LivingDol1
Well-Known Member
Hi all...
So I've been transitioning from having relaxed hair for over a year. I wore braids over the summer. I took them out myself(pretty carefully, at least I thought) and have tried to manage to take care of my hair while trying to avoid having my hair care suck up the valuable hours in my life.
I just found that I had a patch of broken hair! It's near the crown, and about 2 inches long. The patch is maybe an inch wide. So, I know that this patch is not the result of accidentally cutting out a braid b/c my braided sections are much smaller than the patch. I'm trying to figure out what's causing the breakage. Here's what I've been doing and what I think may be causing issues. If any of you out there (especially naturals) can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it because I feel like shaving my head if I can't solve this.
1) I've been going to a Dominican salon. I happen to really like the salon thou. The girl who washes my hair does a pretty good job of washing and detangling. She does my roller sets. I never feel like my head is being yanked. There is one stylist who blows out my hair pretty well, and she doesn't make my hair too flat or too straight. Yes, the blow dryer is hot at times but at the roots, not scalding. Even still, because I was wary, I only let them set my hair and then wrap my hair, no blow out. That was 2 weeks ago. I'm worried that the blow dry is breaking my hair? I also read a thread about Dominican salons sneaking relaxers into conditioners. That made me paranoid! But, my scalp never burns when I get DCs. And my curl pattern hasn't changed. Lots of black women go to this salon and the owner said that they have no problem with natural hair. She knows I'm transitioning... So I'm not sure that theory holds up.
2) I wash and air dry sometimes. Usually, I will wear a high wet bun and I won't get around to washing my hair until 5 days late. I try to re-wet in between washes or at least rinse and detangle. Not sure if keeping a wet bun in the same place (high on the crown) is contributing to the breakage. A whole chucnk of hair?? I haven't had breakage anywhere else on my scalp. But this is not the first time I've noticed breakage in this area. It's just a larger patch than last time. The first patch was tiny, at the crown, and I thought it was due to cutting out a braid by accident. I also notice redness at the crown sometimes and it itches more than the rest of my scalp at times.
3) I may not be moisturizing properly. I don't know what to do. I use moisturizing conditioners. I use coconut oil. I use leave in conditioners. Naturals, what do you do to keep your hair from being dry?!
This is all I can think of. On Sunday, I washed my hair and instead of letting it dry in a wet bun, I divided my hair into 4 sections and twisted my hair with leave in.... I sat under my hair dryer for 20 minutes just to get it to not be totally wet and to avoid having tangled hair in a bun. This morning, I put steam rollers on my hair to get it to straighten out a bit more, which definitely helped. When it's not straight(blow dried straight), I get so much breakage when my hair dries naturally and I try to manipulate it.
*sigh* I'm wearing low buns for now. Avoiding the crown. No hair elastics. Just bobby pins. Thinking about buying some Alter Ego Herbal Ego for the breakage.... Might see the dermatologist. Might go back to my salon and explain the situation and see if they can be more careful with my hair? Or fess up to sneaking relaxers in the shampoo?? I'm so paranoid. Help!!!
So I've been transitioning from having relaxed hair for over a year. I wore braids over the summer. I took them out myself(pretty carefully, at least I thought) and have tried to manage to take care of my hair while trying to avoid having my hair care suck up the valuable hours in my life.
I just found that I had a patch of broken hair! It's near the crown, and about 2 inches long. The patch is maybe an inch wide. So, I know that this patch is not the result of accidentally cutting out a braid b/c my braided sections are much smaller than the patch. I'm trying to figure out what's causing the breakage. Here's what I've been doing and what I think may be causing issues. If any of you out there (especially naturals) can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it because I feel like shaving my head if I can't solve this.
1) I've been going to a Dominican salon. I happen to really like the salon thou. The girl who washes my hair does a pretty good job of washing and detangling. She does my roller sets. I never feel like my head is being yanked. There is one stylist who blows out my hair pretty well, and she doesn't make my hair too flat or too straight. Yes, the blow dryer is hot at times but at the roots, not scalding. Even still, because I was wary, I only let them set my hair and then wrap my hair, no blow out. That was 2 weeks ago. I'm worried that the blow dry is breaking my hair? I also read a thread about Dominican salons sneaking relaxers into conditioners. That made me paranoid! But, my scalp never burns when I get DCs. And my curl pattern hasn't changed. Lots of black women go to this salon and the owner said that they have no problem with natural hair. She knows I'm transitioning... So I'm not sure that theory holds up.
2) I wash and air dry sometimes. Usually, I will wear a high wet bun and I won't get around to washing my hair until 5 days late. I try to re-wet in between washes or at least rinse and detangle. Not sure if keeping a wet bun in the same place (high on the crown) is contributing to the breakage. A whole chucnk of hair?? I haven't had breakage anywhere else on my scalp. But this is not the first time I've noticed breakage in this area. It's just a larger patch than last time. The first patch was tiny, at the crown, and I thought it was due to cutting out a braid by accident. I also notice redness at the crown sometimes and it itches more than the rest of my scalp at times.
3) I may not be moisturizing properly. I don't know what to do. I use moisturizing conditioners. I use coconut oil. I use leave in conditioners. Naturals, what do you do to keep your hair from being dry?!
This is all I can think of. On Sunday, I washed my hair and instead of letting it dry in a wet bun, I divided my hair into 4 sections and twisted my hair with leave in.... I sat under my hair dryer for 20 minutes just to get it to not be totally wet and to avoid having tangled hair in a bun. This morning, I put steam rollers on my hair to get it to straighten out a bit more, which definitely helped. When it's not straight(blow dried straight), I get so much breakage when my hair dries naturally and I try to manipulate it.
*sigh* I'm wearing low buns for now. Avoiding the crown. No hair elastics. Just bobby pins. Thinking about buying some Alter Ego Herbal Ego for the breakage.... Might see the dermatologist. Might go back to my salon and explain the situation and see if they can be more careful with my hair? Or fess up to sneaking relaxers in the shampoo?? I'm so paranoid. Help!!!
