Learning to Comb My Natural Hair

When I was a kid I had natural hair and it was usually washed, bloodied, combed, brushed and styled. I was natural during the era of the relaxer in the 90's. I can recall people saying I had thick hair, but I never remembered having difficult to manage hair. In those days my tools included hair grease,  a small tooth Goody comb and a boar bristle brush. When my hair was not in plaits it was sometimes groomed daily and I had length and thickness.

   Fast forward a few years and went the way of relaxers with braided extensions worn quite frequently.  By 2001 I was ready to go natural permanently.  When I chose to ho natural there were online forums and a few books and online albums offering advice on how to groom natural hair. For over 10 years I faithfully followed the tenets of grooming natural hair according to the internet.  I learned at first to use wide tooth combs and to detangle my hair while it was wet with lots of conditioner.  The longer my hair grew the more arduous and cumbersome these detangling sessions became.  After a few years I gave up combs all together and went with finger detangling. My detangling sessions were still the bane of my existence. I had tons and tons of single strand knots and was drained and exhausted by the prospect of grooming my hair.

    In my recent frustration with detangling I decided to try something different and low and behold I stumbled upon a method to detangle my hair without all the hassle.  I have been using a wide tooth comb with super long teeth. The keys I found to successfully using this trusty tool is all in the technique.

   1. Air-dry and braid the hair to stretch it over night before attempting to detangle the hair. I learned the hard way that it is much easier to work on elongated hair than shrunken hair.

2. The second step and key to success is controlling moisturize levels in the hair to aid with combing. Too much water and the hair shrinks, knots, tangles and curls. No water and their is too much friction.  A light misting of water so that the hair is just barely damp, closer to dry, then the application of a shea butter cream and some hair oil provide soft supple hair that is pliable and easier to work with.

3. When moisturizing and detangle only apply product to the section you are combing,  wetting all your hair will just cause it to shrink and tangle. In your small section moisturize,  comb and style the hair before moving to the next section.  I find a twist or braids works well.

If you are like me natural,  but having a hard time detangling your hair I would recommend trying out working with stretched hair that is slightly wet and moisturized and using a wide tooth comb.  For me I will be keeping my trusty comb handy from now on.

CLM

Natural Hair Secrets You Should Know! Sculpt before Styling!

How to achieve a bun on twist or braids that shrink like the dickens!

If you are like me then your hair grows shorter in the front and add to that the fact that it shrinks. This combination of hair that shrinks along with slow growth in the front makes pulling your twist into a bun nearly impossible. If you have shoulder-length or neck length hair and have been battling with your twist or braids to force them into a bun then you might like this tip.

Braid the base of your twist or braids in the direction of the nape of your neck. Pretend you are doing some cornrows and braid your actual braids or twist going back. Most of us DIY naturals have learned to braid or twist our hair going to the right or left side for ease and comfort while gripping and braiding or twisting the hair. To create a sculpted style such as a twisted or braided bun you want to be intentional in the direction you twist/braid your hair in. You want your braids/twist to lie flat like you are smoothing your hair into a bun. The sculpting starts in the direction you are braiding your hair. Once your braid the base of your twist/braid down about ½ of inch going straight back towards your nape, you can then switch off to braiding or twisting the hair holding it at an angle going down toward the right or left for ease and comfort while styling.

So next time you twist your hair knowing that you want to rock a bun, make sure to twist your hair so that all the roots/bases are going back, and your twist are lying flat. You can always braid the root to make the twist lie down flat and they help control twisted bead head in the morning. To save time you can use this technique on the hair that is the front of your head. Happy styles.

CLM

Comb: A love hate relationship!

My best friend and the devil

For the past few weeks I have drastically changed my natural hair care routine. The main thing I changed was putting down the wide tooth comb and trying dry finger detangling with olive oil. Putting down my wide tooth comb proved disastrous for me. My hair has a love hate relationship with the wide tooth comb. When I use it faithful to detangle my hair each week before washing, it works wonders. When I do not use it as I learned during my dry finger detangle debacle, I discover tons of single strand knots. Not using a comb contributes to the production of split ends on my fine and fragile hair. On the other hand, should I comb my hair daily, I might see tons of breakage, and if I comb my hair dry, I can kiss my hair goodbye!

I had been combing my hair with the wide tooth comb using some cheap conditioner. I found that I was struggling and I felt like my hair was being riped through my comb. I was becoming so frustrated. I was beginning to think my hair could not be combed at all. What I discovered was that I was applying the conditioner to my hair and instantly combing it. I was not allowing the conditioner time to penetrate my hair shaft and bring moisture to my strands. When my hair is supple, it is pliable, flexible and elastic, it is more durable and can be combed with the wide tooth comb. By sitting with the conditioner on my head for at-least 20 minutes I have hair that is much easier to comb.

What I observed through dry detangling with olive oil, is that my hair does not do well when it is stretched to within an inch of it’s life without moisture. My stretched hair was brittle and my brittle hair was prone to breakage, even from the gentle touch of my fingers. My hair produced tons of knots. When I was putting the oil’s onto my dry hair, that eats up oil’s, I was only making my hair more dry.

The major lesson I learned is that in order for my hair to be happy, I have to use a wide tooth comb on moisturized hair. By deep conditioning my hair prior to combing, I have hair that is easier to comb. When I comb my hair weekly I remove the shed hairs that pile up during the week and have an easier time to detangle the next week.

My routine is as follows:

1.      Remove style (usually two strand twist)

2.      Apply conditioner and twist hair in sections and sit for 20 min with plastic cap

3.      Use wide tooth comb to detangle and braid hair

4.      Wash hair using a sulfate-free shampoo ( I heart design essentials, and shea moisture)

5.      Apply a leave in to braided hair (I like design essentials daily hair lotion)

6.      Seal with a smidge of oil (Always add oil to moisturized hair for moi)

7.      Allow hair to air-dry for as long as I feel like it (over night or a few hours)

8.      Twist hair using a cream of butter (design essentials curl stretching cream is nice)

9.      Style hair in a bun of sorts or two large French braids

10.   Repeat process after 7 days

CLM

Nappy Hair Rescue 911!

I have been natural for over 10 years. Since I went natural in 2002 I have had my share of up's and downs. I remember when I was first getting started I would go to the library and hunt for any book at all that mentioned hair, African Hair, Braiding or Black Hair Care. I mostly found a few books on tribal hair styles, and a few books on relaxing hair. I recall coming across Nappturality and Motown girl websites, as well as few fotki albums. I tried my best to care for my hair. Along the way I tried several things that really were misses and wondered onto to some things that were hits. I am so happy today's African-American have wonderful blog's like CurlyNikki and plenty of youtube channels. They also have a plethora of products to choose from, unlike myself who had to hunt down ingredients at specialty health food stores.

So here are some of my misses.

1. Co-Washing. This did not really work for me. I have a very sensitive scalp and the conditioners would just irritate my scalp. I never felt like my hair was getting clean and it was not easier to comb after Co-Washing.

2. Wide Tooth Comb. Not until this year have I finally let go of the notion that my fine hair strands are meant to go through any comb at all. I use to slather conditioner onto my hair and comb in small sections to no avail. All I did was have my very kinky hair shrink up and snap back before snapping off.

3. Gels and Creams and the like. I discovered pretty quickly that my curl was tight enough to hold any two-strand twist without any products.

4. Rinse Out Conditioner. No matter what product I used to clean my hair with, adding conditioner and then rinsing it out did absolutely nothing for my hair. Protein conditioner's actually made my hair feel worse.

5.Mini-Twist on hair 4 inches or longer. This style just caused my hair to tangle like crazy.

6.Flat-twist/ Cornrows. All I did was rip my hair line out trying to get my fumble fingers to create tension to hold the style together.Some times the braid or twist would puff and frizz instantly, other times it would wait a respectable day or two.

7. Being a product junkie. I was always on the hunt for the next miracle product that would make my hair easier to comb or would help me grow (I mean retain length!) No such product existed!

8. Copying every thing from other people's routines. Just because the person I was studying had long natural hair, did not mean I could do exactly what they did to 1. produce the same style or 1. Get my hair to retain the same length.

Now here are some of my hits!

1. Sulfate-free shampoo ( I love the bubbles! I love having a shampoo that does not strip every thing off the hair. I heart Shea Moisture, Eden Body Works, Black Earth Products etc)

2. Leave-Conditioner- Works wonders after a shampoo, especially once I discovered how to seal in all that good moisture with good old oils like Olive Oil.

3. Dry Finger Detangling. I am new to this. I am learning that by not ripping my hair out every time I detangle I can keep the hair on my head. ( Do use Olive Oil for lubrication!)

4. Two-strand twist. Have been a fan since day 1 of my journey. I like my med-large. Easy to put in, easy to take down. (Just learned that after a week, I can re-twist the hair, remove the shed hair and get another week out of the style. I use to just rock the twist for several weeks without re-twisting and I was in for tangle city when it came time to take it down. This caused me to wash and twist weekly for a while, which took up way too much time, especially since I was still using the dreaded comb.

This natural hair think is not rocket science. It has been fun to learn, grow, make mistakes and get some things right on my journey. Everyone's hair is unique and everyone's journey is unique. Don't be afraid to learn.

One of the biggest things I have learned so far is that while I was staying away from relaxers and heat styling tools, I was coveting the one tool that was doing the most damage to my natural hair, the wide tooth comb! While other's hair may have been strong enough to survive the comb, mine was not. I hope you learn something wonderful about your own hair today! May you have fun along the way!

CLM

2013 Hair Routine!

2013 Hair Routine My hair is long enough to fit into a twisted bun so I have achieved my 2012 hair length goal. My goal for 2013 is to maintain my length have a simple routine and see some more growth. I will be maintaining my hair in two strand twist, which I will keep in for one month. My routine is as follows: step 1: Remove twist, and braid hair for washing. Step 2: Apply conditioner of choice to hair, comb with wide tooth comb and twist hair. Step 3: As needed apply conditioner to hair for moisture. Step 4: Put twist into two banded pony-tails to sleep. CLM

My Tried and True Natural Style

Back in the day my style staple was fake hair braids down my back. I reached for these braids when I had an interview and even for my wedding. For years I rocked these braids. These days now that my natural hair is quite long, I opt for a twisted style sans fake hair with flat-twist in the front. I have found I have out grown my old extensions. I no longer wish to spend 8 hours braiding and the fake hair makes me itch. I will be wearing a protective style from Sept -Jan, basically just keeping my hair in twist. CLM

My 2012 Routine!

“My 2012 Hair Mission”

I am on a serious mission to hone all the skills and knowledge I have gained about natural hair to retain some serious length this year. I truly believe I will meet my personal hair goal of having a braided pony-tail this year! Along the way I hope to manage my hair and a simple and care free way.

The essential knowledge: Low- manipulation!

Do not handle hair in it’s loose state. Always care for the hair in a protected state such as when it is braided. Wash braided hair, style braided hair, moisturize braided hair, and finger detangle hair that is braided one braid at a time!

Finger detangle hair, do not attempt to use combs, brushes or other devices to detangle hair, just separate hair with your fingers and remove the shed hair.

Wear long-term styles such as braids will last for several weeks before needing to be re-braided.

The method: Pseudo-LOCKS!

Start: Create a grid of box-braids, the braids should be small enough to be versatile in styling and washing and yet large enough to easily put in and take down.

Maintain: Once a month redo the braids one at a time by taking the braid down and finger detangling (separating the hair with your fingers to remove the shed hair) and re-braid the unit. Repeat the process until all the braids are fresh.

Care: Wash braids as needed with a product of choice, focus on scalp and dilute product for easy rinsing. Apply leave-in moisture spray of choice and follow with oil if needed. ( Note: you can put as little or as much effort into the care as you please)

Style: Style your braids in a variety of styles, experimenting with different accessories.

CLM