The Transitioning Series: Breakage & Shedding

Hey Curlies!


Here is my hair currently. I have been wearing this style for a little over a week now. I plan on doing a twist out the day I go home for Thanksgiving break(in three days). I haven't washed my hair in a little over two weeks and plan on washing it when I go home. I just brushed out my old twist out and created new twist on dry hair with Olive Oil and SM Curl Enhancing Smoothie.

Moving on....

While I was transitioning, from May 2010 to July 2011, I experienced so much breakage it made no sense. About 60% of that time I was also blow drying and flat ironing my hair (lesson #1: don't do it). I SHOULD HAVE BEEN doing a lot more protective styles and eliminating the heat (lesson #2: Protective styles). I learned that if you are not gentle with you hair during this stage things can go wrong!

Now their is a difference between breakage and shedding. Your hair sheds a little more than 100 hairs a day. This is when you might see a piece of your hair with a white dot on the top, meaning it came from your scalp. Breakage is when a section on your strand breaks below the root. As your hair grows out, a line of demarcation forms, this is where your relaxed and natural hair meet and it is very fragile. This is where your hair is prone to breakage most. 

To control breakage:
  1. Handle hair gently. Try not to comb or brush as frequently. When washing hair let the water stream flow through hair which causes less tangles.
  2. Deep condition you hair after every wash or cowash. Deep conditioning for about 30 minutes or more each time can do wonders on your hair in the category of moisture.
  3. Try protein treatments about every 6 months depending on how long you are transitioning. The Aphogee line has a GREAT protein product that can help eliminate breakage. Immediately after the treatment you need to apply a good conditioner, which the line also has. Remember not to use overload on protein because it come sometimes do more damage than good. You ca buy this product at Sallys or any other beauty supply store.
ClassyCurlies

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