Nape Care

One of my biggest issues for MOST of my life has been my nape!  Breakage, dryness, alopecia, slow growth you name it, even at my longest lengths it was always just plain old choppy and never the length of the rest of my hair.  Throughout the years various practices have helped the hair grow and become healthier but right now with my last alopecia flare up it still isn't anywhere near where it should be.

Well if you are a fragile nape sufferer and looking for some great tips in treating and "rebuilding" your nape check out the following article which, imo, has all the basic steps you need to get your nape growing in long and strong!  Thanks to Eryn over at hair2toe for sharing!

http://www.hair2toebeauty.com/2010/03/how-to-grow-your-nape.html

Protective Styling 101 - Long Post for the Newbies!

I wanna talk about protective styling b/c I notice that many ladies are unfamiliar with the term. So, in short protective styling means to keep your hair protected from the elements, your clothing, heat styling and all other damaging agents that can dry your hair out and cause damage or breakage. Braids (extensions), buns, braid outs, weaves and wigs are all examples of protective styles. By keeps your hair from being exposed to the damaging agents and preventing the damage, you are able to retain length.

Ladies with hair shorter than collar bone or shoulder length are exempt to protective styling as far as CLOTHING goes. Of course, if you live in a climate with harsh winters and poor weather conditions you don't wanna expose your hair to this so you should still chose protective styling during these periods. Shoulder length ladies and beyond are the most vulnerable and should protect their hair as much as possible. Your strands are constantly rubbing against, the wool, cotton or other fabrics that your clothing is made of and in case you didn't know, many fabrics esp. wool and cotton are EXTREMELY drying. Be especially careful in those winter months when wearing wool scarves and hats. All of these fabrics can suck the moisture out out of our strands, which equals dryness, and once excessive or constant equals damage, which equals breakage, which equals cutting and that all equals not retaining your length. If you are constantly cutting your ends from breakage how do you expect to grow your hair longer (if that's your goal).

As mentioned above, the winter can be very harsh on our strands. The cold air can affect our hair as much as our skin making it dry and crackly which of course leads to breakage. You should def take the time to moisturize more often during these months and be sure not to go out with wet hair! It can freeze and snap off. However don't be mislead by the summer! Harsh UV rays can also have damaging effects on the hair just as on the skin. Imagine how your skin would burn and peel if all summer long you endured the scorching heat w/o any protectant on your body? Do you realize the sun hits your head 1st? Your hair is enduring more exposure than any other part of the body. The drying nature of the sun's rays mixed with the heat causing sweat on your scalp (salty toxins and we know how drying salt is for the hair and what drying causes right?!). Not a good combination. You can use natural oils like avocado to run through your hair b/4 stepping into the sun. Avocado oil is a natural sunscreen and will simultaneously nourish your tresses by providing moisture. You can also use cute silk or satin scarves to dress up your outfits while protecting your strands and summer hats are always fashionable to protect us from the sun. Be creative.

Now of course I don't have to get into how blow drying, curling irons and other heat tools are sooo not healthy for the hair. Like the sun, the heat from appliances sucks out the moisture, and can burn and dry out your hair. This is one of the best reasons for protective styling. Of course some of you just can't stay away so try to limit your usage to 1-2x per month and ALWAYS, use a heat protectant spray on your strands b/4 using your appliance. I'm currently using Silk Elements MegaSilk Heat Protector and the bottle lasts me forever since I rarely ever use heat.

Lastly combing and brushing are not good for the hair. Say what?! You heard me and I KNOW how you feel. I used to think these folks are sick in the head. I can NOT be unkept! Well I'm eating crow b/c I am officially one of them, I only comb on wash days under running water and guess what, I don't look like a hot mess. Now my protective styles of choice to help me keep it 2gether thru this are braid outs and bantu knot outs. They keep a "curly" look to the head and I pick the back up and make it look all cutesy. My hair isn't touching my shoulders, I don't need to comb b/c of the curls and waves and I still look groomed if you will. The friction of dry hair and a comb is just scaring me thinking about it. If this isn't your thing use your fingers to pull your hair into a pony and bun. The take a BOAR bristle/soft brush and GENTLY smooth down your edges ONLY, use your scarf to flatten while you get dressed and voila!, you look like 1 sleek and smooth mama! If you are going to comb, I wish you wouldn't but if you do, PLEASE DO SO ON MOISTURIZED HAIR WITH A WIDE TOOTH COMB, NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!.

Apply these principles and you are guaranteed to see healthier hair, retain more length and less breakage. Protective styling doesn't have to be boring, use your imagination, experiment with your looks and make it work for YOU!!! It may all be foreign at 1st but keep at it and it'll become 2nd nature to you like it did for me. Here's to healthy hair...... Happy Hair Growing (HHG!)

Alopecia Areata & Anemia--Very Important

Hello All,

Today's post is quite long but well worth.  I am relaxing 2morro and very excited with all the growth I've gained however the ordeal is going to be bittersweet.  I suffered from alopecia areata for many yrs and  up until recently had no clue what I was suffering from.  It always reared its ugly head on the left side of the nape heading up to the ear.  I chalked it up to 1)Wools fabrics 2)stress 3)products.  Over the yrs my stylists couldnt figure it out as I was a wkly patron and my routine hadn't changed.  "Why is your hair breaking, are you on new medication?" I alo saw a well accredited African-American dermatologist who said it was "damaged" and gave me some injections which landed me a visit w/an ENT specialist b/c I ended up with a backup of fluid in my earl canal as a "side-effect" from the injections.    When I really began to pay attn was in cosmetology school.  If I was experiencing damage/overprocessing etc why was the damage localized to one area?!  Everytime?!  It just didn't make sense.  I still didn't know what direction to turn.  

Fast forward a couple of yrs and I went for a colonic.  Well after analyzing the feces (ik it sounds gross but it's what they do....lol) she told me I had low iron and needed and supplement (your guess is as good as mine as to how they know from looking at poop).  She referred a liquid herbal supplement and I immediately began taking daily.  I noticed so many improvements in things that I didn't know were related to low iron counts and I was feeling great but after I would run out I would become very laxed about replenishing my supply.  So right b/4 I was about to hit APL the thinning and falling began again.  One day I looked up and I was damn near bald and while in tears the hubby says "let's back track, what've you done differently, what foods are you eating or have you stopped eating, it has to be something!"  I thought long and hard b/c as above 1)It was summer no wool 2)I wasn't stressed at all 3)Hadn't switched products in forever and again was almost APL.  We looked at my diet, exercise habits and then came the supplements.  Whaddya know, I hadn't taken my iron supps in a couple of months.  And guess what when I went for the colonic I was wearing a weave b/c of the same issue, it was after the supplement that my nape was growing to its longest lengths.  When I would stop for months at a time it would start again.  I never made the connection.  I never even knew I was actually anemic!!!  I called my mom right away b/c I know she's anemic and asked her was it hereditary and could I possibly have it.  Her response "Chile you've been anemic since you were about 12 or 13 yrs old, where the heck you been".  Well that's when it all began!!!  Again bittersweet, the sweet? - I felt I finally could conquer this issue once and for all and retain length w/o any pitfalls - the bitter - Why the hell am I just finding this out about 18 years later.  Why didnt' the stylist and the dermatologist hell even my physician do testing of hormonal imbalances etc related to alopecia areata or at least suggest one of these things as a possible cause.  My allergist tested me for thyroid last yr b/c she thought that was the culprit and thank God it wasn't (and didn't even know it could've also been a factor) but she took more steps than anyone ever did leading me to step my game up!!  

Long story short, or not so short lol but I am officially on the road to recovery.  I cut my hair in an EL bob in Dec 08 and so my hair journey began.  Ladies, I hope this helps somebody out here.  I am writing about this b/c it has affected me for so long and during that time I felt like nobody understood what I was going through.  It's been very hard and sometimes emotional, don't get me wrong I'm not one to trip over lenght, I've had Halle Berry, T-Boz cuts and longer hair as well.  But the point is I want it cut when I chose to cut it, not when I'm forced because of problematic areas and point blank I don't like unhealthy hair anyway you slice it.  If you find that you have similar issues, esp if they are localized to one area, please listen to that gut feeling and push your doctor!  If they say it's nothing, see a specialist and another and antoher until you find out what's wrong. Do your own research if you have to but it's not normal by any means! Again how can hair have localized damaged when it's structured the same?  You would see various breakage in different spots all over your head.  But the same spot all the time!  It's a sign of something deeper but it's up to you.  I've atttached some links for you to check out but don't stop here.  Hair's to knowledge and healthy hair growing!  I hope this helped.

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2207

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/alopecia/alopecia-areata.php

http://health.abqjournal.com/ConditionFactsheet.aspx?id=3&topicid=0&pg=1#S2 (check out the causes.