How to Achieve and Maintain Long & Healthy Black Hair

Your hair gives you the image you want to project to the rest of the world. It is the first thing people notice about you. It leaves that lasting impression.

Hair can be sexy. It can be ugly. You can cut it, color, braid, weave, curl, or perm it. You can love it or hate it, either way it’s yours. If you want to make your hair more beautiful, longer and healthier, you can.

Black Afro hair has a unique structure that can cause some problems requiring special treatment. The shape of Afro hair is elliptical with a natural tiny curl. The curl allows moisture to escape from the hair shaft. The natural curls constantly loop into one another, bringing friction and stress to each hair. The elliptical shape prevents natural hair oils secreted by the scalp from traveling down the hair shafts to replace the lost moisture.

This elliptical, curly structure has caused Afro hair to be difficult to manage and easily damaged. Our scalp tends to stay naturally oily, yet our hair is often dry and brittle. If we learn to moisturize properly, these problems are easily overcome and our hair will become more beautiful than we ever believed possible.

Until recently, it was believed that black hair grows slower than the hair of other races. Actually, black hair grows just as fast as any other. The structure of the hair is the cause of the problem. Natural scalp oils that were meant to moisturize are unable to flow down the elliptical shape of the hair. These oils are blocked and remain on the scalp causing clogged roots and dry hair. Our dry hair breaks off easily. Just the heat of a blow dryer, curling iron or pressing comb can badly damage the hair. When we perm we easily cause damage to the weak hair. The clogged hair roots slow down the normal growth rate. To overcome this problem we must:

Shampoo to cleanse the scalp pores so they will not become clogged.