Set your goals: Decide on your desired end result. Determine whether you want to grow out your natural hair completely or trim off the chemically treated ends gradually.
Moisturize regularly: Keep your hair well-moisturized to prevent dryness and breakage. Use a water-based leave-in conditioner or moisturizer and seal in the moisture with natural oils or butters. Moisturize your hair as needed to maintain its hydration.
Eek! Itchy scalp AND flakes?! Must be dandruff, right? Maybe, maybe not.
Is it dandruff or is your scalp just dry? Dry scalp and dandruff can look similar but are caused by different conditions. If you look a lil' closer, you'll discover a few things that set them up apart.
As similar as these conditions may seem, knowing the difference between them will help you understand how to treat your itchy, flaky scalp.
DRY SCALP
A dry scalp is caused by your sebaceous glands being unable to produce enough natural oils to keep the skin on your head moisturized. As a result, the top layer of skin on the scalp dries out and begins to crack and shed into tiny little white flakes. And the itchiness? Well, just like the skin on other parts of the body, once the scalp gets dry it can get irritated and itchy. Another common sign of a dry scalp is dry hair. The lack of sebum not only deprives the scalp of moisture but the hair shaft as well, leaving ends feeling and looking dull and rough.
WHAT CAUSES DRY SCALP?
Cold, dry climates
Over-shampooing
Drying products (hairspray, styling gel, etc.)
Dehydration
DANDRUFF
Dandruff is caused by a condition called seborrheic dermatitis which causes the scalp to become oily, red, and scaly. Normally, the skin cells on the scalp multiply when you need more of them and then shed off and die but with dandruff, the skin cells multiply and shed faster than usual. The best way to tell if it is dandruff is by the flakes. Due to the oiliness and overgrowth of skin, dandruff flakes are often larger and sometimes yellow.
WHAT CAUSES DANDRUFF?
Most people believe that dandruff is caused by poor hygiene. Although a dirty scalp and hair can certainly aggravate and contribute to the condition, the true culprit is a fungus called Malassezia. It can be found in every head of hair, but some people have more of it than others which is what causes their skin cells to multiply quicker.
How do you treat itchy, dry, flaky, scalp?
If you suspect that you have a dry scalp, be sure to use a gentle and moisturizing shampoo that will not further dry out your scalp and hair. Always be sure to follow that up with a silicone-free conditioner and styling products that help to keep your hair hydrated.
Massaging oil into your scalp is also a great way to prevent it from getting dry and flaky. The Donna's Recipe Strength Hair Oil Jojoba Oil (plus other amazing ingredients) which simulates the texture and consistency of the natural oil your scalp produces, making it less likely to build up on your skin/scalp and clog your pores and hair follicles.
Yes hun, we see you in your fresh Faux Locs, Box Braids and even your Butterfly Locs. And wait, you even have your baby hair laid! You go girl! Now I know you may be thinking, “I am not messing my braids up so, I am going to hold out as long as I can before washing it”. News Flash! Skipping and holding out washing your braids can reverse the benefits of you having braids in the first place.
We tend to get braids due to the seasons, convenience, versatility, low maintenance and of course to protect our natural hair. Keep in mind your goal is to give your hair a break and allow it to experience growth. Washing your hair in a protective style should not be a chore but a cherished moment. If you dread washing your braids, keep these tips in mind.
Remember, it is all about the scalp. Your scalp health is everything! Just because your hair is braided does not give you license to skip washday. There is no better time to take care of your scalp than when it is in a protective style. Why? Because your scalp is exposed, unlike when you do not have braids, you have direct access to your scalp and hair follicles.
Wash your braids every two to three weeks. Waiting longer can cause a stressed scalp, which can lead to build-up of products, sweat, dirt, dandruff, dead skin cells, and bacteria that clogs your pores causing pimples on your scalp. (Are you heading to the shower to wash your hair?)
In addition, when we have buildup on the scalp, it also leads to itchiness. Moreover, where there is an itch…we scratch or pat. Doing so also leads to a stressed scalp causing it to become inflamed and painful.
Keep in mind when you wash your braids, you do not have to use expensive products. More than likely your brains are synthetic. Concentrate on using your more expensive hair products on your scalp where it is needed. If you find your braids are dull, dusty or look damaged, using an inexpensive “all in one” shampoo and conditioner will do just fine.
The best product to use while your hair is in its protective style, is “Water”. We all know that warm water on your scalp will make your toes curl. Every now and then, while in the shower let the warm water hit your scalp. Gently message your scalp and rub your braids. This will rinse away the daily dust and dirt.
Keep your scalp healthy by using Donna’s Recipe Hair Oil daily especially in between wash and rinse days.
Even with proper care, most people tend to keep this style for about six to eight weeks. To keep your protective style last awhile make sure to cleanse, care for, and dry your braids regularly. So on your self-care days while you are exhaling allow your scalp to breathe and exhale too.
One of the biggest struggles for us curly and coily heads is figuring out the right protein moisture balance. Conquering this mixture balance is important so that your hair isn’t weighed down or overly fragile.
NATURAL HAIR AND PROTEIN MOISTURE BALANCE
Curly hair is naturally dry, considering the way it grows from the scalp. The strand automatically curls rather than falling straight. This makes it harder for the natural oils on our scalp to travel down the hair length and keep the hair moisturized. That’s why moisture is absolutely key to healthy, juicy curls.
However, protein cannot be neglected. Our hair is made of 90% protein, which gives it strength and structure. Protein in our hair is broken down on a daily basis, so if we don’t restore what was lost, our hair will become weak and fragile.
DOES MY HAIR NEED PROTEIN OR MOISTURE?
In order to keep your hair healthy, you consistently need to maintain a balance of both protein and moisture. Make sure you drink plenty of water and eat enough protein-rich foods to create the right foundation for healthy hair growth.
Everyone’s hair is different, so a balanced protein moisture routine will depend on your hair porosity. The more porous and damaged your hair is, the more protein-rich products you should use.
IS MY CURRENT ROUTINE BALANCED?
Since we all have different needs in terms of protein and moisture, you might be wondering if your current routine is balanced enough or if you are adding too much of one or the other. Well Guess What?? There is an easy test that helps you figure out your hair elasticity, which is a great indicator of protein or moisture overload.
Take a strand of clean and dry hair end and gently pull at the sides:
If your hair stretches gently and bounces back, you are well balanced.
If the hair doesn’t stretch, or even snaps and breaks, you are in protein overload.
If the hair keeps stretching without bouncing back, and eventually falls apart, you are in a moisture overload.
HOW TO RESTORE A PROTEIN MOISTURE BALANCE
Depending on whether you are suffering from protein overload or moisture overload, you will need to use different products. However, a healthy hair journey begins with removing and product build up and resetting the hair. So make sure to balance between a clarifying shampoo and a moisturizing shampoo every other wash.
With fixing a protein overload, you’ll want to focus on protein-free products that will help restore your hair’s moisture. So try using a moisturizing deep conditioner to achieve ultimate hair hydration. Moisture overload requires using protein-rich products that focus on strengthening the hair, so look for conditioners, deep conditioners or masks that include protein ingredients.
You’re looking in the mirror and you know something just isn’t right. Where did your lovely curls and your natural curl pattern go?!
This is the moment that you realize it's the result of repeated flat ironing, blow-drying, perm after perm, dyeing, and bleaching. Your curls that were once defined, bouncy, and happy are now stringy, limp, and lifeless – almost like they forgot how to curl!
Now you’re wondering, “How can I undo all this damage? How can I get my curl pattern back?”
Well, the truth is – you can’t jump in a time machine and travel back to its original state of health. What you CAN do is restore its strength and train your new growth coming in.
First and foremost, the most important step to embracing your natural curls is to make the decision that you want to commit to loving your curls no matter what. Applaud yourself and give yourself credit for having the courage to do this!
1. Avoid heat, please!
Burnt hair can’t be restored or repaired. The only solution for excessive heat damage is the growth of new hair. So, put the heat-styling tools down, right now! Or simply just throw them away.
For drying your hair:
Instead of a blow-dryer, use a microfiber towel or cotton t-shirt. It will remove excess water from your hair without irritating or drying out your strands.
If possible, try to air-dry your hair after using the microfiber towel.
A good air-drying tip is to add leave-in conditioner, styling cream/gel and Donna’s Hair Strength Oil to your damp hair, quickly do your hair in a protective style or wash & go, and let it dry while retaining moisture.
2. Physically train your curls when styling
If you're transitioning, more than likely, your ends don't resemble your natural hair texture or curl pattern of your roots. Therefore your ends need to be trained to curl and spring up again. When it's time to style your hair, finger coil and scrunch each loc of hair. Yes, it may be time consuming, but this will subconsciously tell your curls they need to start curling up again. They won't curl back immediately, but they will naturally make it a habit to curl on your own in due time!
3. If you must use heat – do so wisely.
Limit how often you use heat and when you do, use the lowest and coolest setting possible. If you must use a blow-dryer, flat iron, or other heat styling tools, remember to ALWAYS use a heat protectant. A heat protectant forms a protective layer around each of your strands guarding the cuticle from extreme heat.
Another helpful tip is to avoid using heat-styling tools on your wet hair. Water molecules can absorb a lot of heat, so frying your strands from the inside will cause all the moisture to evaporate. Make sure your hair is only damp (not soaking wet) before you turn that blow dryer on (if you MUST).
4. Give your hair a deep conditioning boost.
Whether you lost your curl pattern to damage caused by heat or chemical processing, moisturizing your hair is and will always be key. The best way to do that is with weekly deep conditioning.
Deep conditioners or hair masks are excellent ways to hydrate and moisturize your strands, scalp, and follicles. They also are nutrient-rich to help boost hair health.
To ensure you get all the goodness from your deep conditioner, consider using a clarifying shampoo before deep conditioning. This will help to remove buildup so your deep conditioner can actually get to your scalp and cuticles to work its magic. Damaged hair tends to be dry and brittle, so use a leave-in conditioner to hydrate and moisturize your hair on a daily basis.
5. Lay off the dyes, bleaches, and relaxers for a while.
At this point, coloring, highlighting and chemical straightening your hair should take a back seat. Your hair can’t take more manipulation. Dyes and bleaches are notorious for damaging and weakening your hair. Relaxers chemically change the structure of your stands, therefore changing your curl pattern.
If you still choose to color your hair, at least avoid any color that will require you to bleach your hair. Instead, go with a tone that matches your natural color to avoid bleaching.
Finally, transitioning your hair back to its natural curl pattern will take time, patience and LOVE! Use this journey as a way to get to know your hair type and texture better. Take the time to find out which styles and products work best for your hair. Develop a hair care routine that helps you nourish your strands into thicker, healthier hair as you proudly show off your natural curl pattern!
Our edges are the most vulnerable and needs special, consistent care. Here are some healthy hair habits to follow for our loving edges.
1. Stop all that pulling
Our edges can't take that long term. Over time, the tension and pulling can cause permanent damage and you know we don't want that. So, look into styles that doesn't require as much tension like twist outs, wash and go, minimum heat styles where you straighten and can wrap. Also, let your stylist know when a style is too tight and pulling your edges beyond comfort. Your edges are counting on you to be their advocate since they can't speak for themselves. Yes! Very good!
2.) Apply Oil
A good oil that has moisture and sealant oils are great for our edges. Oils that provide moisture is avocado, olive and coconut oil. Sealing oils are best to seal in the moisture provided from the moisturizing oils. Good sealing oils are jojoba and grapeseed oils. Donna's Recipe Strength Oil has you covered with both the moisture and sealing oils to apply to your edges.
3.) Mist water on edges
Water gives flexibility and moisture so edges aren't so easy to break while styling. When you use edge gel, it makes your edges hard and more susceptible to breakage. Misting on water is great before applying styling products.\
4. Don't touch or rub them
Some people have made it a habit of rubbing your edges and this is where eventually a clean bald spot or very little hair will result in this habit. Replace this habit with something else such as rubbing your sleeve. Whatever you do, leave that rubbing alone on your edges!
5.) Use a satin/silk pillowcase and head wraps
I know you've heard this before but we're going to keep saying it because cotton can cause friction and pull out our poor edges. We need them, you hear.
6. Eat protein rich foods and take supplements to strengthen edges. Great items for your grocery list include almonds, quinoa, lentils, pumpkin seeds, and brussel sprouts. These are some high protein rich foods to snack on and add to meals. Also Donna's Recipe Set includes 10,000mcg of biotin gummies that are great to add to your list to help a healthy hair routine for your edges.
Thank you for taking time to read healthy habits.
Oh baby, the edges!! Yes! They are often the shorter hairs that go around our hairline and while they are shorter...they often get the most attention. Many people ask, "How do you grow your edges??", "How do you style your edges?", "How do you care for your edges?"
Edges are a very important topic of discussion, right?!
Today let's discuss edges and how to grow them back.
The edges are often the most vulnerable and need more TLC than the other parts of hair on your scalp. Let's quickly go through some common causes of the dreaded thinning of our edges.
Food Intake
Now you know this was coming! We have to be mindful of what we are getting at the grocery store. To start, check out the 5 Hair Friendly Foods Blog to get you started. A good place to be to help strengthen our edges is the produce section with lots of dark green leafy foods. Think of eating the rainbow. Greens (kale, spinach), Orange (carrots), Yellow (Squash), Purple (eggplant) etc. These are the foods that will give life back to our edges. Also, taking supplements such as Donna's Recipe Biotin Gummies are great addition to support promotion of edge growth.
Hair Styles that Pull the Edges
Anytime your edges are pulled, it is causing tension and making our edges susceptible to breakage. For a little while, Donna's cousin can take a slicked down hairstyle but for many weeks and months is a big no no from our baby hairs. They said they just don't like being pulled like that. Try low manipulation styles where the baby hairs can be slicked down but not PULLED especially long periods of time...longer than a night out.
Medical Conditions
Anemia, postpartum shedding, low Vitamin D levels, alopecia to name a common few are all conditions that can take a toll on edges and other parts of hair on the scalp. It is important to consult with a healthcare professional to help with solutions for the hair loss in edges.
Unhealthy Products
It is important to look at the ingredients of products that are going to go on your precious scalp and hair. Products such as synthetic fragrances and alcohols are not good for the edges.
Stress
This is a big cause of hair loss and usually the edges are the first to go when we experience stress. This past year has caused so many of us stress we could definitely do without.
Now, lets get to the SOLUTION part. What can we do to grow these edges back. Our edges help us to create the beautiful styles that we love.
Switch up your Styles
Sometimes we like a style, particularly a protective style and opt for the same style because it works. It's best to switch it up so the hair isn't being manipulated in the exact same spot. Switch up your styles and give it a rest if needed.
Out with the Cotton, In with the Satin
Cotton pillowcases are my favorite but a good satin pillowcase will ensure the edges aren't getting caught in the material or rubbing against the cotton fibers. A satin pillowcase allows the hair to glide along without disruption. Same goes for cotton towels, opt for a microfiber towel on wash day.
Massage those Edges
It's a great idea to give your hair daily TLC with a 5-10 min massage. Even if its 2-3 mins. it will stimulate the follicles to "wake up" and flourish... aka grow out our scalp. Our Donna's Recipe Strength Hair Oil or the Nut Free Version Donna's Recipe Strength Hair Oil will do great combined with massage to stimulate the follicles.
Talk to a Dermatologist
A good dermatologist will determine what condition you have and can guide you on a journey to recovery of your edges and other hair loss. It is best to seek out a dermatologist that has experience with your hair type as well. It's best to ask for referrals from people who have had success with a good dermatologist. You can also search on social media in your area to get a more intimate experience with a qualified doctor.
Be Mindful
It's a saying, "Think what you're thinking about." When anxiety and stress starts to attack, begin to be mindful of that and redirect to a place of peace. Think about 3 things that will make you smile instantly. It could be giving birth to your child, reminiscing of your first kiss, laughing with your mother. Think on these things...yes!! Very good! Also, getting out with nature is another way to relieve or avoid stress. Sun is a happy drug. Get out in the sun and soak up that Vitamin D. These are things that can cause a side effect of growing these edges back!
These are just a few ways to encourage growth back to our edges. We're on this healthy hair journey and so it's vital for us to be well and our hair will follow suit. Join or continue with us on this healthy hair journey with Donna's Recipe. Love you!! Have yourself the most amazing day and even if you can't don't you dare go messing up nobody else's!
