Black Hair Care Products
The best way to take care of black hair involves washing with a gentle shampoo, deep treatments to strengthen and moisturize hair, keeping hair moisturized daily, and styling hair safely.
Using a gentle shampoo is necessary to keep black hair healthy. Most shampoos use harsh sulfates to get the hair clean, with some of the same chemicals that are used in concrete cleaners and engine degreasers. This is especially harsh on hair that is already chemically relaxed. These types of shampoos actually strip the hair of its natural moisture and strength and can lead to more breakage.
Conditioning treatments are used to build hair strength and moisture.
Protein treatments are used to replace protein lost during chemical treatments. The protein in hair keeps it strong and helps prevent breakage. If protein that’s lost is not replaced, the hair will become weak, eventually break and will limit how long the hair can grow. For an effective protein treatment, add a raw egg to your favorite conditioner, and apply to wet hair after shampooing. Cover with a plastic cap, and allow to sit for 30 to 60 minutes.
Moisture treatments are used to keep hair soft and supple. They must be balanced with protein treatments, to combat dryness and breakage that can result from too much protein. For an effective moisture treatment, apply virgin coconut oil to wet hair and cover with a plastic cap. Then sit under a hooded dryer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Keeping hair moisturized is the key to growing black hair long. If black hair is not moisturized properly, it will become dry and eventually break. Black hair care products often contain ingredients that are considered moisturizing. However, many of these ingredients don’t moisturize effectively. Petroleum and lanolin are used in black hair care products, but they simply coat the hair with a gloss, instead of penetrating the hair and moisturizing it. To effectively moisturize black hair, you must use a moisture product that can penetrate the hair. Coconut oil is the only oil product that can penetrate the hair and moisturize it from the inside. Coconut oil also helps prevent protein loss and keeps black hair strong.
Products and Ingredients to Avoid for Healthy Black Hair
Black hair care products should be formulated to build hair strength and keep hair moisturized, but many products don’t. To keep black hair healthy, choose gentle shampoos, use protein and moisture treatments, and moisturize your hair daily with water-based moisturizers or coconut oil. Avoid products with sodium laureth sulfate, petroleum and lanolin.
Relaxers and Black Hair Care
Black hair is often chemically processed with relaxers. Relaxers straighten the hair by breaking down protein bonds in naturally curly hair and loosening the curl pattern. However, protein bonds are what give hair its strength. When hair is relaxed, the basic structure of the hair shaft is changed. The chemicals penetrate the hair’s cortex, enter the inner layer, break down the bonds and strip the hair of its strength and elasticity. That’s why breakage is commonly experienced by women who use relaxers.
You can minimize damage and breakage from relaxers. Relaxers should never be applied to already damaged hair or used on anyone who has had scalp damage. Hair should be in its best shape – with normal porosity and normal moisture content – before attempting to chemically relax it. If hair isn’t healthy, protein and moisture treatments should be used to restore the hair to a healthy condition.
Relaxer should not be applied until any issues with porosity and moisture content have been completely resolved. Here are the main reasons breakage occurs from relaxer use:
- Over-processing the hair. Excessive use of relaxers or applying chemicals to previously relaxed hair is the most typical problem.
- Not performing a strand test. A “strand test” should be performed prior to applying a relaxer to gauge the result of applying the chemical.
- Not using a protective cream on the scalp. A protective cream should always be applied to help protect the scalp from damage and burns.
- Not properly neutralizing the hair. After the hair has been processed for the appropriate amount of time, the relaxer must be completely removed with warm water. A neutralizing formula is then used to lower the pH of the hair. If the pH is not lowered, the hair will break because the chemical will continue to work on the hair strand, weakening it further.
- Pulling or combing hair while relaxing. From the time the relaxer is applied to the time it is neutralized, the hair is in an extremely fragile condition and must be handled carefully. Avoid all pulling, tugging, and excessive combing of the hair during this time.
- Not using protein and moisture treatments. Protein and moisture treatments should be used to restore some of the natural moisture and proteins that have been stripped from the hair by the relaxer.
- Not moisturizing daily. Daily moisture is needed to keep the hair soft and supple. If chemically straightened hair is not properly moisturized, it can become brittle, dry, damaged and will break. Relaxed hair tends to be drier and breaks more easily than natural hair.
- Using excessive heat. Excessive use of heat tools will only further damage chemically relaxed hair and dry out the hair even more. If heat tools are used, they should be used sparingly and with thermal protectants.
How Do I Stop My Hair from Breaking and Grow Longer Hair?
Hair vitamins can be used to make black hair grow faster, but they won’t repair existing damage or prevent further damage. You must use treatments and other hair care products to keep your hair from breaking. Hairfinity Vitamins can make your hair grow up to twice as fast as normal.
Using protein and moisture treatments will rebuild hair strength and keep it from breaking. Readto learn exactly what you can do.
Learn how makes your hair grow faster.
Get hair vitamins with MSM.
In order to achieve the longest hair possible, you need to do the following:
Stop Hair Breakage – By following the hair care techniques in you can minimize your hair breakage and allow your hair to reach its maximum length.
Increase Anagen (Growth) Phase – Using Hair Vitamins with MSM will naturally lengthen your anagen phase, and allow your hair to grow much longer before entering the resting and shedding phases.
Address Any Other Problems that May Limit Growth – Using specific types of products as part of a hair care regimen can help reduce breakage and increase your hair length.