An N & M Segment on the Hair Advice
Disclaimer:
N: Okay I would have to be the worst person to ask for
advice on hair but I guess I should give what I do have.
M: A lot of people tend to come to me for
advice on hair, I’m not sure if I have good advice though.
I’ll let my hair speak for herself.
HairStory:
N: I started my natural hair my last year
in high school because getting perms and trying to get
my hair too cute was tiring and it just never worked out.
I got braids in after my last perm and then when I took
the braids out I had some new growth and then it went
uphill from there… I would also you know do stuff with
my hair. I’m not really a braids person but I know that
that’s usually a good way to grow your hair out. I got
cornrows or I would do knots or I would just wash condition
and comb it out. I did that for about 7months before I
finally cut off all the relaxed ends.
M: One fine Monday during my 1st
yr in University, 2nd semester, finals week…I
was STRESSED OUT and had worn a scarf the whole weekend.
I got very upset about that and told my friend to come
with me to the barbershop. Impulsive you say? Well no
one believed I was serious till I came back with a misshaped
fade. The barber who chopped my hair had messed up my
front hairline so I got a texturizer put in for the curly
look. My hair grew over that summer and I gelled it religiously
to keep my curls. I was happy with this look till the
day I washed my hair and discovered I had natural curls
(new growth) – I never put hair-altering chemicals to
my hair again (well, except hair dye).
General Maintenance
Washing
N: I just wash every two weeks. After I
wash my hair, when its still wet, because its soft and
easier to manage when its wet, I do big cornrows down
my head and leave it in like over night or till… whenever:
Having it in cornrows wet and letting it dry like that
makes it easier and softer to comb, also it straightens
your hair out, so that its not so tight and hard to manage.
M: I wash my hair when necessary; meaning
at least once every two weeks if I don’t have extensions
in it (that’s almost never). If I keep my hair in an afro
state, I rinse and condition without using any shampoo.
If it’s in twists or a twist out/or braid out (unraveled
twists or cornrows for a different effect) I wash it every
week. How often I wash my hair depends on the hair-do
I am carrying.
Conditioning
N: I like leave-in conditioner. I use that
sometimes. Mostly though its whatever generic counterpart
of the shampoo I’m using. Sometimes in between washes,
I’ll just wet my hair and run some conditioner through
it just to get it psyched for the week ahead. 
M: I used to use the counter conditioner
counterpart to my shampoo, then cholesterol as my conditioner
after washing, and now I just use hair mayonnaise as my
conditioner. I leave it in for 15 minutes and cover with
a shower cap. Use my hair dryer on it for a quick minute
before I rinse it out. I LOVE leave-in conditioners. They
make my hair feel special.
Blow-drying
N: One important thing that I never do is
blow dry my hair. I don’t even own a blow dryer (except
for work). My hair is always air dried after I wash.
M: I own three hairdryers (bought a new
one this week because I keep breaking my dryer picks).
I use my hair dryers depending on the look I’m going for
or how comfortable I am with dripping on myself for a
while. If I’m twisting my hair afterwards, I blow it out
to make things easy on me. If I’m fro’ing it out, I blow
it out if I want the thinner look, or blow it a certain
way if I want the fuller look, or just leave it to air
dry and pat it down. When it comes to drying, I believe
in ION Ionic hand dryers. Trust me when I say my hair
has been thanking me.
Moisturizing
N: Back in the day, I think I moisturized
my hair with …I don’t remember but I probably used Indian
hemp, or one of those things…probably not too much Indian
hemp because I heard that makes your hair thick, and shoot
I wasn’t trying to have my hair any thicker. Oh and then
well, grease is just…ugh grease! But as time went…I would
say I just let it do its thing. Now, I hardly moisturize.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t. The thing is my hair breaks
off sooo much right? And times when I would say “okay
I’m going to start taking care of my hair, and doing all
this stuff that people say to do,” it would still be the
same difference so like I said I’m just letting it do
what it does. I never really used any treatments lol.
Because a lot of all that extra stuff really can weigh
it down. Hair strands are dead cells anyways so all the
‘treatment’ stuff hardly works in general.
M: MOISTURIZE MOISTURIZE is what I PREACH!
But NEVER GREASE! NEVERRRRRR WEIGH all dem beautiful naps
down. NEVER! *sigh*. I used to believe in miracle gro’
and the likes but now I just go for natural oil lotions
like shea butter, olive oil e.t.c. I don’t want to touch
my hair and have to rub my elbows afterwards, but then
I don’t want to touch my hair and my fingers get ashy
from touching. You get the point shay? Since I also believe
in the power of hair dryers, I use my dryer on my hair
for a quick minute after putting in my oil lotions, I
guess it’s habit from when I used to use grease on my
hair and felt I had to melt the sucka into my head with
some heat. NO GREASE! It weighs your hair down and doesn’t
allow the natural flow. Big example, one time I got my
hair straightened with a hot comb and flat iron. If I
hadn’t greased my hair, the results would have been heavenly,
but since I greased my hair before hand, it had this heavy
look to it, instead of the free flow a good flat iron
job normally has.
Combing/Trimming
N: I don’t comb it except maybe about every
3 months to avoid dreading or extreme tangling. Some people
say its good to get trims, but honestly I feel the whole
point of having natural hair is to let go of all the extra
wahala and just keep your hair clean and let it grow on
its own.
M: I pick my hair while I wash it, I pick
it after I use my conditioner, I pick while I use my hand
dryer. Apart from that, my hair does not need picking
or combing as N puts it. I also believe in the power of
the brush…If you have an afro, try using a brush attachment
instead of a pick attachment on your dryer and you get
the fuller look to it.
Hair Styling
Hair Styles
N: The possibilities are endless…some require
more time and effort. Braids, plaits, rows, twists (various
types), twist outs, knots, and the ever-loving almighty
‘fro (tight or blown out), sewn-in weaves. My favorite
would probably be anything that involves letting the hair
out. Like having it in rows and then taking them out…and
well leaving them out. Or after I wash and its curly…I’ll
put some moisturizer in it, to keep it…well moist so the
curls stay in.
M: The beautiful thing about having natural
hair is that you can do ANYTHING with it. U can straighten
or do kinky styles without having to alter it chemically.
AND IT LASTS (long as you take care of it – like all other
hair). I love leaving my hair out in a fro, it’s just
so…unrestricting. Twists, Bantu knots, cornrows, twist
rows, half n’ half (fro’ n braids/ twists n cornrows/twist
rows n afro, and whatever combo suits your fancy), straw
sets, twist sets, twist or braid out, extensions (braids,
cornrows, or sew in weaves), and threading.
Coloring
N: For a while I hesitated coloring my hair,
because I didn’t wanna mess with its natural state. But
I finally really needed a change and I was either gonna
put a jheri curl in it or shave it bald…so one day I was
like ‘color? What if it falls out?’ But I was like whatever,
did the damn thing and…the hairdresser that did my color
recommended that I use a lot of protein hair products
and keep it greased up. Lol I tried to follow that regimen
for a week and I got tired. So its back to my normal stuff.
M: I resisted coloring my hair for a while
b’cuz I wanted the all natural thing, but I ALWAYS loved
color and wanted some badly. I always did extension cornrows
with 4 different colors at once so I had to color my hair
own hair, and it got messed up, I can always chop off
my hair. First try, I used some shade of red, some box
coloring thing. Lol – I think I only really went to professionals
to do my hair when it was permed. Anyways, I used some
shade of red and it didn’t really come out right. So about
two weeks later, I used lavender with a booster, and it
turned out orangish. I LOVED it! Now my hair’s longer
and people ask who dyed my tips, lol.
Straightening
N: Since I’ve had my hair un-relaxed, I
have gotten it professionally pressed straight three times.
You know with a hot comb, and a flat iron. That was cool,
switch it up. I think I’ll do that once or twice a year
from now on.
M: Technically, I’ve had my hair straightened
once. The night before a show, I had my friend use her
flat iron, and she GREASED the life out my hair. She then
flat ironed it and it was so poofy! The next day I had
it done professionally, but did not have time to wash
my hair before hand. My hairdresser complained so much
about the grease, but he still worked with it. It came
out really nicely, but I think I’m happier when I have
my naps – it suits my big head.
Products
N: I shouldn’t recommend products for hair
haha but I will! I’ll probably tell you to use some generic
crap anyways. Okay for real…Really all you need is the
minimal: shampoo, conditioner . As far as hair moisturizing
goes, something that is not too greasy. I have some motions
hair lotion that I use…and I guess that’s good. TCB lite
moisturizer that’s really good ...because it moisturizes
but its not oily.
M: I LOVEEEEEEE my PANTENE PRO V! why? Iono!
Lol I guess it’s because it says “for colored people”.
Sha..as far as I’m concerned I can use OMO on my hair,
but I don’t. I wash with three shampoos: some old one
I had that refused to throw out, some tea tree oil shampoo
I found in the apartment I was subletting at, and my Pantene
pro V for colored people’s hair. I use them in that order.
Then I condition with hair mayonnaise – any brand is fine.
For my post wash care, I use CANTU SHEA BUTTER leave-in
conditioner, and their daily oil moisturizer that is in
form of hair lotion. I have considered switching from
Pantene pro v to CANTU shampoo and conditioner too. I
don’t kill my hair with products and I don’t need any
strengthening or straightening creams so I don’t use them.
Final Words
N: Now I think the advice I will give you
is more towards that of my mom and sister. They both started
to grow their hair out because relaxers were really doing
bad things to their hair. Both of their hairs grew really
fast and probably healthier than mine (even though mine
stay looking flyer lol). They initially did not really
wear their own hair though; weaves, braids, cornrows (I
think weaves are a good way to grow out your hair) They
wash, condition, and moisturize on the regular. They comb
their hair…lol
I know my sister does a lot of hot comb
presses like when she wears her own hair without braids
or weave.
Points to remember: Wash every two weeks,
Condition every week, DON’T blow-dry, let hair AIR dry,
Do Braids, Cornrows. Use a moisturizer that is light and
not oily. Keep products that you use on your hair to a
minimum so if anything changes or wahala comes you know
what caused it.
Love your hair period and just don’t think
too much about it let it grow on its own terms!!
M: Just like our bodies, all our hair is
different. What works for me may not work for you, especially
when it comes to hairstyles and head shapes. Lol. But
for real though, treat your hair with respect. Live a
fairly healthy life and your hair would be healthy. You
can’t not drink any water and expect your hair to blossom.
You can’t be stressed out and pulling on your hair but
expect it to look its healthiest. It is connected to the
rest of your body and needs you to survive. PLEASE wash
your hair and MOSTURIZE! I don’t care if you condition/deep
condition and the rest, keep it hydrated in between washes.
It’s like feeding once every two weeks, you can’t do that.
Take care of it in between washes and visits to the doctor
or hair dresser or whoever fixes you up.
Things I haven’t done but I know works for
other people –
Deep Conditioning – Use hair mayonnaise
or cholesterol conditioner overnight or for a few hours,
cover with a shower cap or heat cap, and rinse out the
next day.
Conditioners – break some eggs into a bowl,
beat it, put in hair – wash out. You can also mix the
eggs with shea butter, carrot oil, corn oil, other natural
oils. I personally don’t think I’ll be happy with eggs
in my hair :shrug:
At the end of the day, your hair has its
own natural oils and you don’t want to use too much on
it and strip it of its own juices. Let your hair breathe,
and just straight up LOVE IT!
Product Links
N:
http://www.sallybeauty.com/shop/1258/126013
http://www.sallybeauty.com/shop/1255/126914
My mom likes this
http://www.sallybeauty.com/shop/1255/130040
she said it makes her hair soft…I don’t really like the
way it makes my hair feel. But then again our hair texture
is different and mine with color in it is kind of weird
now. But I found the trick is not to use a lot, or use
it when your hair is wet before you cornrow.
M:
http://www.sallybeauty.com/shop/1630/303076
http://www.sallybeauty.com/shop/1253/373730
http://www.cantusheasoft.com/index.htm
Peace and Brain Juice:
Nkeiruka and Margaret-Mary!
