Whack Wednesday: Hair Breakage!!!

What's whack this Wednesday is the disappointing hair breakage. I, along with many others, am a victim of this. My problem was I was a dying, relaxing, heating loving fool and was rough with my hair :( Because my hair was so thick I was able to get away with murder but It all finally caught up with me. So now I have began to transition from relaxed to natural. I have stop the relaxing, I just started (like two days ago) using little to no heat, and have been trying to use more protective styles (pic below.) For those of you like me trying to take better care of their hair, here are some 5 hair tips to get you started while your on your journey to hair recovery. While I am giving you these tips I will also tell you what products I am using for myself (remember however, everyone is different and these products might not work for you).
1.Sulfate Free Shampoo: Sulfate or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) it can dry your hair and be very irritating to your skin and scalp.
I am currently using Cantu shea butter for Natural Hair Products: My Shampoo is Cantu sulfate-free cleansing cream shampoo

2. Condition, Condition, CONDITION:
African American hair tends to need lots and lost of moisture. You should do a Deep Condition every too weeks and also try a leave in condition for daily moisture. You can also try a daily moisture for extra moisture. DO NOT USE PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN PETROLEUM JELLY OR MINERAL OIL THEY CAN BE HARMFULL TO YOU AND HAIR. 
For conditioning after shampoo I use Cantu sulfate-free hydrating cream conditioner....For my deep conditioning I use the Cantu Hair Deep Treatment Masque which I blend with the  Tea Tre & Jojoba hair & scalp oil (I dampen my hair, apply the product and then sit under heating cap for 30 min). I also use Cantu Leave-In Conditioning repair cream. I use the Leave-In when I'm doing a protective style because then I don't have to worry about it being too wet or drying it. I also use tea tree oil for everyday day use because my hair is itchy all the time and this helps it and promotes hair growth :)
3. Be Genital : When combing and brushing use a wide tooth comb and a paddle brush. Using small tooth combs can pull your hair. Our hair is also extra sensitive when wet so make sure to be genital and start from the ends and work your way up to the root when trying to detangle.
I use GOODY and CONAIR products ( I think lol)

4. Healthy Life Style = Healthy Hair: Water Water Water!! Eating Fresh Vegetables, Sleeping regularly, exercising (to reduce stress which can help with hair loss) also taking a multi vitamin all helps with hair growth. Taking care of our bodies helps to also taking care of our hair :)
5.Protective Hair Styles: Protective hair styles are any hair styles that you use little to no heat, ends can be protected and styles that don't have to be constantly re-done. Some great styles include twist, bantu knots, and braids.

 I have chosen the curly route: I dampen my hair apply leave- in conditioner and roll my hair with sponge rollers  (I also USE END PAPERS to go over the sponge because the sponge can sometimes pull hair) and leave in over night and in the morning I have a curly bush of hair (pic below). I like this style because its girly, I use no heat and I can do so many things with my curls. You can also use hair pins, flex rods, straws (yes I said straws) and a rod set to create a curly hair style even if you don't have natural curly hair like me.

 

So those are my five tips, I hope they where helpful. Now I'm no hair specialist, I have been doing tons and tons of research for myself and wanted to share the basic knowledge I have learned with all of you. I have really just started myself and so far, using these tips I have seen some kind of results. When I get more length I'll post a before and after pic and give you some more great tips I learn along the way. Thank you always for reading :)