BREAKAGE. The word haunts all of us in the natural hair community. It happens when you least expect it - when you wear your hair up or down, when you wash/condition it, or even while detangling. The maintenance of textured hair always has its ups and downs. Once a strand of hair sheds, we freak. Our hair is God given, something special like that some can never understand. Life would be a dream without breakage.
No matter your hair type or texture —curly, straight, or tightly coiled - hair breakage can happen to you. Although we cannot escape it, we are here to outline our top tips to reduce the amount of shed you see every month.
The Breakdown
We know that for hair to flourish into luxurious curls and coils, we must feed it the proper moisture and nutrients it needs daily. Hair breakage comes in many forms. Frizzy hair or split ends are two forms of hair becoming too dry and breaking off. Hair strands usually snap under tension it cannot withstand. In result, strands are left uneven and shorter than the normal length of your hair.
As for most women with type 3 hair, when our hair sheds we tend to notice it more. With environmental changes, constantly styling, brushing, or washing, our curls eventually cannot take it anymore and tear apart or shed. But let us get this straight, no matter what we do breakage is inevitable - it is going to happen to the best of us.
Here are two underlying causes of why hair tends to break off:
- Low elasticity: or the capability of the hair strand to stretch and return to its previous form without breaking. Once your hair lacks protein and moisture within the strands it’s difficult to bounce back to life and retain length.
- Environmental stress: let’s face it, pollution sucks. The air we breathe in every day is filled with toxins. This eventually affects your hair’s ability to breathe and grow faithfully. Limit the stress - try to moisturize your hair more, reduce heat, do protective styles often, and overall take your time with managing your curls.
Your diet sucks: Piling on infamous hair products won’t stop your hair from breaking off or splitting if your diet doesn’t include whole foods. You must be incorporating fruits and vegetables that are high in protein, B7 (Biotin), and rich in Collagen and Vitamin C. Let’s not forget the most important ingredient: WATER!!! Hair is alive. It can only thrive if we water it - both topically and internally.
Daily hydration is a must
So, let’s just jump right into it ladies.
Here 5 important tips on how to prevent breakage:
1. Seal and protect your ends: Practice sealing your ends ever so often with a water-based conditioner and cream/oil. Steer clear from leaving them unprotected and rubbing on clothes. The constant movement will cause your ends to become dry.
Pro tip: seal your ends with a thick cream or heavy butter - such as our popular Ayurvedic Herbal Hair Butter.
2. Protective styles: Any style that allows your strands - from root to tip - to be tucked away and secured from becoming tangled. Protective or low manipulation styles can be anywhere from box braids, cornrows, twists, and buns.
Little secret: We created an Aloe-based hydration spray that is infused with multiple oils to help hydrate, nourish, and strengthen your strands - especially on those lazy hair days.
4. Deep condition: at least once a week. Deep conditioners promote hair elasticity allowing your curls to bounce back to life. Not only will your hair become stronger, but its original luster will begin to show. You can make your favorite conditioner or purchase a moisturizing/protein-based packet.
Hair repair to the rescue! Don’t worry sis, we got you covered on a stimulating hair growth detox deep conditioner.
5. Keep combing/brushing to a minimum: Excessive tugging, pulling, and combing is unnecessary when you have naturally textured hair. Incorporate more ways to prevent your scalp from undergoing too much manipulation throughout the week. Therefore, protective styles are a girl’s best friend. Lower manipulation = healthier curls + less breakage.
