Part 1: Fundamentals of Healthy Natural Hair

Every new year, brings New Year Resolutions. On the top of most people's list is the resolution to lose weight. Other popular resolutions are to save money, attend church more, quit smoking, or live in the moment. As we all know, New Year Resolutions are meant to be broken. It is now the third week in January, and many of those resolutions that were made less than a week ago have been forgotten.

As I browse through Instagram, there are countless gym photos of people trying to get in shape. The hashtag "workout" and "exercise" is becoming very popular among the #naturalhair social media community.

In my book, New Year Resolutions are a thing of the past. I believe in making daily commitments to becoming a better version of myself. Whether it is reading more, healthy living or being a better blogger it should be a daily endeavor.

Sticking to a hair care routine is the one devoir that requires persistence in order to achieve positive results. Lack of a hair care regimen, will be evident in the condition and appearance of your hair. Ever heard the saying "Long hair is a measure of its care"?

The Fundamentals  

Healthy Lifestyle

Complete well-being is the object. Overall health should be your goal. Providing your body with the essential nutrients that it needs will be beneficial to all parts of the body including the hair, skin and nails. In fact, your hair can be a reflection of your health. Hair is like the alarm system of the body.  The first signs of an undiagnosed chronic medical condition can be seen from shedding, dull or lifeless hair. Healthy hair is a result of a healthy body.

Protective Styling

This is a no brainer. The less hair is manipulated the less damage. Braids, cornrows, weaves, and twists allow the hair protection from damage caused by styling. Protective styles should be worn for a minimum of 2 weeks. Protecting hair at night with a satin or silk pillowcase, scarf or bonnet prevents breakage and moisture loss as you get your zzzzzz's.

Trimming

On average, hair grows about a 1/2 an inch per month. Trimming split or damaged ends is essential to growing a healthy head of hair. Since hair is comprised of dead protein cells, damage is irreversible. The condition of hair can be temporarily altered by  products but hair will never be permanently repaired. Regularly trimming will aid in maintaining healthy strands but is not a magic formula for growing hair. It is an illusion that trimming ends will result in long hair. Trimming hair assists in promoting healthy strands but other factors including genetics, general health, dietary choices and thyroid functions influence the rate of growth. When split ends are left untrimmed they can travel up the hair shaft and damage the entire strand. Simply growing hair without trimming to achieve long hair does more harm then good, because you will end up with a head of severely damaged hair. Therefore, paying close attention to the ends of your hair is imperative.

Conditioning

Keratin is the protein that makes up the hair follicle. Once keratin leaves the body it dies. Hair follicles are made up of thousands of tiny cells. This is one of the reasons dry hair becomes easily damaged if it is not conditioned. Think about it, if you have dry skin and do not moisturize it then it will become flaky, itchy and crack. The same applies to hair. Dry skin is immediately visible since the skin is a large organ. Hair which is tiny and less visible (especially if the hair is short) will become dry and damaged if daily moisture is not applied. Neglecting your hair will result in breakage. Water is the best moisturizer for the skin and hair. Choosing daily water-based moisturizers will aid in the longevity of each strand. Water-based moisturizers penetrate the hair shaft and oils and butters seal in the moisture. Avoid petroleum or mineral based moisturizers because they eventually dry out the hair.


Products

Not all products are created equal and not all products will work on your hair texture. The best way to find products that work is through trial and error. Watching YouTube videos or reading product reviews are helpful but experience is the best teacher. Search for products with natural ingredients and mix raw natural ingredients with manmade products. If you are not a big fan of natural ingredients and don't mind using synthetic ingredients then do what works best for you. I have experimented with a lot of ingredients and nothing works better on my hair then natural ingredients. Shea butter, coconut oil, avocado, eggs, bananas and almond oil are a few of the best ingredients that work for me.

What are your hair goals?