understanding your hair type

There are 4 types of hair (1-4) all with subtypes (a-c). In order to truly understand how to care for your hair and what your hair needs it is important to understand your hair-type and the related elasticity type. For a quick hair type quiz, see below:


1. Does your hair have any type of curl whatsoever? if no then you are either type 1- straight flat hair typical of Asians and Indian womenor 4b- undefined hair that resembles the texture of a cotton ballif yes then proceed2. Is your hair wavy or curly?if wavy then you are type 2 (a,b or c depending on the tightness of the wave) **a being the loosest waves and c being the tighter waves**if curly you are type 3 (a,b or c depending on the tightness of the curl) **a being the loosest curls and c being curls similar to a marker**or type 4a (coils about the size of a crayon/pencil to pensprings).

Biotin, MY FRIEND!

As we said in the first post, hair health, growth, and retention maximization is based on really working from the inside and on the outside to have your hair right. The first supplement we're highlighting on the working from the inside angle is Biotin. Biotin is a supplement in the B Vitamin family known as Vitamin H or B7. Its totally water soluble and known for both its metabolic properties (which helps give you energy) and its health benefits. When used on a regular basis, Biotin is known to help strengthen fingernails, relieve scalp conditions (especially in newborns), and SUPPORT HAIR GROWTH. I have personally been taking biotin as a supplement for over a year and when taking 5mg (5,000mcg) of biotin per day, I have always noticed a consistent and large amount of hair growth. My rate of growth with my hair is approximately one inch per month. Without taking the Biotin supplement, I have more of a 1/2" per month rate of growth. I personally take the NOW brand of biotin but any brand of should work fine as long as you are taking the 5mg dosage. I once accidentally decreased my dosage to 1mg (being cheap and not paying attention to the dosage) and did not see as much growth during that period of time. Feel free to do a google search on biotin and hair growth and hear the various testimonials of others on the topic.

Devil in a little white bottle

Would you wash your hair with laundry detergent? How about dish washing liquid?The answer to such a vetching question is an unequivocal “no”, I’m sure of it. Then, why is it that so many people continue to use products with Sodium Laurel Sulfate and its band of merry degenerative derivatives? Because its cheap to produce!!!! And therefore it keeps profits at a maximum while giving your hair minimum benefits. What has been proven time and again is that in this culture we are inundated with cheap substitutes (like high fructose corn syrup and the like) that are no good for us. They are simply cheap chemical substitutes that are often toxic. A better idea would be using a shampoo that has a more natural soap base. These more natural soap bases include coconut and olive oil. Stay away, however, from saponified versions of these soap bases as they will have come from either sodium or potassium hydroxide. Products with these soap bases will cleanse your hair just as effectively but more gently than any product with sodium laurel sulfate. This is important for all women's hair ,but is even more important for women who have dyed, relaxed, or otherwise chemically-treated hair. The more chemicals we pile onto our hair, especially already weak hair, the harder it is to achieve a healthy, long head of hair. Both Aubrey Organics and Ojon products are either without SLS or use a more gentle soap base. Another coming brand of products which we will feature shortly is also without SLS and therefore will not strip your hair completely of all the natural oils the hair needs.

Welcome

....When you know better; you do better.

Welcome to hair-apy....otherwise known as hair therapy....Our goal is to change the way that black women think about the frontier of possibilities related to their hair through our therapeutic blog sessions.

This blog is dedicated to educating women about hair and helping women (and specifically black women) better care for their hair. The biggest lie ever told is that black women can't have long, beautiful hair; or that black women's hair doesn't grow. Any relaxed haired woman can attest to the fact that she goes in and gets a touch-up every 6-12 weeks. That very action itself, of having to touch up "new growth" is evidence of growth....which then means that the problem must be held in retention. We hope to help the diaspora better understand and better approach their hair and work toward having longer and/or healthier hair by internally and externally working to help the hair grow and helping you grow hair faster and retain that growth. This blog will discuss all things hair...with a large emphasis on health and revamping black women's approach to doing their hair, thinking about their hair, and the products that they believe work for their hair. We will have product reviews, articles, hair regimens, and the like. Stay tuned and stay positive.