Curl Envy? : 3 Ways it Will Ruin Your Hair Journey

                                     by Kanisha of BlackNaps.org

Have you ever heard of “curl envy?” It’s a phrase in the natural hair community that describes the desire to have someone else’s hair/curl pattern instead of your own. Sometimes the phrase is thrown around jokingly when you just really like another girl’s hairstyle, but if you truly have curl envy, you may want to reevaluate your natural hair journey. Especially if you’re a new natural, curl envy can be a real threat to your hair journey.

3 signs it's time for a shampoo !

No matter what I do to my hair I know that eventually I must wash it. Washing your hair is an integral component of healthy hair care, and no matter how much I may try to put it off or co-wash, I know wash day is necessary. It doesn’t seem to matter what season I am in but rather what I am doing to my hair. I steer clear of silicones and parabens and prefer all natural ingredients although I’m not much of a DIY girl. I do love incorporating natural oils into my regimen and have recently confirmed my hair, although healthy, is highly porous. All of those things factor into my wash day and the frequency.


I no longer have a set schedule for wash day and this allows my hair to guide me on when it is time to clean it. Just my knowing how my hair acts up.



Natural hair makes for more work on wash day, this allows my hair to guide me on when it is time to clean it. There are specific signs that are pretty universal regardless of your hair’s texture, density. Here are my tell-tale signs my hair is ready for wash day.

1. Product buildup

I hate buildup and truly try to steer clear of ingredients that can rapidly build up. Buildup can be an accumulation of sweat, dirt, and pollutants and that gunky mess needs to be removed ASAP. Product buildup can be damaging over time, as it can clog the hair follicles and weigh hair down too. It usually creates a film on my hair and sometime flakes. This mess is the best indicator I need to plan a wash day quickly. I will sometimes add products that have silicones if I am going for a particular look, so I plan for wash day to be soon thereafter in order to remove that buildup. I love Olive Oil Eco Styler Gel (I get the best high puff when I use it!) but when I use it I know I will need to wash my hair soon after because it does cause buildup.

2. My hair feels oily

I hate oily hair. That may sound strange from someone who uses a lot of oils on her hair and body, but when my hair feels oily, I know it is time to wash it. I can be heavy-handed so I never just add oil as a sealant to my hair. I use a cocktail mix of conditioner and elixir instead to seal my hair and it works great at sealing without feeling greasy.

3. It refuses to act right

This is pretty subjective. For me, refusing to act right is what is going on right now. I washed my hair a few days ago and my hair is unruly. When this happens I plan to redo my hair; this is just a quick co-wash with cleansing conditioner. Usually this occurs when my wash day routine was subpar and it needs to be refreshed. This gets me back on track quickly. I’ll usually skip the longer deep conditioning that time too but I’ll do everything else I normally do on wash day. I will just keep the deep conditioner in my hair long enough to finish my shower (usually 2 to 3 minutes with a plastic cap) and all will be right with the curl and coil gods.

I tried the washing weekly or bi-weekly but that was becoming cumbersome and sometimes my hair needed to be washed sooner or even later. Now I wash when necessary and that works better for me. With these signs above I’m having a much better wash day experience.

How Bleach & Color Affect Your Curls ?

Summer is here! Sun, surf, sand, and chlorine are going to be a big component of many curly girls’ plans in the summer. While we soak in the sun and fun we still need to be smart about how we care for our hair. Warmer weather makes us want to have fun and that includes trying new styles. Nothing is off limits when it comes to color, as the bolder the better but some of those colors require some real work.

Since curly girls cringe at the thought of color, it makes sense that we see questions about bleach and if we really need it. Our viewers had some questions about bleaching their strands in our Kurl Diary Blog that I am sure many have the same concerns and would love some guidance.

Question:
How much will bleach and color affect my curls? I have type 3b/c dark brown hair, and I was planning on bleaching the ends to dye them turquoise in sort of an ombré fashion from my normal color. I want the turquoise to be bright, and I'm afraid the bleaching will damage my curls. Any advice? In addition, I swim competitively, so my hair is already dried out from the chlorine, but I rarely straighten, so it's not awful. All input is appreciated.

Answer:

A lot! Well, that’s your answer in a nutshell and while simplistic, the point is that bleaching is a harsh coloring technique that is especially hard on textured hair, so expect noticeable changes to your hair health. If not properly taken care of, it can be extremely damaging.

"Bleaching is a harsh coloring technique that is especially hard on textured hair, so expect noticeable changes to your hair health."

How does bleach work?

Bleaching hair removes of the color by decolorizing the pigment in the hair shaft through oxidation. The most damaging of all coloring methods, bleach usually uses ammonia or hydrogen peroxide (often these two are mixed together) to permanently lighten the hair by reacting to hair’s melanin.

How does bleach affect curly hair?

Make no mistake about it. Bleaching is a damaging chemical process on anyone’s hair but especially on curly hair. Bleaching raises the hair’s cuticle to remove the color or pigment from the hair shaft, which also removes the hair’s moisture. This is irreversible process causes brittle dry strands and breakage. The strands are weaker after bleaching and the darker the hair, the longer the bleaching process.

Celebrity hairdresser Andrew Jose told the Daily Mail that "of all the colouring methods, bleach is the most damaging, and should always be done professionally and slowly. Bleaching raises the cuticle on the hair, removing colour pigment permanently from the hair shaft, a process which is called oxidation. Bleaching can permanently raise the cuticle, leaving hair dry, brittle and porous. Overlapping bleach in the same place leaves hair feeling weak and elastic, which can then lead to hair breakage.” He also adds that "overuse and repeated application of bleach to the scalp can strip the hair of moisture and damage the follicle."

With you swimming a lot this summer, adding bleach to your hair may be too much for your hair to handle. If you are already dealing with dryness then bleaching is not a good option, as it will only make the dryness worse. It will weaken those strands and make breakage almost inevitable.
Alternatives

While they will not lighten your hair, Manic Panic and Beyond the Zone are popular temporary hair dyes that will alter your color and last anywhere from 4-12 washes. They are also cheap and easy to use. They may last longer if hair was previously bleached and are less damaging than bleaching hair. They have tons of colors from traditional to neon and every color in between, so you can find any color your imagination can create.

What if you want to go ahead with the bleaching?
If you absolutely want to bleach your hair I would advise doing so with a professional colorist starting with a consultation to address your lifestyle. Make sure you are protecting your hair prior to swimming by wetting the hair and adding a cheap conditioner to keep out as much chlorine as possible. Pamper your hair with thick, rich deep conditioning treatments after you shampoo.

4 Tips To Know When You Discover Your First Gray Hair

Gray hair is a fun and hot trend that has been worn on purpose by many women for a fresh new look and even by many celebrities like Rihanna, Dascha Polanco, and Amandla Stenberg. More and more older women continue to embrace their gray hair as a badge of dignity and experience.

This gray strand of hair is staring right at me! Y’all my life literally just flashed before my eyes. One minute, I’m a fun and care-free youngen in my 20s and the next minute…BAM, instant Grandma! Okay ,so maybe it’s not that bad, but finding my first gray hair was a straight shock to me.

The main cause of gray hair showing is when the “pigment cells” or color-producing cells in the hair follicle no longer contains melanin and stop producing pigment. The hair strands will become more of a transparent color like white, gray, or silver.

As people continue to get older, the hair follicles will produce fewer pigment cells causing your hair to appear gray in color.

The thing is when you see your hair gray for the first time you may not even think about your hair follicles loosing pigment.

You just see a gray hair in your 20s and this discovery can be quite nerve-racking because you start to wonder how much time you have before you are sporting a head full of gray hair.

If you are in my position, here are 4 tips to help ease the anxiety when you discover your first gray hair:

Do Not Panic!

Seriously, do not panic! Although hair follicles loosing their pigment is the main cause of gray hair (and even more so: genetics), there could be a connection between gray hair and stress.

Stress can cause hair loss and excessive shedding; however, stress can result in premature graying as well. So don’t be like me: taking 50 pictures of that “out of place” hair strand and sending them to every contact in my phone asking, “Is this a gray hair???”

I was stressing about my gray hair for weeks and so it’s possible that a few more could have shown up because I was sweating that one gray hair.

Do Not Pluck Your Gray Hair

“If you pluck a gray hair, then seven more strands will come to its funeral” is nothing more than an old wives’ tale with no kind of scientific backing.

However, if you do pluck our your gray hairs, you are ripping that hair strand out of the root. This will damage your growth follicle and that specific hair strand on your head will never grow back. For example, if you tweeze your eyebrows enough, you will never see thick eyebrows again.

Plucking your gray hairs will only result in very thin and extremely low dense hair, with the continual growth of gray hairs. There is absolutely no benefit to plucking nor tweezing your gray hairs.

Do Not Do Wild Color Experiments On Your Own

As soon as you see your first gray hair, you may get the twitch to color your entire head of hair immediately. Instead of going for the most vibrant color you can find, test your gray hair first to see what kind of color would be best.

Not every gray hair is the same and neither is every coloring treatment. Lowlights or highlights are a great step for coloring your hair, as they will allow the gray hairs to blend and you don’t need to commit one hair color to consistently touch-up.

You should also consider natural coloring like henna. Try henna to have fiery red highlights or do a henna treatment then an indigo treatment for a black/blue-black color to blend with your natural hair color. Don’t be afraid of coloring your hair, but do not hesitate to see a professional to ensure the health of your hair is preserved.

Do Not Slack On Your Healthy Hair Regimen

One thing that I have found about my gray hair is that it does not feel nor look the same as my soft and coily hair.

That pesky piece of hair is very coarse and very fine. My gray hair literally sticks up no matter how much edge control I use to lay it down.

Gray hair can be a bit rough and wiry, so it’s in your best interest for your hair to not slack on your hair regimen. Continue with the protein treatments and the deep conditioning treatments.

Be sure to moisturize your hair often and efficiently, for example using the L.O.C. method. The more gray hairs you obtain, the more you should reevaluate your hair care regimen to suite the needs of your hair in the present time.

Protective Styling or a Crutch

The Problem with Using Protective Styling as An Escape....

Protective styling is probably one of the best things invented, not only does it get us through the harsh summer and winter months, it also gives us a new look when we run out of options and styles to do with our natural hair.