had heat damage from curling irons. Switch to rollers because they are healthier for your hair and they still get the job done. Are you wearing braids or extensions? Prolonged use of these can cause your hair to break when you take them out because they can cause dry, brittle hair. Also, if your braids are too tight then this will put strain on your hair and cause it to break, especially along the hairline. If you tie things around your hair then make sure they&#039;re not too tight.

To regain healthy hair you have to start taking good care of it which will mean getting rid of your current regime because it&#039;s obviously not working.  Keep heat away from your hair, including blow driers, curling irons, and flat irons, and get relaxers on time, if you&#039;re not already. Start deep conditioning on a regular basis, like once a week or twice a month. This will help strengthen your hair. Make sure you are washing regularly. If you have a perm, then you can wash once a week, but not too much because you don&#039;t want to deplete the natural oils in your hair. When my hair was at it&#039;s healthiest I kept it well moisturized, washed it once a week, and I didn&#039;t use heat. I didn&#039;t need all the expensive products and at the time I was using Panteen shampoo and conditioner and TCB lite conditioner on my scalp.

You can also massage your scalp nightly to facilitate hair growth. When you detangle your hair after washing make sure you detangle it with the conditioner in your hair because this will make it easier than trying to do it while your hair is drying and this could also mean less breakage. Your regimin should look something like this:

1. Wash

2. Deep conditioner (leave on for 45-60 minutes with a conditioner cap)

3. Add conditioner (something you leave in for about 5 minutes and wash out)

4. Detangle hair as soon as you&#039;ve added the conditioner

5. After detangling you should add more conditioner if you need it and let it sit for about 5 minutes

6. Wash out

7. Add a leave-in conditioner

8. I usually waited until my hair dried to moisturize my scalp

9. Style as usual - without blow driers and curling irons

I usually let my hair air dry because I didn&#039;t have one of those dryers that you could sit under and I don&#039;t own a blow dryer for good reason; I usually put it in a ponytail to dry (if it&#039;s cold outside then wash your hair at night or on a day where you will be home for awhile to let it air dry. Or, if you can do this at night, then you can let it dry some while you sleep at night. Don&#039;t forget to wear that satin/silk scarf over your hair to help it retain it&#039;s moisture, or sleep on a satin pillowcase. Don&#039;t harshly brush your hair because it can cause it to break.

There aren&#039;t any magical products to use. I&#039;ve experienced severe breakage before and it was because I was neglecting my hair. Other breakage came because of a bad weave and another time because of a bad perm. Go into a store like Walgreens and buy a product specifically for damaged hair. For instance, I bought Dove and Panteen that was specifically designed for hair breakage. No specific reason other than products for every hair type works best on my relaxed hair, plus they are cheap. When looking for a deep conditioner look for something that is specifically designed for breakage or damaged hair. I use BioInfusion Olive Oil deep conditioner, but this is because my hair is very dry and olive oil is a natural moisturizer. As a leave in I usually used a Dove or Panteen spray-in, but you can find a cream leave-in if that&#039;s what you want. I tried different brands but stuck with Dove because its light weight formula felt good in my hair. You might have to experiment with products that work best for your hair because everyone&#039;s hair isn&#039;t the same. I&#039;ve also heard good reviews about the Aphogee line of products.

If you are doing your own perm then you might be doing something wrong when you&#039;re applying it that could be causing the breakage. I let someone put in my perm one time and my hair went from just above shoulder length to above my ear in one week, and this is not exaggerating. After that I only let professionals put in my perm.

My suggestion is to start visiting a hair salon if you haven&#039;t. They are professionals and they have to get their licenses renewed yearly, so they aren&#039;t working on outdated information. They might also be able to tell you what could be causing the breakage.

I got tired of the foolishness and high maintenance of perms and I went natural again.

Good luck.