Blessed Hair Clinic

****WHAT IS TRACTION ALOPECIA?***

The term alopecia refers to hair loss. Traction alopecia is hair loss that’s caused by repeatedly pulling on your hair. You can develop this condition if you often wear your hair in a tight ponytail, bun, or braids, especially if you use chemicals or heat on your hair.
Pulling on the hair repeatedly loosens the hair shaft in its follicle; eventually, the hair follicles can become so damaged and scarred that they can’t produce new hair.

For example, you might loose hair if you often: pull your hair back into a tight ponytail or bun, wear tight braids, cornrows, or dreadlocks, use hair extensions or weaves, put your hair up in rollers overnight and so on.

The first main treatment for traction alopecia is to change your hairstyle. Avoid wearing your hair in a tight style, especially overnight. You’ll know it’s too tight if it hurts. Minimize the use of chemicals and heat, which can damage your hair and if you prefer using relaxer, be willing to commit yourself to regular conditioning treatment reduce the possibility of problems occurring.

Secondly, get a professional stylist if you are the type that love to visit the saloon.

Thirdly, study your hair to know what your hair loves and have a good hair regimen (hair care process/treatment).

Traction alopecia is reversible, but you need to treat it quickly. If you stop wearing your hair in the tight hairstyle that caused it, your hair will grow back normally. Also, if you get a professional stylist plus good hair care treatment, the growth process becomes faster. But if you continue with the old habit of handling your hair, the hair loss can be permanent. And when that happens, you need to see a Trichologist and a hair replacement procedure may be an option.

No classy woman will joke with her hair. Isn't the glory of a woman the hair on her head?

Hair makes a woman bold, healthy and gorgeous🥰, learn to care for it.

AFRICAN THREADING AND HAIR GROWTH

There is a misconception that African threading hairstyles grows our natural hair. I have been hearing about this myth (yes, it's a myth) for a long time now.

This kind of hairstyle doesn't grow your natural hair. IT DOESN'T GROW YOUR NATURAL HAIR.

Just like every other protective style (yes, it is a protective style), it protects your natural hair from manipulation and environmental stress. And also helps to retain length of the hair growing out from the follicles and straighten the hair.

However, our hair grows naturally on its own except in the case of a damaged or dead follicles. The human hair grows half inch every month.

So, when you do African threading and carry it for like 1 to 2 months, your natural hair is straightened and because there wasn't manipulation in the last 1 or 2 months you carried the hairstyle, your hair adds length. This is the fact behind African threading and hair growth.

Having wrote that, do not let anyone deceive you. Your natural hair grows naturally on its own except in the case of a damaged or dead follicles which will need to be stimulated with a potent hair care treatment.

Many women are going natural and majority of them swear they will never turn back! There is everything good about giving up the heat and chemicals.

The natural hair is stronger, extra durable, more nutrient-rich, sheds less and grows faster than relaxed hair. Relaxers in the long run damage the roots, which can cause alopecia (baldness), hair breakage, scalp irritation and sometimes stunted hair growth, except for those who subject themselves to regular conditioning treatment before and after relaxing. In the hand of a professional, those set of people can still maintain good hair.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You can learn how to care for your natural hair without dangerous chemicals.

You can save money with natural hair. Hair relaxers or even good weaves don’t come cheap.

And trust me, most men love natural 😘. So my dear sister, be proud of and embrace your curls 👌

HOW TO GROW BACK , PROTECT, AND MAINTAIN YOUR EDGES

🎯 Limit use of extensions or high maintenance styles that pull or put tension on your edges...

🎯 Massage edges with castor oil and other natural oils to keep moisturized and stimulate growth. The oils themselves stimulate growth and protect and strengthen your hair, and massaging your scalp also stimulates blood circulation and promotes growth.

🎯 Be careful of headbands and hats. Look for headbands with a silk lining, or use a thin satin scarf in between your hat and your hair.

🎯 Wrap and protect your edges at night with a silk scarf or bonnet. Any other fabric (even the cotton of your pillowcase) will absorb oils and moisture from your hair, making it dry and brittle. Friction with the pillowcase will also snag and break your edges.

🎯 Deep condition regularly to strengthen your edges (along with the rest of your hair.)

🎯 Fill your diet with vitamins and nutrients. Your hair and your edges need them to grow and maintain strength.

🎯 Stop/Limit heat: Since your edges are the most fragile hairs on your head, heat tools have the potential to completely fry them.

🎯 Patience! Patience! Patience!

Growing back your edges takes time. But if you follow these steps, you'll see result.

Trust you got value 🥰

Have a great hair day....💇‍♀️

"Because of Weather and other factors, WATER is the life saver for your hair. Just as you water a plant to grow. Your hair needs water 💦

Please delete the superstition that your hair will smell if you use water or any other myth 🥶.

You can choose to spritz daily, every two days or two times per week. The main focus is never having a dry brittle hair. Your hair should always be moisturized.

Depending on your hair type, if your hair retains moisture longer you don't need to spritz daily. If it doesn't, you might consider spitting daily.

To retain moisture after spitting your hair. You should seal or lock the moisture with your hair butter or cream".

©️ ElMishael Naturals

Trust you got value...😊

CHEMICAL HAIR RELAXERS - CONTINUATION

If relaxed hair is your style of choice, here are a few things you can do to decrease the chance of hair loss & minimize damage to your hair & scalp.

🎯Protect Your Scalp

The best approach is to have an experienced professional apply the treatment. However, if you decide to do it yourself, you should never use relaxers on unhealthy hair or a damaged scalp.

You also don’t want to leave a hair relaxer on for more than the recommended amount of time, and never leave a relaxer in your hair long enough to feel any tingling or burning. Do everything possible to keep the chemicals from touching your skin. Coating your scalp with a base of petroleum jelly before applying the relaxer can help protect the scalp from chemical burns.

🎯 Don’t Double Process Your Hair

Avoid coloring and relaxing your hair at the same time. The combination of lye in relaxers and peroxide in hair dye can cause severe damage to both your hair and scalp. If your hair is already brittle, breaking or bleached, avoid relaxing your hair altogether. Wait a few months to give your roots a chance to grow out before you relax again.

🎯 Handle Your Hair with Care:

Once your hair is relaxed, handle it delicately and give your strands extra hydration. Regularly moisturize your hair by deep conditioning it weekly or bi-weekly. And, limit the use of heat styling tools like flat irons and blow dryers. Applying heat can further weaken chemically-treated hair and cause breakage.

You’ll also want to stay away from tight braids and ponytails that pull at the hairline. In fact, continuously wearing tight styles that tug on your hairline can cause a type of hair loss called traction alopecia.

🎯 “No Lye” Relaxers Can Still Cause Damage

Many falsely believe that relaxers without lye are safe. But, in place of lye, these relaxers rely on other powerful chemicals, namely calcium hydroxide and guanidine carbonate, to effectively break the chemical bonds of the hair shaft.

Therefore, “no lye” relaxers should be used with as much care as other chemical relaxers. It’s recommended that all relaxers be applied by a trained professional.

Although relaxers do not help the hair but actually strip it. It is never really to the benefit of your hair health but in the hand of a professional, coupled with the regular quality commitment of the client to conditioning treatment, many have enjoyed for years good hair while chemically straightening their hair 🤗

CHEMICAL HAIR RELAXERS, ARE THEY SAFE?

Although natural hair is all the rage right now, many people still love the look and ease of straight hair that stays that way. But a poorly done relaxer can cause irreparable damage.

HOW DO HAIR RELAXERS WORK?

Hair relaxers straighten hair by penetrating the cuticle and the cortex layers of the hair shaft to loosen the natural curl pattern. This process leaves the hair weak, brittle and prone to breakage. It can even burn your skin, cause permanent damage to the scalp and lead to hair loss.

WHAT ARE THEY MADE OF?

Relaxers are made of chemicals that counteract the natural chemical makeup of curly hair. Sodium hydroxide or “lye” is the most hazardous ingredient. The soap company, Certified Lye, cautions users that “substances with large amounts of lye can cause chemical burns, permanent injury or scarring, and blindness. Lye (sodium hydroxide) may be harmful or fatal if swallowed”.

Though there are some relaxers, such as Dark and Lovely, African Pride, and Optimum Care, who exclude Lye from the ingredient regimen, there are other chemicals used that are still hazardous.

The misconception is that if a relaxer is burning then it's working but in reality, if a relaxer is burning then it is doing more damage than you could possibly imagine.

The harmful chemicals in relaxer seep through our skin and cause untold havoc with our physical health.

WHO INVENTED RELAXERS?

Relaxers were invented by Garrett Morgan. He was the son of a former slave. In 1910 he was originally trying to create a new lubrication for the sewing machine needle. The lubrication accidentally touched the hair on his arm and he noticed that the hair began to lay straight.

By total accident, Morgan developed a hair topical for black people to chemically force their naturally curly hair straight. He called this invention the “Relaxer.”

Even with harmful and prevalent side effects, chemical relaxers are an effective and efficient way to straighten hair, offering quick results that last for weeks.

If relaxed hair is your style of choice, there are a few things you can do to decrease the chance of hair loss and minimize damage to your hair and scalp.

To be continued.....

GENETICS AND HAIR GROWTH

Anyone feeling unlucky about the state of their hair may be tempted to refer back to their bloodline.

Genetics determine how a person will look physically. We inherit certain characteristics from our parents such as eye color, height, body structure , hair color and so on.

If a parent has short hair most likely their child will have short hair if they inherit that specific gene.

A great grandparent could have had long hair which caused the child to have long hair despite the parents hair length.

But there are other important factors that affect hair growth either positively or negatively apart from genetics.

For example, my baby has very light and scanty hair and that she didn't inherit from me but from one of her Dad's sisters 🥰 because even the papa get long and full hair 😃

But despite that her hair is growing in length and density because we decided to focus on other factors that affect hair growth apart from genetics.

Genetics don’t have to have the final say when it comes to your hair health.

Although, hair growth to a large extent depends on genetics but also on how we maintain and care for our hair 🤏

In some cases, someone may have long but unhealthy hair.

Hope you got the memo 😇

*For Pre poo Hair Mask (Before you apply shampoo)*

*Avocado, Egg, and Olive oil*

Ingredients

1 Ripe avocado

2 Eggs

2-3 tsp. olive oil

*Directions*

Blend the ingredients together to form a smooth paste.

You can adjust the proportions of this mask depending on the length and thickness of your hair. In addition to the moisturizing benefits of avocado and olive oil, egg is rich in protein, which helps strengthen the hair and protects against split ends and heat damage.

Aloe and avocado

Ingredients

1 ripe avocado

2 tbsp. of aloe vera gel

1 tsp. of coconut oil

Directions

Stir or blend the three ingredients together, adding more coconut oil if you have very long or thick hair.

*DEEP CONDITIONER*

*Olive Oil + Honey*

Olive oil and honey work great as a deep conditioner. The honey is awesome for adding moisture and for us 4c hair chicks olive oil is one of the best oils for our hair. Because it penetrates the hair shaft it’s also a great oil choice to deep condition (or pre-poo).

Combine 1/ 4 cup honey and 1 /4 cup olive oil in a bowl.

Mix the ingredients together.

When finished with mixing apply the mixture to your hair, cover, apply heat, rinse and style as usual.

Strengthen Fine Hair With a Milk and Honey Mask

If you're sporting fine hair and looking for a DIY hair mask to treat damage, you've found it in a mixture of milk and honey. "Honey contains keratin to help strengthen the hair and prevent breakage caused by weak, brittle hair," explains Abramite. "It also encourages cell regeneration for a healthier scalp and has anti-inflammatory properties that can calm irritation." When combined with milk,—which is chock-full of proteins, amino acids, vitamin B12, iron, and zinc—the duo can help soften the hair and support its structure.

Because milk has a thin, liquid-y consistency, Abramite recommends putting one cup of milk along with one tablespoon of honey into a spray bottle and misting it onto the hair. Leave in 4 10 to 20 minutes after you shampoo.

If you want to retain hair length, you must be mindful of these 👇

🎯 Your Ends: This is the oldest part of your hair and it tends to break or shed out, but when it's breaking a lot you hardly retain length. Therefore, you must learn to trim, detangle and moisturize before combing.

🎯 The Scalp: This is where new strands grows from. You must learn to keep it clean, stimulated for hair growth, to eliminate dry scalp and free from dandruff/build up.

🎯 Avoid Dryness: If your hair is always dry, you can't retain length.

🎯 Wash in Sections: Many people wash casually without putting in a bigger twist. Sectioning paves way for easy washing, detangling, deep conditioning and moisturizing without excess shedding or breakage. It also helps reduce shrinkage when you finally loose it.

🎯 Always coat hair tip or ends with oil or hair butter.

Simple Wash day routine for Natural hair kids

• Prepoo and detangle hair for easy washing

• Wash with a free sulphate shampoo and warm water

• Deep condition to strengthen the hair strands

• Moisturize with a restore leave in conditioner and then seal with oil/hair butter

• Style but let it be a low manipulation style

Importance of Warm and Cold Water on your Natural Hair

Warm water should be used when cleansing your hair at the beginning of wash day (before deep conditioning). This is because warm water allows the cuticle of the hair and pores on the scalp to open up to help remove any dirty residue or buildup from the scalp & hair.

Cold water should be used when rinsing out the conditioner in your hair, at the end of wash day. This is because cold water closes the cuticles and pores in the scalp and also adds luster and shine to the closed cuticles.