You know when you comb you hair and you see little broken up pieces of hair everywhere, on the floor, in the sink, on your clothes, your dog, your bag…your love life! one or more of these could be the reason.

1. Lack of moisture

In other words your hair is DRY. Often times you just do not moisturise your hair regularly enough. When life and adulting is happening the last thing you have on your mind is hair, so it’s easy to go by days or even weeks without moisturizing your hair. If you have a tight schedule invest in a spray bottle. Mix water, aloe vera gel and BOOM you can spray this all over you hair in less than 2 minutes and seal in with your favourite oil.

2. Over manipulation/heat styling

You just can’t keep your hands out of your hair! We all know YouTube videos have this amazing ability to get us into a hair styling frenzy. Keep calm! Our black hair was not designed to withstand excessive combing brushing and styling everyday. Put the brush, flatiron, blow dryer down and try doing a protective style every week or two. You’ll notice the difference. Plus stop frying your hair with a flatiron too often.

3. Your hair is unbalanced

Ever heard of the protein moisture balance? Too much protein and you hair feels like straw and too much moisture and you hair feels mushy. Both of these can cause hair breakage. So always watch your products when you wash your hair. Ideally you only want to use a protein treatment once a month.Then every other week you can do moisturizing deep conditioning or light protein treatments if necessary.

4. Stress

Stress can have a huge toll on your overall well being and this includes your hair. Sometimes you just need to take care of yourself emotionally before you rush and try fix anything externally. Hair products, vitamins, herbs etc can only get you so far but you need to make a conscious decision to take care of your emotional wellbeing.

5. Pregnancy/postpartum shedding/illness

Hormones hormones hormones! Pregnancy can be a nightmare for some, because it comes with it some major changes. Some grow hair excessively and others lose hair excessively. If you are one of those losing hair alarmingly consult you doctor. Hair breakage can also be a sign of an underlying illness ie anemia. If you are concerned about the rate at which you are losing hair consult your doctor.

Since I started transitioning wash days have been an extreme sport. Dealing with two different hair textures is tough. My natural hair might like a product that my relaxed hair completely hates. I have to be extra gentle and patient (two things I sometimes struggle with)  Its a whole day event and the tangles hunny the tangles! But I’ve figured out how to minimize some of these issues.  I wash my hair in braids.  It may sound like cheating or like it doesn’t get the job done but trust me it works. Here is the simplified version of my wash day.

1. Detangle with wide tooth comb (take your time here and get rid of shedded hair).
2. Braid your hair into as many small sections as you can to have access to your scalp.
3. Shampoo focusing on your scalp, massage product into braids.
4. T shirt dry, t shirts are better than towels because they don’t snag on your hair.
5. Deep condition with either a protein rich conditioner or moisture rich conditioners depending on how your hair feels.
6. Cover with plastic cap and sit for at least 20min (if you’re using heat) if not sit it out for an hour.
7. Rinse out deep conditioner thoroughly and apply a leave in conditioner.
8. Allow your hair to dry 80% then unravel  and apply your hair cream or butter( my favorite is Avocado butter hair balm)

You watch as all your favourite hair gurus go from tiny weeny afro to bra strap length in a year but its been 3 years and your hair is dull and still shoulder length.  You’ve had a love hate relationship with your edges and at this point you are ready to throw in the towel.

Take a step back for a minute and lets go back to the drawing board.  You can’t expect different result when you put in the same input. You may be guilty of one or 2 of these things:

1. You are doing too much.

You try every product that is suggested by any and everyone.  One day its product A, before your hair gets used to this product you hear that product B is good so onto it your run. You hear there is a miracle product for edges so you ride that bandwagon too. Stop. It will take your hair at least 3 months to adjust to a new product.  It will take even more time to see if your hair is thriving with the product.

2. You use too many products

Your hair is suffocating!  You use edge control,  curling creme, leave in conditioner,  setting spray all in one go. Then at the end of the weak you co-wash your hair which doesn’t actually clean your hair and get rid of all the dirt.  Try and keep your regime simple.  If you use a lot of products you need to clarify your hair more simple.

3. You are not listening to your hair

When it feels dry/straw like or mushy/wet like do you take time out to correct your hair? Take time to actually understand your hair. In this generation where information is literally at your fingertips (google) you have no excuse as to why you don’t educate yourself. You may need to look at your protein vs moisture balance.

4. Stop comparing yourself

We have different stories to tell. We come from different backgrounds. Same as our hair. We have different hair types. So don’t expect yout hair to be like what your see on instagram everyday. You will only get frustrated. Fall in love with your own hair.  Its perfect for YOU

5. Be patient and dont be hard on yourself.  We are all learning.

Wash, deep condition and mousturise. When in doubt re start your regime and keep it simple then as you get to know your hair start experimenting.