ThursdayGirl
Well-Known Member
If you're considering going natural, have recently gone natural, may go natural in the future or are wondering why so many women are making the decision to go natural... you should read:
Let's Talk Hair
by Pam Ferrell
I have a few hair care books laying around, but this is one of the best and most informative that I have read about caring for natural African American hair.
Pam's book goes through the history of black hair, the different kinds of chemical treatments you can have done, why they *may* be bad for you (I like how she doesn't demonize relaxing, but rather promotes limiting the number of retouches you get a year - if you decide to relax), the structure of hair, how to characterize your hair (she doesn't use LOIS, Andre' or Fia's system), how to transition, the phases that transitioning hair goes through (short but informative), and how to manipulate natural hair. She also briefly discusses how nutrition and health can affect hair health and hair retention, which herbs are best for brightening hair color, the signs of overprocessed hair, when its better to transition vs. bc, and the various negative influences that affect our decisions on what to do with our hair.
Most of the information, you may have read on this website or another site devoted to natural hair; however, Pam presents it in a concise easy-to-read format in this book. *Sometimes if you're just starting your haircare journey its hard to know which threads to bump...or where to start reading.* Pam's book does a good job of introducing the basics.
What helps make this book money well spent is the styling section in the back. She has pictures of some GORGEOUS natural hairstyles done with natural hair, braids, twists, locs and weaves (she also describes how to do some of them). The black and white pictures are really beautiful and help the reader appreciate the versatility of our hair and the beauty of natural hairstyling. The styling section is also good for giving ideas of how to style the hair for different occassions (i.e. work, formal occassions, casual day wear). Finally, the styles are done on different lengths of hair (although most styles are on shoulder-length hair or shorter).
I think the two main things that I didn't like about the book were her advocation of using a handheld hairdryer, though she does mention the potential for heat damage with heat styling-and her advocation of using shampoo (I'm finding conditioner washes to be immensely helpful in managing my transitioning hair).
I should also note that most of the models in this book have 4a/b type hair.
235 pg. ~$20.00 or less depending upon where you buy it.
Let's Talk Hair
by Pam Ferrell
I have a few hair care books laying around, but this is one of the best and most informative that I have read about caring for natural African American hair.
Pam's book goes through the history of black hair, the different kinds of chemical treatments you can have done, why they *may* be bad for you (I like how she doesn't demonize relaxing, but rather promotes limiting the number of retouches you get a year - if you decide to relax), the structure of hair, how to characterize your hair (she doesn't use LOIS, Andre' or Fia's system), how to transition, the phases that transitioning hair goes through (short but informative), and how to manipulate natural hair. She also briefly discusses how nutrition and health can affect hair health and hair retention, which herbs are best for brightening hair color, the signs of overprocessed hair, when its better to transition vs. bc, and the various negative influences that affect our decisions on what to do with our hair.
Most of the information, you may have read on this website or another site devoted to natural hair; however, Pam presents it in a concise easy-to-read format in this book. *Sometimes if you're just starting your haircare journey its hard to know which threads to bump...or where to start reading.* Pam's book does a good job of introducing the basics.
What helps make this book money well spent is the styling section in the back. She has pictures of some GORGEOUS natural hairstyles done with natural hair, braids, twists, locs and weaves (she also describes how to do some of them). The black and white pictures are really beautiful and help the reader appreciate the versatility of our hair and the beauty of natural hairstyling. The styling section is also good for giving ideas of how to style the hair for different occassions (i.e. work, formal occassions, casual day wear). Finally, the styles are done on different lengths of hair (although most styles are on shoulder-length hair or shorter).
I think the two main things that I didn't like about the book were her advocation of using a handheld hairdryer, though she does mention the potential for heat damage with heat styling-and her advocation of using shampoo (I'm finding conditioner washes to be immensely helpful in managing my transitioning hair).
I should also note that most of the models in this book have 4a/b type hair.
235 pg. ~$20.00 or less depending upon where you buy it.
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