Products that should and should not be used on naturally curly hair.
If you have naturally curly hair, and you are trying to grow it, if you haven't been very successful, chances are, you have been told you can't use chemicals. This is completely untrue. Hair will grow with chemicals, the secret lies in the application, chemicals must be applied to the new growth only. We will discuss this in a later paragraph.
If you are going to wear your hair natural, there are things you should not do.
1: You never brush natural hair: Because the hair has a curl and because of this curl the cuticle is facing different directions, when the brush is pulled against the grain of the cuticle, it causes the cuticle to split, if this split goes from the ends to the scalp, you will have hair breakage.
2: You must never oil your scalp: When oil is applied to the scalp, It clogs the hair follicle, and eventuall leads to hair loss. The oil you apply, plus the oil that is produced naturally, will clog the hair follicle, and a bacterial infection occurs. The follicle will eventually drop the hair, resulting in a bald spot.
3: Hair pressing is fine for natural hair, however, you must follow some rules, use a protective oil, and always use a comb heated on a stove. Electric irons have a tendency to melt the cuticle. If you are going to do it yourself, please know how to test the temperature of the comb, and the proper technique to use.
4: Do follow a regular routine of conditioning your hair, don't over process with conditioners, and don't use leave-in conditioners.
Hair Relaxers
If you are going to wear a relaxer on your hair, you should have it done by a professional, but choose very carefully. If you notice your hairdresser applying the product to the entire head, and you have always worn a relaxer, drop them, because this is one of the major causes of hair loss in people that wear relaxers.
Hair is made of protein, and it is acid. relaxers are alkaline, relaxers neutralize the protein in the hair. If the relaxer is applied to the entire head each time, it will become dry and fly-away, and eventually break. Neutralizing shampoo should not be used for weekly shampoos, because the acid content is too high, and this will cause breakage also.
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