Oils On Your Hair!

As many of you may now... I'm adopted. I was raised in a Hispanic family. That being said anyone who has seen any of my videos or pictures know that I have ethnic hair with a large amount of texture. Now growing up, I didn't know much of anything about hair care. Once I was taken to a salon (the first time when I was in elementary school, I was told to put grease (yes grease!) on my hair.

Alright, I know I have either scarred some of you for life or I have brought back some less that enjoyable childhood memories, but it was necessary... Well, maybe it wasn't... LOL.

Anywho... oils. More specifically oils for your hair.

I have been using olive oil in my conditioners and as a sealant but I didn't know that olive oil along with a few other oils are able to absorb some into your hair. I wasn't sure the reason for this so I did some research. Most oils just sit on the top of the hair shaft with little to no absorption. This is because the molecules are too large to penetrate the shaft.

So what is a person to do? Switch to coconut, avocado, or olive oil. These oils have a small enough molecular structure to penetrate the shaft and soak into your hair. These oils are great on their own or mixing with other conditioners... Added bonus? They are wonderful to cook with and are good for you.

I hope this helps some of you on your journey! HHJ!

Direct Heat vs. Indirect Heat

Getting a child in the 3^rd grade to sit still while getting their hair pressed is not an easy task! I remember it very well. I was sitting there trying my best not to squirm, at the Little House Of Charms. The lady that did my hair at the time was an older lady (at that point in my life, everyone was old!), she was nice until I squirmed... Then, she would flick me in the head with the hot comb. I went in once every other week to get my frizzy, unruly hair straightened. I loved the way it looked when straight. The other little kids didn't seem to pick on me as much... There I sat, I smelled like Blue Magic and heard the snap, crackle, pop of my hair and it tamed to the command of the heat. At the time I had no clue what direct heat or indirect heat was...

Direct Heat:

Heat that is applied directly to the hair with or without a heat protect. For visual purposes imagine a blow torch being applied directly to a branch... Not only is it going to cause the branch to smoke over time but it was suffer extensive damage and will snap... This is often what we subject our hair to when we are using flat irons, curling irons, and blow dryers just to name a few.

Indirect Heat:

This is heat that is applied in an evenly in an indirect manner... This visualization will be slightly different. Imagine chicken on a barbecue grill... So long as you do not leave it on the grill for too, long it will not dry out but it will cook evenly... provided that you flip it over, lol. This is when we sit under the hooded dryer in the salon.

When using heat, indirect heat is ideal because the chance for damage and breakage are cut down quite a bit. Minimizing heat exposure will minimize heat damage. But, if you aren't able to cut out your heat exposure completely here are some things to remember:

1. Cut it down to once or twice a month (spread it out if it's twice a month). As I said before, minimizing heat will minimize the damage. Cut it down to a once a month heat pass.
2. Use a protectant. You don't have to go out and buy Chi Silk Infusion ( I use either the generic Silk Infusion from Sally's for around $7. If you can't afford that one, I also like the Tresseme Heat Protectant.
3. Be sure that you are not going over the same piece of hair too many times (direct heat). When using a blow-dryer, flat iron, etc, make sure that you go over each piece only as many times that you need to straighten the hair.

I hope this was helpful to you. HHJ.

Moisturizing And Sealing

Part I

Part II

Have You Clarified Your Hair Lately?

It's no secret, there are toxins all around us. That's why we wash our face and bodies daily. When you have ethnic hair, you are often told not to wash your hair. This, itself, throws you into a conundrum! To wash or not to wash... And with what? Clarifying! Clarifying is necessary. Without it your hair will be similar to a dry sponge covered in petroleum jelly... Try dropping that sponge into water so that it can absorb what moisture it needs... It wont, because of the build up of petroleum jelly. The only way to get the water immediately into the sponge, is to apply soap to the sponge to break down the petroleum jelly and remove it from the sponge...

I have found, for my own hair, that I must clarify once a week (I can probably go longer than that but, I got myself into a regimen). When I clarify depending on what I am trying to strip out of my hair I either reach for my ORS Uplifting Shampoo or my ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo.

ORS UPLIFTING SHAMPOO

This shampoo tingles when you use it so you may want to do a patch test to be sure you have no allergic reaction. In my personal experience, this shampoo is very good for stripping build up in the way of oils and conditioner has built up. My hair doesn't really get flakes, so I didn't have to worry about getting those.

ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo

This shampoo removes some of the same build up that the ORS Uplifting Shampoo does. Because it is used as the neutralizing shampoo following the no-lye relaxer, it is a chelating shampoo. Chelating shampoos remove the build up of minerals on the hair shaft. This comes in handy when you live in an area with hard water.

Regardless, of if you live in an area with hard water or if you have too much product build up in your hair, clarifying is a way to remove this and you can do the treatment right from home. I hope this helps any questions you have on clarifying your hair. Happy Hair Journeying!

The Moisture Protein Balance

The hair on everyone's head is different. Some straight, some curly. Some soft and silky, others, rough and wiry. But one thing still remains, it's all hair. Hair has to have the correct balance of moisture and protein, if not, breakage will occur.

Moisturizing Conditioners

Moisturizing conditioners will put moisture back into the hair. These conditioners will list water as one of the main ingredients as water is a necessary component to moisturize hair. Be careful when walking down the shampoo and conditioner aisle, there are many “moisturizing” conditioners that have silk proteins that will actually put more protein into your hair.

Moisturizing conditioners are needed when your hair is dry. You hair may snap off at the slightest touch. This is a good indication that your hair may be dry and need some moisture.

Protein Conditioners

Your hair is primarily made up of a specific protein called keratin. The thing about your hair is that it is essentially dead when it comes out of the follicle. Some will disagree, but I will cover that in another post. If you have relaxed hair, you may already know, the bonds in this protein in your hair are weakened in order to straighten your hair.

Protein conditioners will strengthen your hair and will most times list “strengthening” on the label as a characteristic. These types of conditioner are needed when you hair feels mushy or gummy when wet. There are soft protein conditioners and hard protein conditioners. The strength of the conditioner you will need will depend on how mushy your hair is.

In either case, adding or alternating the correct conditioners to your hair regimen is essential for retaining length and having a healthy hair journey.

My Hair Journey

Sitting in an elementary school desk and trying to explain to the other children why my hair is different was hard... It's even more difficult when I wasn't even sure why my hair is so different... I have been on a healthy hair journey since June of 2009. My hair was barely out of the neck length category...

I'm currently somewhere between Arm Pit Length and Bra Strap Length...

I will be keeping you guys posted on this journey... While there is no final destination, it should be interesting along the way.