Breakage...You Can't Live here Anymore

So in the last month or so I noticed that I'm getting a little bit of breakage.... Not as much as before i started my hair journey where I would see little hairs all over the bathroom sink and floor and have to dust them off my shoulder but still it was enough to cause a little concern...

My hair had been completely neglected for about 3 week because I was grieving ... anyway when I got back to my regular routine I gave myself a trim and washed 3 days a week to show my hair some love but the breakage crept up on me anyway...

Here's how I conquered the problem:

My hair has never really taken to the commercial protein products but clearly I needed some help. I purchased some wheat protein, hydrolyzed keratin protein, oat protein and mixed an ounce of each with coconut milk, wheat germ oil, rosehip oil and cheapie conditioner (just to make it easier to apply) and applied to freshly washed hair

I covered with a plastic and bag and slept in it overnight... I treated this as my version of a hard protein treatment.... The next morning I DC'ed with a moisturizing conditioner and then styled as usual

I really feel like my hair is protein sensitive so I am always careful not overdo the protein...I hate when my hair gets hard fvrom protein overload and it doesn't take a lot for me to OD.... so I have upped my use of ceramides to give my hair some strength

So far so good.... but I'll keep you posted... If you're having problems with breakage and need some help leave us a comment below and we'll see if we can help you stop the breakage

The Benefits of Silk Amino Acids

Okay I was supposed to write this blog a while ago but I was still researching....

First let's talk about what Silk Amino Acids (SAAs) are : Found in 2 forms, powder or liquid, silk amino acids are non-animal proteins that are derived from real silk. When you see silk amino acids in a liquid form (think silk polishing drops or chi silk infusion) the silk proteins have been hydrolyzed.

What are the benefits of SAAs for hair ?

* SAAs penetrate the hair strand and strengthen and repair it
* when SAAs dry on the hair they form a crystalline protective barrier that protects the hair from damage from alkaline (relaxer!!!) products (see that patent application http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7060260.html)

How to use SAAs:

1) add to deep conditioner
2) as a pre-relaxer treatment (cover hair with SAAs and then allow 10- 15 minutes for hair to dry and apply relaxer to new growth only)
3) mixed in with the moisturizer don't let the protein label fool you...SAAs help impart moisture and won't lead to protein overload...But don't go crazy because SAAS have a naturally fishy smell (now you know why chi has that strong smell, they are trying to cover that fishy smell)

I have to say I love SAAs... my hair has a natural shine to it and feels much stronger even though my hair is NOT a big fan of protein .... Get you some SAAs

Do Weaves Damage the Self Esteem of Black Women??

hmmm... Let me make 2 things clear up front: 1) I don't have an answer to this question. I just think that as Black women who are on a quest for healthy, long hair, we should be having discussions about how the health and length of our hair affects our overall life... and 2) I have nothing against weave... I am not a weave hater...I just want an open honest dialogue..

So how did this discussion come about??? This picture right here
I remember seeing this picture when I was a little girl and oh my I loved it... I thought Diana Ross looked so beautiful and I would have traded all of my barbie dolls for HER hair... Back in the 80's people didn't discuss weave much so I had no idea this wasn't her hair... I used to wrap a towel around my hair and pretend that it was my lucious flowing hair...Now I know what you're thinking...a lot of people did that...it doesn't mean anything...but does it?? I mean it's one thing to want your hair to be longer or thicker (and to find out what works to make that happen) but it's another to wish for something completely unrealistic...

Evveryone is doing it... I get so annoyed when we call Black women out for wearing weave as if it's something only we do... White women, asian women, hispanic women... women of all races, ethnicities, socio-economic levels wear weaves (well they like to call them extensions but uh you say tomato, I say tumato but it's still fake hair)... So why are we treated differently??? I think it comes down to one EPIC stereotype that even Black women believe and that is that "BLACK WOMEN CANNOT GROW LONG HAIR"... See, women of other races are preceived as having the natural ability to GROW their hair as long as they'd like so when they wear "extensions" it's a matter of
CONVENIENCE... Most people believe that for Black women weaves are a matter of NECESSITY....

Let's think about what that means and how we play into the stereotype... I'll give you 30 seconds to name 5 Black female celebrities that DO NOT wear a weave.... I'm waiting...waiting...waiting... here's what I came up with Vanessa Williams (although she has worn wigs on Ugly
Betty before)... the other Vanessa Williams (who wears the most glamorous natural hairstyles I've ever seen) ... Oprah (although some
people still think her hair is weave)... Paula Patton (she almost didn't make the list but according to her interviews she is not bi-racial) and I
came up short on the last one

Okay I know you all are itching to send me more names and I'm itching to read them but know in advance that I intentionally did not list anyone who identifies as bi or multi racvial or Black Hispanic which us why I excluded people like Alicia Keys, Jurnee Smollett, Halle Berry,
Melanie Fiona, LaLa Vasquez, Zoe Saldana etc... Because a lot of people believe that being bi-racial or from a different ethnic background
changes the game plan.

But for the most part, most of the celebrities we see photographed on a regular basis wear weaves href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2pMgDVuT1nZLTOPrO1Jj6mYR_yCv3ZtVuKOqcOCq0Y69-OopQpW1SeeBqLoYGND6VlmvjFSr2snRibf5CConxPPq6QT_OSsoyD9aLLjVMo-BwsR3QaGq2O4CFN8ffVbq6H-TQGwwRcE/s1600/jennifer-hudson5.jpg">



I don't begrudge anyone for wearing any hairstyle they like.. natural, relaxed, fro, mohawk, weave, wig , braids, etc... it's your hair, do you....
but I do wonder if we are sending the wrong message to young Black girls... Will they continue to believe that Black women can't grow long
hair?? that the only way we achieve that is through weave?? And what about our own preconceived notions?? I find myself saying at least
twice a week," No it's not a weave...it's my hair"... it's the truth but I still get eye rolls and sucked teeth which we all know means "yeah
right".

I don't think weave is the problem but I do think as a community we are uneducated... First of all hair does grow at different rates but there
is ABSOLUTELY NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF that Black women have slower growing hair.

Weave is a great protective style and it is good to wear it to create different styles rather than putting stress on your own hair... But just like it's an option for other women, it's also an option for us... If you want long healthy hair, you can have it...

There is a such thing as terminal length but for the majority of people terminal length is not ear length, neck length, or shoulder length.... You may not be able to grow your hair to your ankles (because all of us have a growing phase, a resting phase and then a shedding phase...and your hair may shed before you get to ankle length) but you can surely have arm pit length or bra strap length hair.

HHJ!!

You Wash Your Hair Too Much

Yep, I actually had a woman to tell me that this week... My first instinct was to be insulted but then I remembered that this was a chance to educate her. I haven't always known about healthy hair practices myself and like most Black women I washed my hair once a week or every 2 weeks when I went to the salon.

In fact, I can recall feeling very indignant about the fact that Black women didn't need to wash their hair everyday. In fact, I recall a good friend asking me one day why "we" didn't wash our hair everyday. My chest puffes up with pride as I explained to my Caucasion friend that her hair was oily and would get nasty if she didn't wash it evveryday whereas my hair, like most Black girls, would not. Just as an aside, I also thought deep conditioners were for special occasions, something you did evvery couple of months to show your hair some extra love...LOL and don't even get me started on my ideas on moisturizing...

Anyway, over the years I have had friends of all races and ethnicities and almost all of them washed their hair daily...so why don't we??? Personally, I think a big part of the reason we don't wash our hair daily is because it would be time consuming... Women who wash daily tend to be able to wash and go with wet hair or can easily blow dry their hair straight in 30 minutes or less... We can't so that and lord knows our mothers didn't have that kind of time.

Does that mean that we're cheating ourselves by not washing our hair everyday?? Nope, I don't think so. In fact, I think washing your hair everyday with a sulfate shampoo would probably do more harm than good. But I also don't believe it's healthy to be washing your hair only every 2 weeks...

The truth, according to me anyway, lies somewhere in between the two. First let me say that I believe these cultural norms (washing everyday vs.washing twice a week) come from misconceptions on both sides. The culture that believes in washing daily hates the hair's natural oil production and blames it for limp, lifeless hair. We've talked about sebum production before so I won't beat a dead horse but the body's sebum production is a good thing for many reasons and while it isn't good to let the oil pile up and clog pores, it also isn't good to strip it all away by washing everyday. Now, remember we previously dicussed that sebum travels down a straight hair strand much faster than it does a curly (kinky) one so those with straight hair may need to wash more often (still not everyday) than those with curlier hair. On our side, I was often told not to wash more than once a week because water dries the hair out. I know it sounds silly now but I know a lot of Black women still believe that. The truth is, the water doesn't dry our hair out, it's all the stuff we do afterwards (blow drying, flat ironing, failing to DC,etc) that dry our hair out.

So how often should you wash??? It depends...LOL... I just can't give you a hard and fast answer but I believe most Black women should wash their hair every 3 to 4 days instead of once every 2 weeks and at the bare minimum you should be washing once a week. Why?? Well it all goes back to that sebum thing. Because the sebum doesn't travel down our hair shaft very well, we need to wash and deep condition regularly to put moisture back in our hair.

So how often do you wash your hair?? Now that you've learned healthier hair care tips are you passing them on to other women? What about if/when you have a daughter?? Will you take the time to wash her hair more often??

Summer Hair...Sexy Beach Waves

So all of our favorite magazines are touting the hottest summer hairstyles...I couldn't help but notice that most of these summer styles require heat... There has to be a way to have fabulous summer hair without a whole of direct heat...right??? Well our mission (and yes we choose to accept it...LOL) is to recreate some of these hot summer looks without that NASTY HEAT MONSTER... Now we don't make any promises that styles are going to be exactly the same because we are not professionals but hey it's summer and we figure the only way to know for sure is to try...

So my first attempt at a cool summer style... SEXY BEACH WAVES

here's the magazine looks




it's a good look for J Lo



and Rachel Bilson

an article on how to get the beach waves look

http://beauty.about.com/od/hairbasics/ht/sexywaves.htm

most articles I found on recreating this look suggested using a curling iron and then separating the curls... I have tried that way in the past and it does work... but you need to add oil sheen and polisher afterwards to get a shiny look because your hair is so dry (and please don't forget the heat protectant if you try it this way)

My Challenge:

Okay since I was determined to use NO direct heat for this style.. here's what I did


Washed
Light Protein Treatment
Coffee Rinse
Deep Conditioned
Air Dried
After my hair was dry, I moisturized and then parted it into 4 sections and did a big bantu knot in each section
Slept on it overnight and VOILA (ignore the scowl on my face...I'm feeling a bit under the weather)

here's what you get... be kind...I don't have a lot of experience with bantu knots







All in all I give myself a B+...I would like them to be a little bit cleaner but they are supposed to be tousled... Okay so you all weigh in... what grade would you give me and will you be trying this style out for summer??

Better Hair = More Confidence????

Okay so I realize that some of you may be reading the title and saying "Duh Ke Ke".... But I have to say that I did not realize how much my confidence was actually tied to my hair... Like every human being, I've experienced moments of self-doubt or even felt unpretty but for the most part I'm a pretty confident chica....

Whenever my friends and I have prepared for big events, we've often channeled or compared ourselves to our favorite celebrities... For instance, I am about the same complexion as Halle Berry and even the same hourglass body shape(but I am heavier than she is) so many times when I was considering a style or an outfit, I used her as inspiration... In fact, once a friend and I were planning a vacation and I literally planned all of my outfits based on various outfits Halle Berry was wearing in pics... Yep it was that serious... and before you fall out of your seat laughing you should know that I got compliments on my clothes all week.

So what's the point??? Well a few weeks ago I was having a conversation with some friends and the question arose about which celebrity we'd most like to "be" like... In the past, I would have had a ready answer for that question... While I don't envy her personal life, I've always admired Halle Berry's beauty, confidence, and persistence to pursue her dreams...BUT for whatever reason that day when the question was asked I felt like I was at a loss... I don't envy any celebrities, I thought and really the way I feel about myself right now I don't want to emulate any of them... I'm just so proud to be Ke Ke right now.. and quite honestly, I feel like the only thing that has changed about me in the past few months is my hair...

Maybe it sounds crazy but I really feel like the triumphs I have had with my hair over the last 9 months have instilled a new confidence in me.... I have always known that when it comes to work if I set my mind to it then I could accomplish it but some things I thougvht were beyond my control... my hair was definitely one of those things... when it wanted to behave it did and when it didn't I couldn't do anything about it but pull it back in a ponytail... I no longer feel helpless about my hair... in fact, I feel like I can grow it to any length that I'd like... I love that it is full thick and bouncy...I see myself differently when I look in the mirror... I used to envy women with long hair (especially women of other races) because it seemed like they had "perfect" hair and I just thought that was beyond my reach AND now I know just how great my own hair CAN be... and it's a great feeling...

I have received messages from Black women who say they thought the only way Black women could have long thick hair is by getting a weave or wearing wigs.... the truth is, Black women can grow long hair.... Our hair grows at the same rate as everyone else's...there is no scientific proof at all that our hair grows slower than other races...our problem comes with length retention and we fail to retain length because we don't know how to properly care for our hair... But we can learn !!

Remember even in a world full of chaos, you can achievve a healthy state of hair...

Stretching: What is it? How can it help you? Should you be doing it?

Stretching, in the world of healthy chemically treated hair, refers to extending the time between relaxer applications.

For years Black women have told that they must re-touch their relaxers every 4-6 weeks.... The problem with this is that on average the hair grows .5 inches a month (that's the average, your hair may grow slower or faster than the average) so at 4 weeks you probably don't have enough noticeable new growth and you are much more likely to overlap , i.e. putting the relaxer on hair that has perviously been relaxed. What's wrong with that? Putting more relaxer on hair that has previously been relaxed breaks down the previously relaxed hair leaving it weak and prone to breakage.

Most hair care gurus suggest waiting at least 8-10 weeks between relaxer applications to prevent overlapping but we think 10-12 is better.

Don't get me wrong, we undertand that stretching is an adjustment... We're so used to slapping in a relaxer at the first sign of new growth and you'll probably even have some well-meaning friends and family members say, "Girl, it's time for a re-touch" but in the end your hair will be stronger, healthier, and you'll be able to retain length, making it much longer.

You have three choices on how to handle your new growth when you're stretching...

1) wear curly hairstyles so that the different textures aren't that obvious... try braid-outs, bantu knot outs, or twist outs to blend the two textures

2) flat iron your new growth only.... It is healthier to apply heat to unprocessed hair than it is to apply it to chemically treated hair... Don't forget the heat protectant and don't make the flat iron too hot

3) just let the new growth go.... Personally, I've just embraced that my new growth is what it is...my hair... and so I usually roller set through my stretch which tames the new growth some but my hair and heat seem to be mortal enemies so I don't intend to subject them to each other often

More Tips for stretching:
1) Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize.... pay special attention to the line of demarcation between the new growth and the relaxed hair, the new growth itself and those vulnerable ends

2) Only detangle in the shower or when hair is wet.

3) Wash hair in sections to diminish tangles

4) Balance protein/moisture


HHJ!!

6 MONTHS WITHOUT DIRECT HEAT!!! RAISE THE ROOF!!

You read correctly, for the last 6 months I have forsaken the flat iron, the curling iron, and the blow dryer!! Woo hoo!!

Some of you may be saying, “Okay Ke Ke, 6 months without direct heat big deal.” Well for me it is a big deal, before my hair journey the longest I went without one of those appliances was 6 hours ( Okay okay… I am exaggerating a little but I am trying to make a point so I am allowed a little creative license).

I honestly believed that my hair could not be straight and “pretty” without flat ironing. I also did not know how to make a curl or wave without the curling iron. I let hair dressers flat iron my hair weekly and if that wasn’t enough I usually used my curling iron twice a week to get a wavy look. So now not only was my hair relaxed and dyed, but I was also putting heat on it three times a week. The end result was ends that were frizzy and split. My hair had to be trimmed from Arm Pit Length (APL) back to full Shoulder Length (SL). On top of all that, it was shedding like crazy. One day when I got around to counting the fallen hairs I found more than 120 on the floor and gave up counting.

Since I have given up the heat, I have gone from SL to Below Shoulder Blade (BSB) length. Now I’ll be the first to admit that it has not been an easy addiction to break. I never believed that I could style my own hair especially without my trusty curling iron. But my hair has thrived from the extra attention and actually looks prettier than when it was flat ironed. I still am not a fan of braid outs because my hair (especially as it gets longer) has a tendency to tangle but I love roller setting, flexi-rods, and pin curls.

Tips to Help You Stay Away From the Heat:

Schedule your wash days in advance; when you don’t feel rushed you can take your time with your hair

Invest in rollers, flexi-rods, and clips. If you have everything you need to get a great look, you’ll be less tempted to pull out the blow dryer

They have rollers of all sizes but it may take you a couple of tries to get the look you want. Remember the smaller the roller, the tighter the curl. Ladies with Ear Length (EL) hair that desire a straighter look should try 1” rollers, after hair is dry use a brush to wrap the hair, cover your head with Saran wrap and then sit under the dryer for 10 minutes or without heat leave it wrapped for 30 minutes to an hour. Ladies with SL hair should try the 1.75” rollers (usually the purple ones in the BSS).

Ladies who hate being under the hair dryer (like me!!) should try magnetic rollers with a ceramic coating… They can cut your drying time in half.

Good luck ladies!! Leave any questions you have in the comment section or email us

I was too vain to take pictures when my hair looked bad so all I have to show you is the finished product