Should You Be Oiling Your Scalp??

I know that some of you have no intention of reading this entire article, so I will make it easy for you….
The short answer is: Yes, if you want to achieve healthy, shiny hair you should be oiling your scalp. Why ?? Ha ha that’s the gotcha—if you want to know why you have to read the article…
The human scalp naturally produces and secretes oil known as sebum. Sebum lubricates your scalp and even helps moisturize your hair.
So if you have sebum, why would you need to oil your scalp? I’m getting there…
Commercial shampoos, environmental stresses, excessive heat use and even improper diet can affect your sebum levels. Also your curl pattern affects the ability of the sebum to actually lubricate your hair. Sebum cannot travel well down curly and kinky hair strands. Adding to that, scientists have discovered that if your hair is longer than neck length then the sebum does not travel the length of your hair shaft which can leave your hair dry and brittle. Sebum also acts as a barrier to keep moisture locked into the hair and skin and keep out certain harmful bacteria so when your sebum production is low you hair and scalp are much more vulnerable.


Okay so now that you know all the reasons you should be oiling your scalp, you need to know with what and when… Read on for a few tips
Choose oils that won’t clog your pores
Jojoba oil-- actually has the closest chemical composition to sebum
Safflower oil—good moisturizing oil
Castor oil-- many believe it thickens the hair and promotes hair growth
JBCO—many believe it thickens the hair and promotes hair growth
Coconut oil

Oiling your scalp and greasing your scalp are not the same thing—Never put any product that contains mineral oil or petrolatum (like most greases) on your scalp. Mineral oil/petrolatum can clog the pores trapping dirt and dust in your scalp.

Choosing how often to oil your scalp will depend on a couple of things
How often you wash your hair (especially with shampoos that contain harsh detergents like SLS); the more you wash the more your scalp will appreciate the oil replenishment
How thick or think your hair is and your hair texture; remember, the tighter your curl pattern the harder it is for sebum to travel down the hair shaft. Also, if your hair is densely packed your natural sebum may not be evenly distributed through all your hair and you may need to oil more often.

Have fun oiling…. Reach us with questions at healthystateofhair@live.com

Dream Hair

Ke Ke says: I always think it’s a good idea to have a goal or inspiration to strive towards. But sometimes, I worry that when people say “Oh, I want her hair” what they really mean is I hate my own hair. To me, your hair journey should be about getting your hair to be the healthiest, the thickest, and the longest it can be.

Choosing a hair idol that has long curly 3b hair when you have 4c hair will surely lead to disappointment and frustration. Personally, when people ask about my dream hair, I tell them I have my dream hair but I am working on giving it what it needs. Clearly I admire other people with beautiful hair and there are quite a few celebrities who have hair that is my ideal length (although some of them are weaves).

Ke Ke’s hair inspirations:

Keesha Sharp (better known as "Monica" from Girlfriends)

Jurnee Smollett... no matter whether curly or straight, her hair is beautiful





Amel Larrieux.... I know this is her natural texture but it's my texlaxed texture so I love this photo

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

Dry Scalp Treatment

Even as a teenager I suffered from dry scalp…. My dermatologist swore it wasn’t actually dandruff and I didn’t need prescription medication but it was always embarrassing to me to see those little flakes in my hair. I really had just learned to accept it as part of my life and I was so careful when I wore black. I cringed whenever people standing next to me started dusting off my shoulder because I knew they were wiping away flakes.

About 3 months into my hair journey, I realized that I had the power to “change” certain things about my hair. I didn’t have to suffer from dry scalp any more than I had to live with the excessive shedding. So I decided to see what I could do to fix it.

There are quite a few things that could be causing your dry scalp. Pollution in the air contributes to the development of dry scalp as well as hard water. And of course the problems can start from the inside and your dry scalp may be directly related to your bad diet and failure to drink enough water. Another leading cause of dry scalp is the harsh cleaning agents used in most shampoos and other hair products.

The human scalp moisturizes itself by secreting oils known as sebum which is supposed to waterproof the skin and keep it from drying out. For some of the reasons listed above, people who suffer from dry scalp do not secrete enough sebum or was so much sebum away that it is not able to sufficiently protect the skin/scalp.


So how do you remedy your dry scalp?

First, increase your intake of water and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Check the ingredient lists on the back of your hair products. Mineral Oil and Petrolatum, often found in Black hair care products, actually coat the scalp and keep moisture from penetrating your hair. Ironically, these two ingredients usually appear in products that are labeled as moisturizing. SLS or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, the detergent used in most major brand shampoos, can also dry out the scalp by stripping it of its natural oils.

Don’t scratch your scalp with your nails (don’t worry we’ll talk about other ways to tame that itch in the Tips section)

Invest in oils that do not clog the pores and apply them twice a week
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Tips that worked for me:

Drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day

I threw out all of my products which contained mineral oil and/or petrolatum.
I do an oil treatment before every wash. I have not thrown away all of my SLS shampoos. Eventually I would like to but most of the SLS free shampoos contain Coco-Betaine (supposedly a milder detergent) and I think it is as stripping as SLS and even worse it makes my hair feel like straw.

I bought a scalp massager and use it 2 to 3 times a week. Some days I utilize a process called Scritching (there will be an article on scritching soon). Scalp massages and Scritching actually encourages blood circulation in the scalp which result in increased sebum production


Hope that Helps !!

Ke Ke

Ke Ke's Ponytail Roller Set

After applying leave-ins, part hair into 6 sections and secure each section with an elastic... put 2 to 3 rollers in each ponytail










RESULTS:

What is a Regimen?

Whenever you hear women speak about truly getting their hair to a healthy state, you inevitably hear the word regimen. What exactly does the word mean and what does it have to do with your hair? The Encarta Dictionary defines regimen as a program to improve health utilizing medication, diet, exercise, or other measures intended to improve health or fitness. At healthy state of hair, we really like this definition.

In hair care, we define a regimen as the daily steps you take to get your hair healthy. A lot of people ask us about length and our response is always the same: All hair grows; healthy hair retains length, making it possible for you to grow long hair. One our biggest pet peeves is people saying, “My hair doesn’t grow”. Unless you have a medical problem, your hair does grow; the reality is that it probably breaks at the same rate or faster than it grows which is why you never see it getting longer.

Don’t believe us?? Any lady who has a relaxer knows that their hair grows… If it didn’t, you would never need a re-touch. That’s why we call it new growth.

So your hair grows, but you feel like it never gets longer. We know that feeling well and we can help you actually retain the length of your hair but you have to be prepared to make changes. One of our favorite sayings goes, “Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different reaction.” It’s time to change the way you treat your hair.

They say it takes 30 days to learn a new habit but we’re going to ask you for 60 days… 60 days of doing things our way and you will see a change (for the better) in your hair… You really don’t have anything to lose… You ready???
The first step in getting your hair healthy is creating your own regimen and consistency is the key. Just like you won’t lose in weight if you only exercise once every 4 weeks, you can’t expect to improve your hair by treating it well once a month.

To help get you started, we’ve listed our own regimens below… The key to creating the perfect regimen is simply finding what works for your hair and doing it consistently. You should notice right away that our regimens are very different. Simply put, we don’t have the same hair so our hair doesn’t like the same things. Chris has 4 a hair which is finer and has a more defined curl pattern; she has the versatility of wearing it pin straight or very curly using braid outs. Ke Ke’s hair is 4 c and is coarse and more wavy than curly; while it does hold curl well, it looks better with straight or pin-curls. She very rarely does braid outs because her hair has a tendency to tangle and braid-outs encourage this behavior. You may find that mixing and matching parts of each regimen works best for you….


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Ke Ke's Regimen



*** Sunday Wash Day***

Oil hair, braid into 4 sections, and cover with plastic cap; Leave on for 30-45 minutes

Shampoo in shower; I apply my shampoo with an applicator bottle so that it is only on my scalp; Because my hair tangles easily (especially when stretching my relaxer) I wash each section individually and only apply shampoo to my scalp; Massage shampoo into scalp and rinse

Apply deep conditioner with brush and sit under steamer for 45 minutes. Rinse; Detangle in shower

Apply leave-in conditioners and roller set

***Thursday Wash Day***

Spray hair with rosewater and apply protein treatment; Braid into 4 sections

Shampoo in shower

Apply deep conditioner and leave in for 30 minutes (sometimes with heat and sometimes without)

Apply leave-in conditioners and roller set

*** Weekly Maintenance***

Baggy 3 to 4 times a week

Apply oil to scalp twice a week and massage scalp

Moisturize and seal daily

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Now that you know what we do, it's time to make your own