Answering Your Questions: Minimizing Frizz in High Humidity

Khadijah Frrahkhan asked:  Can you provide some tips on products to minimize frizz & puffiness in the humidity?

Well, Kahdijah we're certainly in the dog days of summer!  According to the weather channel, if we have 2 more 90 degree days we will have had 26 days in NC over 90 degrees which will be a new record for our state.  With the heat in NC, comes the high humidity.  The heat and humidity certainly presents a challenge for those of us with natural hair.

Here are a few tips that we hope you'll find helpful:

1.  Condition your hair well.  As part of your regular maintenance, you cannot skip conditioning your hair.  You should deep condition you hair at least once a month, however if needed your deep conditioning could be done as frequently as once a week.

2.  Drying your hair.  Try to stay away from using a terry cloth towel.  The terry cloth towel can create frizz.  If you don't have the time to allow your air dry, you can use a t-shirt or a microfiber towel to or even a hooded dryer as an option.

3. Nighttime maintenance.  Always sleep on a satin pillowcase or a satin bonnet not on a cotton pillowcase.  It will draw the moisture out of your hair and is a contributor to frizz.

4. Product recommendations.  Khadijah's main question was around products to use.  Well no product is guaranteed to prevent frizz.  However, I would recommend the use of a pomade, which is usually a heavy grease like consistency to hold frizz at bay. One Aveeda's Brilliant Anti-Humectant Pomade.  Speaking of humectants, in especially high humidity conditions you want to minimize the use of products that contain humectants.  Humectants draw moisture from the atmosphere into the hair which causes it to swell. These include: glycerin, honey, panthenol.  Instead, look for products that include these ingredients which are natural anti- humectants:  coconut oil, EVOO, beeswax, shea butter.

5. Learn to love a little frizz.  Sometimes in pursuit of the perfect defined look for our curls and coils we shun the true nature of our hair.  Though it is discouraging when we want a look for a special occasion, a little frizz can be beautiful!  It makes our hair appear fuller and definitely adds some character!  The more that one accepts that some frizz is going to occur the less stressful styling your hair will be.  And if you remember to always have in your purse and ouchless headband and some bobby pins you'll be able to whip a frizzy hairdo into a cute puff or bunn.


I hope this helps to answer your question!  Please keep them coming!

Submitted by NaturallyNita

Answering Your Questions: Natural Hair and Swimming

Kenesha Bentley-Mair asks "What are some tips that you have for taking care of natural hair after spending time in the pool?"

With NC having record heat this summer topping in the triple digits, a dip in the pool may be just what the doctor ordered for cooling down and having some fun!  As you can imagine, many of us are taking a dip & we definitely want to treat our hair with tender loving care.

Care for natural hair actually begins before you get in the pool.  According to Nicole Harmon, a cosmetic chemist, your first step should be to rinse your hair thoroughly before entering the pool.  Doing so will fill your strands with the tap water, lessening the opportunity for the chlorinated water to attach to your hair.

Secondly, coat your hair with an inexpensive conditioner and seal with an oil either coconut or olive oil.  Then loosely twist your hair and either pull  back in a ponytail or pin up.  This will prevent your hair from tangling while swimming and minimize those dreaded single strand knots.

Immediately after swimming, shampoo your hair thoroughly and deep condition your hair to replenish the moisture and style as usual.  One recommended product is Aubrey Organics Normalizing Shampoo and Conditioner for an Active Lifestyle.

One of the many freedoms of having natural hair is the joy of being able to spend time in the pool without your hair "reverting" when being relaxed.  Even so, be sure to care for it so that it remains healthy after your plunge!

Have any other questions about this topic?  Feel free to leave any comments or additional questions below!

 Submitted by NaturallyNita

Answering Your Questions: Making a Style Last Until My Appt.

Recently, we reached out to you on Facebook and asked you to provide us with some ideas of things that you wanted to read about and you responded with some excellent questions!  Each week we will feature one question and respond with a blog post featuring that question.

This week's question comes from Ms. Cessaly Cheatham.  She asks:  What are some at home styling tips for really THICK hair?  I need something to get me through those last few days before my appointment.

Answer:  It sounds like you're looking for a low maintenance style that still looks polished even though you're really "stretching" your hair until you can make it to the salon.  The first thing I would recommend is to make sure your hair is well moisturized.  Natural hair craves moisture, it's especially essential during the summer months and it makes your natural hair easier to manipulate.  Mist your hair with water and seal with a light oil (olive oil or coconut oil) or use a water based moisturizer before creating any of these styles.   Here are a couple of options that I found on Youtube that are simple, can be done on thick stretched (old twist out, old braid out) hair and would look great until you can get into one of our fabulous stylists' chairs.

Check out Charyjay's 5 Minute Updo (the hair tutorial begins at the 1:20 mark)

Or Br0nzeqt's Textured Bun

And if you're really rushed for time but want something fun to do to your hair, check out this style - a new twist on the puff from NikkiMae2003

Please remember that these styles can be modified based on the length of your own natural hair.  Your hair doesn't have to be the length or the thickness of these ladies, add your own twist to it!  I hope this helps!  Check in next week as we address another one of your questions!