HELP!!!!

[Sundiva]

Hello!! I have been natural for coming up on two years and I need help. I recently moved from the Midwest region to the Northeast and it has been nothing good for my hair. I have always had a stylist to help me with my hair up until I moved and I was able to do alot on my own and my hair was growing. When I arrived, things were great for awhile and then around November, my hair started to break off badly. Now, I believe I helped the breakage along. The only style I know how to do is a twist out. I have type 4a hair and my twistouts look so much better dry and blown out before being twisted. I do think the blow dryer helped the breakage but I had done them before and really there was no breakage so still kind of threw me. ANYWAY...I started to keep my hair in twists and didnt blow dry it. It continued to break!!! Right now, I just took a sew-in out and its no better. I am soo lost right now and any help or advice anyone can give me about healthy hair regimens as well as products for my hair type that will help it grow and be strong again would sooooo be appreciated. I just feel like my efforts as far as my regimen is pointless and not working. I need some advice and help to learn habits that will work. I will stop now although I could go on and on:O Please help me!!!

 

[baddison]

welcome to the LHCF family

Tell us about your regimen. How often do you wash? Condition? What products do you use? Besides blowdrying are you applying other direct heat? Do you moisturize daily?

I'm sure once you hang around here and get fabulous advice from the experts, you can nurse you hair back to health.

 

[Sundiva]

Well, I try to wash my hair every week, at most every 2 weeks. I just recently started doing a deep conditioner, I was just using a leave-in conditioner and then twisting wet. I use a denman brush but at times I feel it is pulling out my hair. I was using the Carol's Daughter shampoo, Tui and the Black Vanilla as well as Herbal Essences as a backup. For conditioner, its never the same. The leave-in I was using was the Carol's daughter one, that was the most consistent. I can't even remember the others cause its so many, just what ever my money can buy. When it comes to heat, the blowdryer was the only heat I was using and I don't really moisturize daily.

 

[camilla]

YOUR HAIR NEEDS MORE MOISTURE!! TRY TO WASH ONCE A WEEK IN SECTIONS BRAID IT AND WASHING IN SECTIONS USING THE CROWN AND GLORY METHOD

http://www.growafrohairlong.com/shampooingnatural.html

REMEMBER HAIR NEEDS MOISTURE AND PROTIEN TO GROW I WASH ONCE A WEEK AND CO WASH (RINSE AND WASH HAIR WITH MOISTURIZING CONDITIONER NO SHAMPOO) ONCE A WEEK
TRY TO USE NATURAL HAIR PRODUCTS SHAMPOO WITH SULFATES DRY OUT THE HAIR AND CONES BLOCK OUT MOISTURE CHECK OUT THE SITE BELOW

http://healthycurls.awardspace.com/free.html

AND CHECK OUT
http://motowngirl.com/content/
ALOT OF THINGS FOR YOUR HAIR CAN BE FOUND IN YOUR KITCHEN ALSO STALK...LOL THE GIRLS WITH NATURAL HAIR CHECK OUR THERE FOTKIS

 

[camilla]

NATURALS PLEASE HELP


MOISTURIZE NIGHTLY AND USE A LITTLE OIL TO SEAL

 

[Tyra]

http://motowngirl.com/content/
"ALSO STALK...LOL THE GIRLS WITH NATURAL HAIR CHECK OUR THERE FOTKIS"

What she said. Trust me I learned a whoooooole lot just by stalking. lol.

 

[darlingdiva]

Welcome aboard!!!

First things first: calm down & take a deep breath. It's going to be okay. I have decreased my breakage but not to my satisfaction. Breakage drives me crazy, so I definitely understand how you feel.

I echo everything that Camilla has said. You need moisture and protein. You have to listen to your hair and figure out how to incorporate the balance into your regimen in a way that works for you. I'm a natural 4a/b (but mostly 4a). I definitely need moisture and protein. Moisture alone = breakage for me & protein alone makes my hair hard.

You said that twist-outs are the only style that you know how to do. The same is true for me. However, twist-outs are a lot of manipulation (especially since you twist on wet hair). That could be contributing to the breakage. The blow dryer could also be contributing to the breakage. Maybe you didn't see any breakage before because your hair was stronger. Perhaps the blowdrying has taken its toll on your hair. Also, twist-outs aren't a protective style because your ends are exposed. Do you find that your ends are extra dry? That could be another cause of breakage.

In terms of regimens, definitely check out the link to growafrolong that Camilla posted. Robin has a lot of good tips. Also, peruse the threads and use the seach feature to see other regimens & read about products and hair care issues (gosh, I sound like such an advertisement! Sorry about that.)

My regimen (I wash once a week) is as follows:

1. Prepoo with either Burt's Bees Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Hair Treatment (in warmer months) or castor oil (in colder months).

2. Shampoo with Earthly Delight Herbal Shampoo (be sure to dilute it with water).

3. Condition with Karen's Body Beautiful Deep Conditioner. (Karen's Body Beautiful may be a hair care line that you want to explore.)

**I also do a monthly mayonnaise treatment

4. Spray Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Leave-In Conditioner & apply Jane Carter Solution Hair Nourishing Cream (Jane Carter is another line that you may want to explore).

***I use a concotion of water, honey, coconut and castor oils as a leave-in during the warmer months.

5. Twist my hair into buns (after putting the Jane Carter Hair Nourishing Cream and castor oil on my ends)

6. Let it air dry or sit under my ionic soft bonnet dryer for 30-60 mins.

7. Twist my hair & put my perm rods in for a twist-out or braid my hair & wear my wig for the week. Lately, I've been opting to wear the wig b/c, as I mentioned above, twist-outs are a lot of manipulation.

Although I suggested Karen's Body Beautiful and Jane Carter Solution, there are plenty hair care lines to explore (Hairveda, Shescentit, Qhemet Biologics, MyHoneyChild, Afroveda, etc., to name a few.) I prefer natural & organic hair care lines b/c their quality is far superior to most of the products in beauty supply stores, IMHO (there are exceptions to every rule, though).

Don't forget about Whole Foods Market if you reside in New York. That place is a wonderland of natural and organic hair products.

I hope that my rambling has helped you in some way.

 

[Charz]

Maybe the humidity of the North East is different then the Mid West. I know that the humidity is too low in the DC area for glycerin to be beneficial for my hair. It is a common ingredient in moisturizers and conditioners. I stay away from products containing it, at least in the winter time because it makes my hair feel like straw. Glycerin is a humectant and draws in moisture. However, if there is no moisture in the air for the glycerin to draw from, it will take the moisture from your hair. Just a thought.

But welcome!

 

[Sundiva]

Thanks Camilla for your advice. Ok so there are some techniques that you mentioned that I quite do not understand. The cowash, so is this just not using shampoo at all? Do you do this AND shampoo your hair? please explain, sorry im slow;0

 

[Sundiva]

What is stalking? Is that just reading different sites and blogs?

 

[1babydimple]

You may not be able to continue with your old products. You are now in hunt and search mode You will need to hunt and search out all kinds of different products. The ladies have given some great suggestions, but I did that move -NE to SW and the water and weather are soooo different. Water in the NE full of cholorine, SW water, harder than times when granny was a child (stayed ashy all yr long in se) NE - weather hot & humid West - drrrry. It also took me a few months for my skin and hair to re-adjust to the change. ORS olive oil lotion and shea helped my hair find it's balance, especially when I did my twist outs. Aphogee recostructor always helps with breakage and like stated before you have to find your moisture and ph balance.