Stop Sabotaging Your Growth — Protect Your Ends Starting Today

 9 ways to keep your ends from breaking

Stop hair from rubbing against your clothes

Protein treat the last 3 inches or all of your hair

Trim every 4th month

Do not use brushes

Watch your ponytails

Keep them well moisturized

Ditch regular combs for a seamless comb

Do not use blow dryers

Keep your ends tucked

When is it time to trim your hair and how?

Have you been natural for awhile but you are not sure when to trim your hair? 

Here are a few reasons to trim your hair:

• When you manipulate it you feel popping and snapping
• When your hair does not style well.
• Check the hair which falls on the sink. Do you see short hairs the size of eyelashes? Those are split ends time to trim. 
• Your hair tangles excessively
• When you twist your hair you see frayed ends
• The ends of your hair are extremely see through

Although you can mend a split end temporarily with certain products, it is best to trim that split end off. Hair can split anywhere on the strand. But the most common type of split happens between mid strand and the ends. Once your hair starts to split it will continue to split all the way up the hair shaft. Always cut your splits immediately. 

How to trim your hair:

Seek a professional stylist

• Especially if this is your first cut since going natural
• Make an appointment with a professional who can work with natural coily hair.
• It is not necessary to straighten Afro hair, in order to trim it.
• A minimally skilled stylist should be able to trim your hair in its natural state.
• No blow dryers or straighteners needed, unless you want to. Be clear with the stylist your desires, before she begins to cut.

Trim it yourself

1. Detangle hair well
2. Separate hair into 2' by 2' sections
3. Two strand twist those sections
4. Twist as close to the end as you can
5. Using cutting shears, trim off the frayed ends

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU TRIM?

If you did not start your natural journey from a big chop, then you want to start with a professional trim. You want to start from clean, healthy ends. How much you will need to get cut will depend on the health of your hair. Get this trim with a cosmetologist. She will examine your ends and tell you how much she recommends to cut.

Once you have your first professional cut. Mark your calendar for every 4th month. This will equal 3 trims a year. Remove at least .25 inch each trim. Trim off more if necessary. Following this schedule and a healthy hair regimen, will enable you to maintain healthy full beautiful ends. When your ends look good, your hair styles well. You also retain more length. So you will reach your length goals faster. 

HOW THE ENDS OF YOUR TWISTS SHOULD LOOK
NO FRIZZ AND A UNIFORMED COIL

HOW TO KEEP FROM HAVING TO CUT A LOT EACH TRIM

1. Never brush your hair, it weakens your ends.
2. Fingercomb or use a seamless comb
3. Limit your use of flat irons and all heat straightening.
4. Keep your ends from rubbing on your clothing or seats.
5. Moisturize and oil your hair on a regular basis. 

Read all about New Moon Phase trimming and get the dates for March and April HERE

SEAMLESS COMBS

Hair loss treatment

Treating hair loss can be a difficult task. This article will help you pinpoint the type of  hair loss you have. Then give you tips to help you seek treatment. 
  

First identify your type of hair loss

Thinning hair

BREAKAGE OR SHEDDING
You feel you have loss enough hair that your hair looks see through. It no longer looks as full as it did a few months ago. Understand that shedding 50 to 150 strands daily is a normal part of the hair life cycle. A shed hair will be the same length as the rest of your hair. Generally you can see the white bulb on the end of your shed hair. This white bulb ensures you that it has shed from under the scalp. If the hairs are shorter than the rest of your hair and have no white bulb that is hair which has broken above the scalp. 

NORMAL SHEDDING V/S ABNORMAL SHEDDING
It is normal to lose 50 to 150 strands a day. Shedding is a normal part of the hair cycle. It is abnormal for your hair to shed in clumps, on a consistent basis for several weeks. If this is happening to you. Collect all your shed hair daily, date it and put it in a plastic bag. Compare it each week. This will give you a good ideal as to how much hair you are truly losing, so you can better communicate with your doctor. Also make note as to any other symptoms you are having at the time. Make note if you are on your menstrual  cycle during the excessive shedding time. 

Accumulative shedding
Never mistake accumulated shed hair for abnormal shedding. There are certain styles in which we do not untangle our hair for days. When you have not untangled your hair for several days, your shed hair will accumulate.  When you do untangle your hair, the shedding will appear excessive.  Do not be alarmed this is accumulative shedding. 

Now decide whether your hair loss is from normal shedding or abnormal shedding. 

Balding (clean areas)
You have clean areas on your scalp. The baldness has been there for six months or more. Does the bald spot ever fill in? Or does it stay clean? Get someone to look at the area with a magnifying glass. Do they see open hair follicles or a smooth scalp? 


Breakage (split ends)
Your ends look raggedy and sparse. You can feel your hair snapping when you manipulate it. You find lots of hairs varying in length in the sink, your combs or shoulders. Your hair does not retain length. It has been the same length for 6 months. 

Solutions to your hair loss

Thinning
If your hair is shedding from the roots in clumps and has done so for more than 2 weeks, then see a doctor as soon as possible. There are many reasons your hair can shed from the roots excessively. Unless you know the inner reason for your shedding you should see a doctor as soon as possible. It can be a vitamin deficiency or a serious health conditioning causing this. 

Balding
If no hair will grow in your bald area and it has been longer than a month, it is also time to see a doctor. When you treat hair loss quickly you have a greater chance of restoring your hair. The longer you wait to seek medical treatment the harder it will be to reverse your hair loss or slow the progression. 

Breakage
3 main causes of breakage

• dehydrated hair
• style tools
• weak hair 

Correct dehydration by improving your hair conditioning regimen. Avoid heat styling tools, combs, brushes or any tools which pull on the hair. Increase the strength of your hair strands by doing a good protein treatment. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT PROTEIN TREATMENTS HERE

Get the most from your dermatologist visit. These visits can be costly, so it is best to be prepared before your office  visit.

1. Make a list of all your symptoms to share with the doctor.
2. Writing it down will help you not forget to share it with the doctor.
3. If you are paying out of pocket, ask the doctor for a cash discount.
4. Ask for a scalp biopsy on your first visit.
5. Ask to be checked for vitamin deficiencies.

3 African Super Foods for Hair Growth

You can purchase these foods in form of:  oils, teas, extracts or powders. These 3 foods have origins from Mother Africa. When it is time to nourish our hair, no better way than to use the foods from the lands of our ancestors. 

Moringa leaves

Prevents split ends

Treat scalp dandruff

Strengthens your hair

Lots  of iron and B2

Twice the protein of kale

Baobab fruit

Ten times the fiber of apples. Loaded with potassium, magnesium and iron.

Awesome penetration

 Improve skin texture

 Super moisturizer not greasy

Get your omega 3,6, 9's

Relieves dry itch scalp and skin

Hibiscus

Fast hair growth (from the leaf and the flower)

Reverse gray hair

Stops breakage

Many of the benefits you will get with other oils, however these oils offer super results. So if you have any of the above issues with your hair, these are the oils you want to choose first. Especially when other more common oils have not done the job for you. Whichever oil you choose remember to purchase pure good quality oils,powders or extracts. Be consistent in order to achieve results. 

Two hair checks you should do twice a month.

Sometimes breakage seems to just come out of no where, but the fact is, it started somewhere. Breakage does not just happen, it happens as a result of something you are doing or not doing. If you are on a journey to grow your hair as long and healthy as possible, here are two hair care checks you should do twice a month.

Hair check #1
HAIR WEBBING
(A COILY QUEEN TERM)

I created this term to describe what the hair does when it is not properly hydrated. It forms webs when you separate it. When the hair sticks  together in web like fashion this is called webbing. When the hair webs, this means your moisture routine is not working properly for you. 

This is a check up you want to do every other week. You always want to be proactive with hydration. Check four areas of your hair, the top, back and both sides of your hair for webbing. Just examine a small section from each area,  if more than two areas show webbing, this means your hair is not hydrated enough. Dehydrated hair left untreated will eventually break or split. So correction is in order. Before you blame your moisturizers, take a good look at all the other products you use on your hair. Certain harsh ingredients can pull the moisture out of your hair. Examine your cleansing and conditioning technique, be sure you are not missing any steps and you are shampooing and conditioning correctly.

It maybe time for a moisture infusion to get your hair hydrated correctly.  The nine day moisture treatment will help to get your moisture levels on the right track. Nine day treatment

Hair check #2
The sink test

Untangle your hair over the white sink in your bathroom. Examine the hair you see fall onto the sink. How does it look? If you see long pieces the length of your hair, that is normal shedding. If you see hair which is shorter than your hair that is breakage. If you see very small pieces of hair no longer than an eyelash, those are from split ends. Those small pieces of hair have broken off from your hair strands, and this has left a weak spot on your hair strand. This means it is likely that your hair will eventually break, even with normal manipulation. 

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

First shampoo and deep condition your hair correctly. Steps to correct deep conditioning here. Once you have finished and your hair is dry, smooth your fingers through your strands again. If you still see short pieces in the sink, then do a protein treatment asap, to stop the breakage.

WHAT WILL THE PROTEIN TREATMENT DO?

 The protein will stick to the individual hair strands, and give them the strength they need to survive manipulation. The hydrolyzed keratin protein will fill in any holes on the hair strands, left from the splits. After using a good protein treatment such as the aphogee 2 step, your breakage should stop by 50% or more. You should no longer see those short pieces in the sink. Be sure to follow the instructions of the protein treatment you choose.

Protein treatments Coily Queen recommended
Aphogee 2 step treatment
Shea Moisture weekly hair & scalp therapy
(lime green label)

TIP: IF YOU LIKE YOU CAN APPLY THE PROTEIN ONLY TO THE ENDS OF YOUR HAIR. DO THIS IF YOUR BREAKAGE IS NOT SEVERE. YOU HAVE TO BE THE BEST JUDGE IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT CHANCE OR NOT.

Nail health and growth from Mineral Rich

Keeping your fingernails healthy and snag free is very important to your beauty regimen and in maintaining your natural hair. What do healthy nails have to do with hair, you may ask? Well as a woman with tightly coily hair, I rarely use a comb so I finger untangle my hair 95% of the time. In doing this, it is extremely important that I keep my nails filed and free of splits and snags. Because if I do not my coily hair will get entangled within my fingernails and cause breakage or splits in my hair shaft.

How do I maintain my fingernails?

I keep my nails filed and free of splits as much as possible. So I keep a 3-way buffer handy at all times. I keep one in my home office and one in my bedroom, so if I get a snag I can address it immediately. And before shampoo days, I make sure my nails are snag and split free. 

My nails have a tendency to split really deep in the corners and this really hurts and hair gets caught around this split. So I brought a home gel kit, that I apply every two weeks to keep my fingernails from breaking really deep in the meat and keep my nails looking good. This also keeps my polish from chipping and getting in my hair.

I found this liquid vitamin supplement called Mineral Rich and I take 2 tablespoons of this supplement daily. This make my hair and nails grow longer and stronger.

 January 1, 2013 nail length, notice the growth near the nail root? This is 2 weeks from taking Mineral Rich liquid vitamins. Top/bottom pictures.

 These are my fingernails after two more weeks of taking Mineral Rich vitamins. Notice only the thumb nail is short when I started out it had a deep split in it that had to grow out, and it did.

 Both photos show 4 weeks of nail growth from taking Mineral Rich. Notice how healthy my nails look. My nails have a thin layer of gel as a protective coat with polish only.