Newbie needing help...

A

anti_starlet

New Member
Hey guys, I found this forum today and WOW! It's a treasure trove of information and advice, so glad to be a part of it :)
Anyway, I'm a 4A/4B according to Andre and my hair is between relaxers, last relax was 25.09.06, BUT I have no regimen at all and I think I use too much heat treatment. I tried to search for some tips but couldn't find anything specific. I'm a mixed race girl (half white British half Black Ghanian) and I was brought up by my mother who doesn't know a lot about black hair. My hair reaches to the bottom of my shoulder blades and my regrowth is pretty long (about 1 1/2") but it's breaking a lot and I have no idea how to care for my hair. I wash it twice with Keracare Moisturing detangler and condition with Keracare dry and itchy moisturing conditioner, then hot six oil then blowdry/straighten. My hair's quite fine so I try not to put too much product on but then it dries out so quickly... Can anyone please help me, some of yours pics are amazing. My hair may be long but it's really not healthy, any help is much appreciated :)
 
Welcome! :wave:

How often do you wash and blowdry? Hot six oil isn't a thermal protectant, so if you are blowdrying often you probably aren't protecting your hair enough. You may want to search the board for info on serums and heat protectant sprays, etc. CHI Silk Infusion seems to be gaining popularity on the board.

What do you use to maintain your hair between washes? Do you use moisturizers?

Also you may consider a moderate protein treatment to help with the breakage.
 
I wash and blowdry every 2 weeks... dunno if that's good or bad, I've always done that... I use Fantasia PM nighttime oil treatment to maintain but that's it because like I said, my hair gets weighted down with product and I also don't know what's good for my hair so I don't buy anything. I had never heard of a hair moisturiser before this board so I guess I don't use one :( Eek, this must sound so bad, I abuse my hair but I never knew any different! I need y'all to save me from myself! Also, my stylist never really gave me any advice apart from that I should wrap my hair...
 
Maybe your hair is breaking because you aren't conditioning and moisturizing enough?

Maybe you could try conditioner washing on the weeks when you don't wash with shampoo.

Also, like BC said blow drying with just oil is frying your hair, not protecting it. You should look into some heat protectants mentioned on this board such as Fantasia IC Heat Protector, Redken Heat Glide, and etc.

HTH
 
Lol, it's a good thing you're here! It seems to be that you're not maintaining moisture in your hair. You put oils on your head but without any moisturizer underneath to be sealed, it will just coat and dry your hair out, thus breaking it. Also, maybe you should look into protective styles, it seems to work well for a lot of the ladies here. There are plenty of threads about great moisturizers and protective styling; so many that I don't know where to tell you to start looking. But you can start out in the newbie thread stickie at the top of the 1st page here for some great advise. Hope that helps somewhat!
 
Well every 2 weeks isn't too bad. There are an infinite number of possible regimens out there. Finding what works for you may take some experimenting. But off hand I would suggest you start with the following:

1. Deep condition with each wash. Introduce a mild/moderate protein into your routine. In the beginning you may want to use the protein every 2 weeks to stop your breakage. Later you might not need it as often.
Aubrey's GPB conditioner might be a good option for you. It's not too heavy but it conditions and strengthens well.

2. Use something lighter but more protective for blowdrying.

3. Try a different oil for maintenence. I've used H6O before when I was relaxed and liked it, but there are better options out there. I'm a really big fan of jojoba (which technically isn't an oil, but a wax similar to sebum).

You don't HAVE to use a moisturizer, but if you want to go without one, you're probably going to need to wash more often.

LHCF really is a treasure trove of info--the best thing to do right now is just keep reading and searching through the threads to help you get ideas for your regimen. Try not to get overwhelemed by all the possibilities. Keep it simple. :)
 
Conditioning washing? What's that? Should I blowdry after this? Are there any alternatives to blowdrying. Airdrying seems to make my hair really frizzy and what's rollersetting? And I got the gist that protective styling is for when you want to grow your hair? My hair grows quite well (too well in fact), does protective styling keep it healthy? And should I wet my hair every day? I try to keep it away from all moisture!
 
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Welcome anti_starlet! I'm new here myself, but I've learned a few things and I'll try to answer as many questions as I can. Conditioner washing (or co washing) is simply washing your hair with conditioner. No shampoo or anything, just conditioner. I'm not too sure about rollersetting, but I think it's when you roll your hair in rollers while it's wet and let your hair dry that way. Protective styles (buns, ponytails, etc) help to keep your hair healthy since it's low manipulation.
 
I don't have anything to add, because I don't know alot,

But, I just wanted to say welcome

And that LHCF is so full of knowledge it's amazing how there are so many people here that can give so much information, I love it!
 
I already looked at these above threads :D They really helped clear some things up but I'm still a bit unsure. Washing my hair, I'm a bit uneasy with... because my hair is quite long, it can take a long time to dry naturally and I like my hair to be straight all the time too because it's easier to manage (I'm at university=no time!) so I blowdry to get it straight... maybe it's not such a great idea after all, eh...
 
The blowdrying would be a lot better on your hair if you used a heat protectant. Maybe you could use a leave in con if you don't like getting your hair wet. I just had an epiphany... Maybe you need to clarify. Ladies, what do you think? Oh, and I wanted to add that you shouldn't shy away from moisture, it's your friend :) I learned that moisturizers have water listed as the first ingredient, after you moisturize, you need to use oil (castor, coconut, almond, etc) to seal that moisture in. A moisturizer that a lot of ladies on here use is Dove Sheer Moisture Mist (I'm gettin some today!) Since it's a mist, it shouldn't weigh your hair down.
 
anti_starlet, based on what you've said so far, I imagine the best way for you to ease into the hair care world is to keep the timing on your washes the same (every two weeks), but to work on your moisture/protein balance. I'm under the impression that Keracare is a good line, so you might want to explore your options within the line. Tiffers may be on to something about clarifying, and I know that others have had success with the Keracare 1st Lather shampoo, which is meant to be used before you use the detangling shampoo. Also, Keracare has Silken Seal and other products made specifically for blowdrying that you could check out.

You may want to search the board for posts about Keracare products to see how others have incorporated the different products into their regimens, and also just look at the full line on their website

And one more thing, what appliances are you using? (Is your dryer ionic? Are you using a flat iron?)
 
anti_starlet

Welcome to the board I am back on my keracare forever never to stray away again. Why did I live? Product junkie. Keracare is a great line you just have to learn how to work it. I notice you use the dry n itchy shampoo and conditoner. Most people also follow up with keracare Humecto which is a super moisturizing conditioner plastic cap under hair dryer. The stylists at keracare testing salon in Melrose Park use leave in-conditioner along with Siken seal dime size mix together on my hair then blowdry followed by ceramic flat iron. Avlon Industries stylist recommend hair be wash weekly. You could also try keracare mosturizer with jojoba oil just a little goes a long way. My daughter hair use to be dry like a desert . Thanks to keracare iit looks so shiny you would think someone gave her a henna treatment. Keracare just release a new blow-drying serum that is suppose be the answer. They will also be doing color in the near future.
 
For blowdrying I use a Vidal Sassoon Ionic Hair Dryer, and I use Remington wet to straight ionic straigheners but I never use them when my hair is wet, only after I blowdry. Thank you so much for all the tips!! I'm overwhelmed!! I will search the boards for more information on moisturisers etc... I just bought the Keracare humecto today, going to wash tomorrow, I could pick up the first lather too, see how that turns out, thanks so much for the info :notworthy:
 
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