When Moist is the Choice

Finally, the blog of the year is here, "Moisture and hair." There are not a many of folk who have curly, wavy, kinky, Afro or a combination of textures who do not want to approach the "Hair Sage," the "Dali Lama of Hair,"  the "Guru of Hair," the "Hair Shaman," or the "Hair god" with the greatest question of them all for their textured tresses, "How do I keep my hair moist?" 

How wavy hair
looks when
the saline and hydrophobic bonds are
re-arranged on hair.

I call this the blog of the year, about hair that is, because upon every consultation with every person who has curly, wavy, kinky, Afro or a combination of textures; they all ask me about what can be done to make their hair feel moist. They want to know, why does their hair feel dry? They want to know, why do they feel those little tiny brittle knots on the ends of their hair? They want to know, how come it doesn't shine? They want to know, why does it poof? They want to know, why does it draw up? They want to know, how come when it is wet it looks pretty but when it is dry it looks dull frizzy and ugly? They want to know, why when they put products their textured tresses, it absorbs all of the product like a sponge? They want to know, "How can I keep my textured hair moist?"

So, I will answer all those questions in order as simple as I can in my R.Kelly voice. Microphone please, "Well, I'm not trying to rude, but hey pretty girl I'm feeling you.." That whole moist hair thing is something of an enigma for many with textured hair. Coming from one Afro wavy textured hair person to another with textured hair; it ain't happening. There. I got it out. 

Mr. Chris McClain,
CEO/President
of Advance Beauty Inc.
who also owns the
highly favored hair
care products for
textured tresses
CANTU

Now again, I am not trying to be rude and people, I am feeling you. But I have to tell you. This is all a marketing scheme developed by people who are simply responding to what the consumer is demanding in hair care. Like a drug dealer. If a cheap high is what folk are after, then they will come
up with a product to meet the demand of a cheap high. Those who are in the business of hustling drugs for cash will deliver to all who demand it. The exact can be said for the hair care industry. I know it is hard to fathom, but it is true. What do the hair companies really care about your hair? It is the money they are after. Since "moist natural hair" is the new thing and people are now anti chemicals, as a person of interest in making money; they go and invest in what the masses are asking for. The transitioning movement is televised. The transitioning movement is real and it it coming to you live and direct. The people with the money to invest are listening. They are responding. Now here is the TBH, most  owners of hair companies who make products for people with textured hair do not even have textured hair themselves. Not that it matters, but it sure would help. In addition, nor are they licensed dermatologists or cosmetologists or even chemists for that matter. Case and point, not take away anything from Mr. Chris McClain, CEO and president of Advanced Beauty Inc. out of Dallas, Texas who holds his degree in BAA, Marketing (Bachelors of Applied Arts and Sciences) in Marketing doesn't have a lick of curl. wave, kink or for in his hair (well maybe a little wave or curl), yet he is yo pusha man. He is that brotha in the alley, givin you what you need...

Yo pusha man!

Now do not go all Black power on me, it's strictly business never personal. Do not get mad at Mr. McClain. He is simply doing his job. 

And, before I answer each of those questions in order, I will turn to who I will identify as "My Partners in Hair Care," L'Oreal. No they are not legally my partners and no, they are not all organic and junk but they care. They are vested in hair; textured or not. They have been for umpteen years. I invite all to click on the link at the end of this blog, and go on the journey of hair via their website and you too will experience why I  personally and professionally call them, "My partners in hair care." I'm not saying Mr. McClain does not have the knowledge or experience of L'Oreal but-ter-umm, well just go Advanced Beauty Inc web sit then go to L'Oreals.

"So baby gimme that toot toot.." Here we go, what they don't tell you at the hair salon or the beauty supply store is that it is the structure of the hair's protein that allows it to take on many shapes from curly, kinky, wavy, straight, Afro, crimps, straight, locks, braids, curls,  Jheri curls, spiral curls, tight curls, lose curls, flips, spikes, waves, finger waves, pineapple waves and the likes. 

My partners in hair care, L'Oreal!

So what gives hair its ability to manipulate into those varying shapes? Their hydrogen bonds. One is saline (hardens) and the other is hydrophobic (pliable). Those two bonds are so weak, it doesn't take much to manipulate them. "Water and even dampness can change the state of the bonds" per L'Oreal. It is water  in its many forms that causes hair to appear in the form of poof, frizzy, curls that have fallen, reverting and converting hair. Water in its many forms will not only make hair look different; it will result in the hair feeling different as well.  Your hair will feel different because the water, steam, dampness, HEAT or MOISTURE will have disrupted those bonds, moved them around to change the state of your textured tresses into the NEW SHAPE as a result of it's contact with MOISTURE. 

There is no need to fret because remember those bonds can be shaped or rearranged deliberately, by accident or an act of God (rain, mist, sweat...) and the hair will take on a new shape per the source MOISTURE use to manipulate them. It is only in the case of chemically altering or exposing the strongest bonds (disulphide) to extreme abuse can you permanently alter the texture (curly, wavy, kinky, Afro or straight) into a new pattern or texture.  "Let me get a beep, beep!"

How wavy hair looks when you
use heat from flat irons to
re-arrange saline and
hydrophobic bonds. Who gone
check me boo!

So now you can see why the ability have moist wet feeling hair all the time is probably not the state you want your textured tresses to be in. Also, you can see how heat is not bad for hair because those two hydrogen bonds are only temporarily responding and taking on its new shape per the source of moisture (water, dampness, steam, mist or heat) applied to it. And that only in the case of chemicals and extreme exposure to any forms of that moisture can we permanently alter the natural texture (curly, wavy, kinky, Afro, straight or combination) of our hair. 

Now, I will answer those questions in order.

1. How to make hair moist?

You wet it. But understand, that extreme exposure to moisture (water, dampness, steam, mist or heat) in any form will permanently alter the texture of your hair. That does not mean you can not put heat on your textured tresses. It means too much can permanently damage hair.

2. Why does my hair feel dry?

Because it is. Trying to make textured tresses feel moist is like always trying to make a leaf feel wet or concrete smooth. Texture hair is suppose feel textured and gritty just like leaf and concrete. To change it's state would be to expose it to extreme change in temperatures i.e the change of seasons or asphalt.

3. Why do I feel those little brittle knots in my hair especially on the ends?

A microscopic view of knotted or beaded hair. Also
known as Trichorrhexis Nodosa. Not Ladosha!

Again, if you are using products that are water based, it is the water in those products that are doing what? Arranging the hydrogen bonds. Affecting that outer most layer called keratin or cuticle causing them to knot up. That now becomes a hair disorder called, TRICHORRHEXIS NODOSA ( a problem when thickened or weak points/nodes along the hair shaft causes your hair to break easily). See, now you gotta go and pay your hairstylist or go back to the supply store and spend more money. Now do you believe me? There is a profit design in ALL of this. Either the person who is doing your hair, making the products for your textured hair or is selling the products for your textured hair do not know their hair science or they are simply selling you the hair science of hair that YOU DO NOT KNOW. Either way, you are being played like a piano. I don't do that. 

While water is natural, it also can be very damaging to hair; when? When you use it in extreme forms, again; it not only rearranges those two hydrogen bonds but now they are affecting the disulphide bonds which are the strongest of the three. To reiterate, when those disulphide bonds are arranged, permanent change in the structure of the hair is almost always the result. So if it is moist hair that you are truly after; drink it. Don't apply it. 

How textured hair looks when too
much moisture is applied to the
saline and hydrophobic bonds. 

Refrain from using products that are water base, where water is the first ingredient. Perhaps Aloe, glycerin, cetaryl alcohol which is a fatty oil derived from coconut people; not denatured. Also, oil based products are a great alternative. As the oil will act as a barrier, preventing the hair from taking on a new shape as it dries. Another great thing to do do it to go buy some litmus paper from the pharmacy to check the pH on those products. Yes, the organic and natural products too. If the pH is 7, so is what? Water. That means that product will be too drying for your textured tresses. Your hair will feel naturally taught, brittle and dry. I am not saying those products are bad. I am saying for textured tresses; they may be a tad bit too drying. A pH of about 5-6 would be ideal for a styling agent for textured hair! 

4. How come my textured hair doesn't shine?

Read number 2. In addition, because the hair is coiled, it simply does not reflect the light as well as if the hair was smooth and straight. Nothing more and nothing less. So do not go adding more product. Coloring your hair darker may help with the appearance thus making it look more shiny.

5. Why does my hair poof?

Re-read number 1.

6. Why does my hair draw up?

Again, re-read number 1. Understand that hair is skin. Hair like skin, climatizes. That means the skin and hair will adjust and take form to the climate/temperature it is exposed to. For example. if you go outside in the cold; what will your skin do? Constrict and draw up. You can feel your hands tighten. So will your hair, when it is wet and it becomes exposed to the drying air. If you go into moist steamy atmosphere, what will your skin do? Become moist, clammy and sweaty. So will your hair. It is your skin's natural response to the climate. If you don't want your skin to become clammy, sweaty and moist; you would use a ANTIPERSPIRANT.  And if you do not want your hair to frizz, you should use an ANTI HUMECTANT or DEFRISANT. Or oil! Yep oil and water do not mix.

7. How come when my hair is wet, it looks pretty but when it is dry it looks dull frizzy and ugly?

Re-read number 6.

8. How come when I put products on my textured tresses, it absorbs all of the product like a sponge?

Who ever said hair is dead, is why we ask these types of questions. Hair is dead in the sense that is has no nerve endings. When we cut it, we can not feel it; nor does it bleed. Yet,  hair has the innate ability to open and close via the cuticle (keratin) layers. Anything that open and closes; expands and swells and absorbs is very much alive.That is how we change its shape temporarily as this blog is highlighting or chemically alter it's shape, color and texture. If hair was dead, trust and believe none of this would occur. I have serviced enough people who have transitioned to know what I am talking about. Ask any mortician if you can chemically alter hair and they will tell you...no. Hair is very much alive, that is why it is absorbing what you put on it. The more you put on it, the more you are doing what? Arranging those bonds. The constant application of hair products is constantly rearranging those bonds and the hair is simply doing what is designed to to when it is constantly exposed to water; absorb it. Nothing more. nothing less.

9. Again they want to know, how can I keep my textured hair moist?

Wet it or drink water.

Drink plenty of water.

Please go on this hair journey with my partners in hair care and I at:
www.hair-science.com 

"Running yo hands through my fro..."

Not Hot Enough

Nothing came between Brooke and Calvin!

Remember when Levi's, Wranglers and Lee jeans were like khakis and corduroys? Boring. When designer jeans arrived on the fashion scene it was over. I even remember when the R&B funk group Cameo had a song, "Shake Your Pants." They had a verse dedicated to designer jeans letting you know that when you wore a pair, you were "dressed to kill." Jordache jeans were the "ish!" Then came Sassoon, then Gloria Vanderbilt and "Uh oh, Sergio's." But who can forget when Brooke Shields confessed to the world that nothing came between she and her Calvin Klein's? Along with looking nice in those designer jeans came the challenge of how to keep them looking like you just got them fresh off the rack. So the big question was, "to wash or not to wash?" Who can remember not wanting to ever wash your designer jeans because you did not want that rich indigo blue to fade on those stark white stitches" Sorry New Religion, but Calvin Klein ruled the scene way before you were a jean god. 

Whatchu know about dat...lol

In addition to questioning rather to wash them; you also questioned what kind of heat to use on them. You pondered, rather to put them in the washer or send them to cleaners? Hang dry or dryer? Steam or no steam? Starch or no starch? Niagara, Fautless or Stay Flo? For most, Niagara was always best. And if you were pressed for starch, your mom would teach you how to make some by using a lil flour and water...lol Now that's old school for you! The one thing you learned about designer jeans was that you had to have the right amount of heat to keep them soft, smooth and straight to preserve the fabric. And in determining that; it was unanimous that not enough heat, rather from the dryer or the iron proved disastrous!

Believe it or not, how to care for your denim (designer or not) is identical to the concept of hair care. Unlike blue jeans that all are cut from the same fabric, the same cannot be said for hair. Yet, you can apply the concept of fabric care to hair care. Provided you know what the fabric is FIRST and you follow the manufacturers instructions on the label; you can make it happen. Honestly, I see a lot of people putting cheap clothes and expensive garments in the cleaners that can easily be cared for AT HOME; like your hair. 

The trick to caring for your hair/fabric at home is to ask, "What is the most important part of caring for the fabric?" Is it the soap powder, the fabric softener, the bleach, the heat or the starch? Most come to the conclusion, if the fabric is not cleaned properly then there is no use in using any fabric softer, bleach, starch or heat. Again, the same can be asked of hair care and the response will pretty much be the same. If the hair is dirty; what's the point?

Hair like fabric, will not fit right or flow when it becomes soiled. Once the hair is clean and conditioned it will conduct heat safely. When straight and smooth is the goal, heat is the way to achieve it. Heat is responsible for how hair feels, looks and flows on your head just like heat affects how fabrics feel, look and flow on your body. Nothing, compromises the feel, look and flow of hair and fabric like not using enough heat. Both hair and fabrics will become damaged. If a cheap iron that leaks rust and sloughs off soot of some as it comes into contact with the hair or fabric. it too will compromise the health of the hair or fabric.

For mature audiences only.

Every time I hear someone say, "Heat is bad for hair." I immediately look at their clothes and go, "Oh. I see." Understand that if you have never had to do any laundry then understanding how hair is cleaned and cared for will be Greek to you. I am not only referring to the washing machine. I am making reference to having to wash your clothes by hand or on a scrub board or with rocks using the vary forms of soap. If you have never had to use any heat on clothes, then knowing and understanding how heat affects hair will be like Swahili to you. I am not referring to a Black and Decker iron heat . I am referring to the kinds of heat that can be used from irons you had to put on the gas stove, or a steamer, or hanging them in the sun to dry or even having to put your pants under the mattress (whatchu know about that)! Fabric care and the use of heat can be done using many forms. One thing's for certain and two things for sure; heat in some form is a absolute must when smooth and straight fabric is wanted. 

The thicker, the stronger, the more wrinkled the fabric; like hair the more heat is needed. In actuality, the less heat you use on hair that is textured or hair that is strong and thick; the more damage you will cause to your hair. Yep, I wrote it. Less heat is more damaging than too much heat. Again, most hair has 3 layers. The cuticle, cortex and medulla. Each strand of hair is mostly comprised cuticle scaly layers that look like shingles on a roof. The less heat you use to lay those shingles down; the more they will raise. The more they raise, the more the hair will not feel nice, look nice and flow nice. Instead, the hair will: frizz easily, feel gritty, revert quickly, appear dull, dusty, snap and rub out. Also it will not smooth and straighten evenly. 

Open cuticle-how ya hair looks when not enough heat is used.

Heat is your straight hair style's best friend . Like starch, there are a myriad of thermal and heat protectors to buff the cuticle layers from the heat, thus making it safe. There are also a myriad of thermal and heat protectors as well as heated styling tools (flat irons, curling irons, straightening combs, blow dryers, brushes) that makes hair conduct the heat more evenly and safe. Not using any form of heat protector is like not using starch or a fabric protector on those expensive blue jeans. The results are faded, dull jeans that tear very easily. 

Do you spend more money on fabrics
that are not on your head than the hair
fabric that grows from your scalp?

For life of me why people spend more money on fabrics of all kinds designed by the many talented clothing, shoe, wallet and purse designers than the hair that grows from their scalp; behooves me.  After all, clothes, shoes, wallets and purses are made of fabric too. People spend a lot of money to keep those designer/expensive clothes, shoe, wallets and purses looking new.  Your hair is attached to YOUR body. Those fabrics in their varying forms are not. Yet, many of people will go to that ECO friendly cleaners and buy that organic detergent. Yes, make no mistake they, too will put that bebe and Guess shirt in the cleaners, they will buy that UGG cleaner, that Coach bag cleaner and wipe that fabric down whenever salt or goo gets on them. Some will even make a special place in their closet and car for them. They will be sure to use heat or no heat at all if that is what the fabric calls for. Whatever the fabric requires; no amount of money is too much. After all, "You're worth it?" 

But when it comes to hair. I dunno? I see women spending any where from $50.00 to $400.00 on hair weave and then spend $4.99 on oil sheen to make it shine. "Houston, we have a problem." That makes no since. With the exception of those who can not grow hair or those who are pre-genetically determined to lose their hair, everyone has the ability to grow hair for FREE. I'm talking the kind of free hair that grows every single second of the day. And in that hair which is growing for free all day every day, there is some form of texture. There are many people with textured hair who actually like the option of being able to smooth and straighten it. Yet, there are these interesting "self taught, heat free movement people who do not know much about heat; let alone how to use it on hair" people who tell people that heat is bad for hair. Heat is not bad for hair. As a result of their messages about heat, many doubt the safety and purpose of heat on hair as it relates to a straightened hair style. 

Propaganda; A hustle?

Don't listen to those people. Do not make the mistake of trying to smooth out your textured hair, in any form, without enough heat. Damaged hair will be the result. Heat has been so safely used on hair, they even started schooling and businesses for it. It is called, Cosmetology. One, I am proud to represent professionally. I can tell you from personal and professional experience, hair remains on the heads of the many people world wide with all kinds of texture who use heat. Hair that is straightened converts back to its natural state of curly, wavy, kinky or Afro on the many many people who straighten it out. If they purposely or accidentally over process it while using heat; quality protein will revert damaged tresses in due time. All that talk about burning your hair, well;  If you accidentally scorch and burn a piece of hair here and there; don't fret. It will grow back. It's not that serious. 

This movement around: protective hair styles, heat free styles, natural hair styles, healthy hair, curly, hair, loc hair, braided hair, twisted hair, coiled hair, textured hair and any other kind of hair in between is propaganda in its purest form. It totes the line of sexism, racism and classism. It separates people. They mainly do things like show images of women with dark skin and woolen hair or use words like "women of color." Sometimes they single people out by using terms like "mixed, ethnic or bi-racial." These people are wrong. Perhaps they are in need money. They might need attention. Some may have a strong dislike for licensed hair stylists. Some may have had bad experiences with heat. Some don't want to sit through cosmetology school. I don't know, but they are out of line. It has been proven by many how race contributes to hair texture not determine. It also has been proven that heat smooths, not damage when used responsibly. This type of propaganda is nothing more than a hustle in every since of the swindling meaning. 

Keep it simple people. Do not make another click on YouTube about hair. You do not need to be a cosmetologist, hair stylist, trichologist, dermatologist, mom-ologist, YouTubeologist, loctician, natural hair guru or hair blogger or anybody in between to know that if it is not hot enough; blah is the result. Blah, damaged poof hair is the result to be exact. So if you want to straighten out your hair, do it. Just remember heat is safe and not enough heat is damaging.