almond eyes
Well-Known Member
Great thread Honeycomb. This thread confirms to me many myths about growing afro textured hair long (3a-4z) (smile).
Myth 1: Washing hair I agree with you. I believe that hair that is drier does not need to be washed once a week unless it has a lot of build up from products. Now, many black hair care gurus have stated that the number one problem of black women is not washing their hair at least once a week and that it is necessary to clean the scalp and bring moisture into the hair. I think a lot of this thinking exists because, people still cannot get that yes black and white people may have a lot in common but the one thing that sets apart is our hair and scalp. And white people need to wash their hair everyday because their hair secretes a lot of oil our hair does not. While yes, water can bring moisture into the hair it can also dry out the hair if the hair is not kept in a protective style or if not sealed with a light moisturiser or oil. Black women should wash their hair when it starts to smell or when there is obvious build up or if you are exercising and sweat in your scalp and each person knows when that time is, there is no special time to wash your hair because someone says so.
And if you are misting your hair with water, it's like washing your hair everyday anyhow. And if your hair gets itchy quickly then either you are not washing the conditioner out enough or you have product build up on your scalp.
Myth 2: DCing. I stopped Dcing many months ago because I was living in West Africa and did not have the time because I was always travelling in and out of West Africa. I only do my conditioners under the steam from the shower for abour 10 minutes. What I discovered, that there was not much of a difference in the way my hair felt Dcing vs. non Dcing. And I discovered that with my fine 4a strands Dcing actually led to too much build up which took forever to wash out. And if I did not wash it all out then I would get a clump when my hair would dry later on and then I would have to do an extensive detangling process to get the clump out because fine strands get stuck together quickly.
Myth 3: Shampooing and conditioning in braids does not get the scalp clean enough. I learnt that if you are under a shower and wash your scalp with your fingertips (not nails or comb to cause injury to your scalp) your hair and scalp will be clean. And fine strands cannot withstand the high water pressure so it is better to keep the hair in loose braids for shampooing and conditioning to preserve strands.
Myth 4: Moisturising means a heavy product. Many of us think that the moisturising product we use must be gunky, gummy, sticky or heavy. However, after seeing many of my strands fall by the waste side. I now use my mist aloe juice-water (though I may stop that and just use water and stop wasting money) and qhemet olive oil and honey balm or coconut oil/jojoba. My hair is kept in twists and I use this mist and oil everyday. No hair in the comb and hair is not greasy the next day. When I use the gunky products (especially without misting with water), I get hair everywhere and my hair looks and feels greasy. Also another myth is that water and oil don't mix which is why when I stumbled across my discovery that I did not need another heavy moisturiser unless in a small amount or very light. A point of digression, I cook African stew with olive oil and tomatoes, onions and smoked fish and I add water. When the food is done the water does not separate from the oil it mixes in perfectly. Therefore, oil and water on hair is not necessarily incompatible.
Best,
Almond Eyes
Myth 1: Washing hair I agree with you. I believe that hair that is drier does not need to be washed once a week unless it has a lot of build up from products. Now, many black hair care gurus have stated that the number one problem of black women is not washing their hair at least once a week and that it is necessary to clean the scalp and bring moisture into the hair. I think a lot of this thinking exists because, people still cannot get that yes black and white people may have a lot in common but the one thing that sets apart is our hair and scalp. And white people need to wash their hair everyday because their hair secretes a lot of oil our hair does not. While yes, water can bring moisture into the hair it can also dry out the hair if the hair is not kept in a protective style or if not sealed with a light moisturiser or oil. Black women should wash their hair when it starts to smell or when there is obvious build up or if you are exercising and sweat in your scalp and each person knows when that time is, there is no special time to wash your hair because someone says so.
And if you are misting your hair with water, it's like washing your hair everyday anyhow. And if your hair gets itchy quickly then either you are not washing the conditioner out enough or you have product build up on your scalp.
Myth 2: DCing. I stopped Dcing many months ago because I was living in West Africa and did not have the time because I was always travelling in and out of West Africa. I only do my conditioners under the steam from the shower for abour 10 minutes. What I discovered, that there was not much of a difference in the way my hair felt Dcing vs. non Dcing. And I discovered that with my fine 4a strands Dcing actually led to too much build up which took forever to wash out. And if I did not wash it all out then I would get a clump when my hair would dry later on and then I would have to do an extensive detangling process to get the clump out because fine strands get stuck together quickly.
Myth 3: Shampooing and conditioning in braids does not get the scalp clean enough. I learnt that if you are under a shower and wash your scalp with your fingertips (not nails or comb to cause injury to your scalp) your hair and scalp will be clean. And fine strands cannot withstand the high water pressure so it is better to keep the hair in loose braids for shampooing and conditioning to preserve strands.
Myth 4: Moisturising means a heavy product. Many of us think that the moisturising product we use must be gunky, gummy, sticky or heavy. However, after seeing many of my strands fall by the waste side. I now use my mist aloe juice-water (though I may stop that and just use water and stop wasting money) and qhemet olive oil and honey balm or coconut oil/jojoba. My hair is kept in twists and I use this mist and oil everyday. No hair in the comb and hair is not greasy the next day. When I use the gunky products (especially without misting with water), I get hair everywhere and my hair looks and feels greasy. Also another myth is that water and oil don't mix which is why when I stumbled across my discovery that I did not need another heavy moisturiser unless in a small amount or very light. A point of digression, I cook African stew with olive oil and tomatoes, onions and smoked fish and I add water. When the food is done the water does not separate from the oil it mixes in perfectly. Therefore, oil and water on hair is not necessarily incompatible.
Best,
Almond Eyes
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