Saturday, July 30, 2011

Beginner's Hair Manual: Links To Helpful Posts and Articles

This post was last updated on: 1/29/13

I hope this post will be helpful to those just starting out or any one who is looking to brush up on hair ins and outs. I've complied links to articles and threads from longhaircareforum.com that have helped me immensely. I will continue to add and update this post when I come across more helpful, informative posts/articles.

My advise to those just starting out: Be patient and do plenty of research! Hair forums like longhaircareforum.com are teeming with information. If you try something, a technique, a product, and it doesn't work as well for you than for someone else, don't get discouraged, no two heads of hair are alike. Regroup and try again. Setbacks, unfortunately, may happen, but hair does grow back and with knowledge, you'll learn what your hair responds positively/negatively to. Take pictures of your starting length and at intervals during your hair journey because seeing the progress you've made is very rewarding and a confidence booster! Even if you haven't reached your goal length yet, you'll be able to see the difference in hair health, thickness, etc. Ignore the doubters, ignore the nay-sayers, ignore the haters! Let your progress be your proof! Oh, and start a blog/youtube channel so I can stalk follow :)


Hair Myths, Truths, & Mistakes
Breakage
Clear Rinses
Deep Conditioning Deep conditioning is key for maintaining hair's elasticity, diminishing risk of breakage, and keeping hair soft and moisturized.
Direct Heat
Hard Water
  • List of a few chelating shampoos with may help. 
  • Doing an ACV rinse or using Roux Porosity Control to lower your hair's pH to counteract the high pH of hard water.
  • What is hard water? Water that contains high levels of minerals.
Henna (and cassia) Henna or cassia applications are a great, natural way to stretchen and thicken up your hair.
Itchy Scalp
Moisture
Moisturizing & Sealing
Porosity & Sealing Cuticles
Product Reviews
Protective Styling
Protein Our hair is 90% keratin, protein treatments help to stretchen our hair. Relaxed hair especially requires protein treatments from time to time because chemical relaxers break down the protein bonds in our hair.
Protein vs Moisture
Q&A
Regimen Building Nailing down a no-muss no-fuss regimen that works for you may be a little nerve-wracking, but don't worry, you will learn just what works for you. 
Relaxer Stretching
Roller Setting Hair
Self-Relaxing / Texlaxing
Serums
Shampooing


    Hope this helps!

    With smiles,
    Categories:

    28 comments:

    1. this post is brilliant! I believe you have covered everything here, thanks for taking the time out to do it :D

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    3. I definitely just opened almost every link in a separate tab :) ! Thanks for this post it is more than helpful!

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    4. I have come out of lurking to say this post is amazing! wish i had this before

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    6. Do you have tips or a video about how to dust and/or trim? Thanks.

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    7. Hi. Thanks for making all this information available for us. This has been very helpful. I have two questions:
      1. Would you recommend washing with baking soda after relaxer to help neutralize?
      2. Is it necessary to wrap your hair at night or can I just make a bun and put on my satin scarf? I ask because I want to decrease manipulation and I cant find a way to wrap my hair without combing and brushing a lot and my hair is too short to do a cross wrap. Can I just make a protective style and put on my scarf?

      Thanks a lot.

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      Replies

      1. Hi Magda,
        I haven't read anything on using baking soda as a neutralizer but I don't think I would chance it. Baking soda can be used to clarify hair to remove product build up but I'd be very wary of using it as a neutralizer. A relaxer works by breaking the protein bonds in the hair to straighten it, I'd honestly be terrified trying to use baking soda to stop the relaxer

        Bunning and covering with your satin scarf is perfectly fine. I've doing the very same thing for the past week and half :)

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      2. Thank you for the info.
        I read that no-lye relaxers leave deposits on your hair (calcium compound). I thought maybe clarifying would help with that. What do you think about using lye vs. no-lye relaxers?

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      3. Using a chelating shampoo would remove any minerals that a no-lye relaxer leaves on the hair.

        Choosing a lye or no-lye relaxer is person specific; there are pros and cons to both. Here's a really helpful link on the differences, pros, cons, etc. between the two formulas. http://www.blackhairscience.com/better.html

        Hope this helps.

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      4. Are these tips for women with natural hair as well??

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    8. OMG this is awesome:) I am natural but this is good info that can be applied to anyone wanting healthy hair.

      Winona

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    9. For months, Ive been trying to achieve healthy hair and BSL but nothing would work! I think this guide will finally put me on the right track! Thank you for posting!

      -Elise( Trinidad)

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    10. Just found this blog it is awesome. I've recently re-started my hair growth journey. Couple of questions. How long do you stretch ur relaxer and what relaxer works best for you. I'm still unsure at the relaxer that I currently use and I'm too scared to change it up. I usually get a relaxer every 3 months but I'm trying to push it a bit further. My protective style is a ponytail or bun I do allow my self to wear my hair down at least once a month for a week but that is about it. Thank u for this blog about "relaxed" hair. Everyone seems to be going natural at the moment and I'm not ready so I can appericate this site so much. Again thank you for the inspiration!!!

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      Replies

      1. I normally stretch between 10-12 weeks, but I'm currently going for 19 weeks. I've been using ORS Relaxer, lye formula, normal stretching for a year I think and I love it because I texlax my hair and it leaves me underprocessed just the way I want. Good luck on your journey!

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    11. Thanks so much for putting this page together - I know you did it ages ago but as someone who's just starting out on her hair journey this is incredibly helpful!

      Henissi
      http://hairtastichenissi.blogspot.co.uk/

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    12. Are these hair tips for women with natural hair as well?

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    13. Hi Jen. Just signed up to your site and I love it! I am about to start my relaxed hair journey totally from scratch. I have been doing research for the past week but I am still unsure about what to do first. Any advice on how to start?

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    14. Hi Jen, I just decided to embark on a healthy hair journey as soon as the new year started. Thank you so much for this website. Everything here is so helpful, you have no idea how many people you are blessing. Thanks!

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    15. Holy smokes batman! I was wondering why I always had a steady stream of traffic from JGA - this is awesome and so well organized!

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    16. Thanks Jeni! This page is awesome, very informative and so well-organized. I'll definitely be saving it to my webpage 'favorites'.

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    17. How do you detangle your hair?

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    18. I currently have a sew in weave to give my hair a break to grow. Do you have any tips on growing your hair while having a weave?

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    19. I recently started a blog to document my hair journey. I've decided to go natural in an attempt to recapture a quality of hair that has evaded me for sometime now. I figured going natural would afford me the benefit of being curly or straight. Then I came across your blog. Totally had me thinking for a bit!

      I think I will still stay on the natural route, but your blog has completely blown me away with the amount of content and knowledge, I don't know where to start. I'm hoping that your entries can help me find a regime that works for me, and getting me back to the healthy hair I once had.

      Amazing!

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    20. Why are you doing this to me omg I have to study sigh

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    21. Detailed and well researched! Thanks so much!
      Will be sharing this with other newbies stat!

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