Lade December 31, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The perks of Christmas & New Year in warm weather

When Hairducation went live in July 2013, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out.

My vision was for a blog that would give a simple answer the question; How to take care of black hair?
I didn’t want readers to have to go searching for the answers. I wanted it to be user friendly for ladies learning about black hair care for the first time. I also wanted to provide on-going information to help all ladies on their healthy hair journey and space to share my methods and views on hair care.
I don’t know if Hairducation has achieved all this but from a lot of the feedback I’ve received, I believe it is serving its ultimate purpose of making ladies more aware of what their hair needs and encouraging them to take care of it.

When Hairducation went live it had under 600 visits in the first month, five months later it has over 3000 visits a month. I realise that for some, these figures probably aren’t a big deal. For me however it means Hairducation is a success and that I must be doing something right. I am proud of Hairducation and its humble beginnings.

So I just want to use this blog post to say thank you, for your comments, for spreading the word about Hairducation. I honestly appreciate that you take the time out to visit and read what I have to share.
I see Hairducation as a journey, a challenge, a passion. Thank you for being a part it.

I am excited about 2014 and all the opportunity it brings. Can’t wait to see Hairducation grow…….

I pray you all have a happy 2014.
God bless.

Lade

Lade December 31, 2013

HAIR LOSS AT THE HAIR LINE (Part 2) – How To Prevent and Re-grow Receeding Hair Lines

Hello ladies,

I hope you’ve read part one of this series in which I set out some causes of receding hairlines.
Please note that our hairline is naturally more sparse than other areas of our hair however if you notice that your hairline is getting thinner than normal you should address this issue.
In this blog post, I will share tips that help to prevent receding hairlines and show how re-grow them if some hair loss has already occurred. Please note that a few tips have already been shared in part one.

1) Review and Adjust Your Techniques and Styles
Be aware of how you handle your hair.
Are you being gentle enough with it? Look at your tools. Is your brush soft enough? Is your comb too fine? Are you combing or brushing your hair unnecessarily? Is your hair moisturised and sealed before you style it.

Review your hairstyle choices and make adjustments where necessary, for instance, when you wear a bun if you feel a pull on your nape and edges when you turn or move your head, you should loosen the bun. Buns don’t have to be excessively tight to look cute. Don’t sacrifice the health of your edges for the sleekness of a hair style.
Also try wearing styles that don’t put pressure or tension on your edges, eg faux fringes and bangs.

Reharirducation.com -bunwith less tension

Getting in on the “selfie” action before the year runs out 🙂
Bun with bangs to hide/protect my edges

2) Full Weaves, Lace Front Wigs and Other Full Wigs
These can place a lot of weight on your edges because they are either sewed on, glued on or have clips that need to be placed on your hairline t lay flat and have a realistic finish. These styles place weight and tension your edges for a prolonged period.
So although a lot of ladies believe that full wigs/weaves offer greater protection, for ladies with very delicate hairlines, they may actually do more harm than good. If your hairline is naturally very fragile or has become very sparse I wouldn’t advise you to wear such styles.

3) Hair Left Out
When wearing a half weave or half wig, ensure you are taking care of the hair you leave out. The hair left out still needs to be cleansed and conditioned.
You may not have to deep condition; conditioner may be applied to the hair left out and rinsed after 10 minutes. Be gentle when handling hair left out and ensure you are still sleeping with your hair covered with a satin scarf. Most importantly the hair must be moisturised and sealed regularly especially before going to bed.

Keep use of heat on hair left out to a minimum. Rather than pressing the hair with a straightner, you can moisturise and seal the hair left out at night, tie it down with a scarf so the hair is flat and in-place over night. When you remove your scarf the next morning your hair should be smooth and flat.

4) Don’t Be A Repeat Offender
If you notice that your hairline is becoming sparse when you wear some hairstyles, ensure that you/your stylist are being gentle when creating or undoing such styles.
Also make sure that you are taking care of your hair and hairline whilst wearing the style. If despite your efforts your hairline keeps receding, consider giving up those styles.

Don’t simply wait for your edges to re-grow only to re-do the hair style .

Don’t take the fact that your hair line grows back for granted. If you continue with this habit the hair in those areas will become increasingly sparse and may eventually stop growing.

5) Hairline Products
There are so many products on the market which help to keep edges smooth or laid. Avoid using harsh products which leave your hair feeling dry and crunchy like some gels and holding spritz do.
Products such as Edge Control or Smooth n Hold Pudding or natural gel products like Eco Styler Gel are better options. Also natural options such as aloe vera gel or shea butter are great.

edges 5

6) Massage
Many ladies testify that massaging black castor oil into their hairline daily has helped them re-grow their edges. A few drops of castor oil can be massaged into their hairline for a few minutes daily or a few times a week.

Try to get some black castor oil but If you are unable to find it, do not despair. Other oils like olive oil can be used. This is because it is the massage that is the most crucial for the re-growth.
The massaging encourages blood circulation to the hair follicles. Blood circulation helps to deliver nutrients to the follicles thereby facilitating continued hair growth. It helps if you are eating right, staying fit and drinking water. Healthy bodies will produce healthy hair.

Essential oils can be added to the castor/olive oil as this encourages blood flow to the follicles. Peppermint, rosemary are favourites. Essential oils should not be used without being diluted as they are quite strong. Please check with your doctor before using essential oils if you are pregnant.

Time frame, it may take several months of regular massage to see progress depending on how much damage your hairline follicles are. It may take 4 to 6 months to see an improvement. This is because when hair is pulled out from follicle, new hairs form and eventually grow out of the scalp and this process takes time.
As noted above follicles that have been permanently damaged may not produce new hairs.

7) See a Trichologist
If you have severe hair loss at your hairline( or any part of your hair) and believe the hair loss may be permanent, I would recommend that you see Trichologist for diagnosis and treatment.
If you have lost your edges from traction alopecia, chemical burns or bad hair care practices and they are not re-growing, despite regular scalp massages, use of essential oils and being in good health, it is possible that you may have suffered damage to the hair follicles at your hairline and you may need to see a Trichologist who can advise on prescription restorative treatments or procedures.

I hope you have found this to be a worthwhile read.

Have you noticed your hair line getting thing or receding. If yes which of the above do you think you might try?

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade December 24, 2013

HAIR LOSS AT THE HAIR LINE (Part 1) – Causes of Receding Hair Line

Hello ladies

Christmas is almost here. I am so excited to see family and friends over the holidays. I hope your Christmas plans, holidays and travels are going well.
I am grateful to God for all my blessings in 2013 and pray for more of His grace in 2014.

As the year is almost over, I was wondering what the last few blog topics for the year should be. I decided to write about something that a lot of us battle with; our edges. This will be a two part series and in this post I will discuss causes of receding hair lines.

CAUSES OF RECEDING HAIR LINES

Like a lot of ladies, my edges are the most fragile part of my hair and scalp. The hair is sparse and the scalp is more sensitive than other areas. I am constantly on a mission to protect my hairline so I try to avoid things which may cause hair loss in that area. This includes;

1) Brushes and Combs
Avoid using fine tooth combs and hard brushes on your hairline. A wide tooth comb or a very soft brush used gently is all right. I prefer to use my hands to smooth my edges.

2) Bonnets/ Shower Caps

Some night bonnets and shower caps have elasticated bands that have deep folds in the band area. Please see the picture above. When placed on the hair line, the folds may pinch/hold on to hair on your edges and nape. When being removed, they can pull out or break off some of the hair. Only a strand or two may be pulled out every day but over the course of a few months, all those strands add up.

3) Hats/Head Wraps/Wig Caps
Hats, head wraps and wig caps can be great for protecting our hair. However if placed on your hairline, the friction may cause hair loss at your edges and nape.
If you wear hats, head wraps or wig caps regularly, I suggest that you place them above or below your hairline rather than directly on your hairline. Also make sure your hair is moisturised and sealed before wearing them.

4) Chemical Over Processing
Relaxers and chemical based hair dyes weaken our hair fibres so it is important to reduce how often we use such chemicals. The hair on our edges and nape processes quicker than other areas of our head. To reduce the risk or chemical damage and over processing, apply the relaxer and dyes to your edges and nape last. Remember to wait at least 8 to 10 weeks between relaxers.

5) Facial Cleansing Products

Facial cleansing products can easily come in contact with our edges when washing or scrubbing our face. The ingredients in our cleansers, scrubs or masks may lead to damage and dryness of the hairs on our edges.
So during your daily facial cleansing routine, try to prevent the products from coming into contact with your edges.

6) Post Partum Shedding
For some months after childbirth, many women experience a decline of hormones in their body which causes an increase in the number of hairs they shed. This is known as post partum shedding. Some ladies find that majority of the hairs they shed after child birth falls from their edges. Post partum shedding is temporary and should cease when the woman’s hormone levels have returned to its normal levels.
Please note that some medical conditions and/or treatment may also result in hair loss.

7) Hairstyle Choices
The most common and preventable cause of hair loss at our edges is our hairstyle choices.
Weaves, braids, excessively tight buns, up-does and roller sets, etc can lead to hair loss at the edges. If a hairstyle is too tight, too much tension is being placed on the hair follicles which may eventually become damaged and the hair in the follicles may fall out. Please note that damaged hair follicles can produce new hairs but if the abuse continues, the follicle damage may become permanent.

When it comes to edges I always stress that prevention is better than cure. If your hair styles , how you handle your hair or bad hair care practices are causing your hair line to recede or become sparse, act now. Don’t wait till the damage becomes permanent.

Please come back soon for part two where I will share practical tips that I use to protect my hairline and how to stimulate re-growth of edges were hair loss has occurred.
Merry Christmas

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade December 11, 2013

MISTAKES I’VE MADE ALONG THE WAY

I believe there are two ways to learn from other people. You can learn from what a person has done right and you can also learn from the mistakes they have made.
In this post, I will set out some of the mistakes I’ve made over the years on my hair journey.

Mistakes I’ve Made With Research

I’ve said time and again that I spent 3 months researching before I officially started my hair journey. The key mistake I made at the beginning of my journey was that I ignored some aspects of the research.
For instance, I carried on using sulphate shampoos. I thought that since I would be deep conditioning afterwards, the harshness of the sulphates on my hair would be overridden.
Also I carried on blow drying with heat. I thought surely heat once a week can’t be that bad.
However, I noticed a vast difference in how my hair felt and progressed when I cut out direct heat and switched to sulphate free shampoos.

Mistakes I Made With Technique

I did not review and update my techniques as I progressed on my hair journey.
Up to when I was APL, I could wash my hair without putting it in braids. When my hair got longer, it would tangle badly on wash days. Rather than reviewing my regimen, I would spend hours detangling my hair. However when I started to lose more hair than I was comfortable with I was had to re-evaluate the situation. I realised that the only thing that had changed was the length of my hair.
I did a little research and quickly learned that longer hair tends to tangle more than shorter hair on wash days and that a way to overcome this was to wash it in box braids (calabar). I tried it out and it worked like a charm.
Ladies as you progress on your hair journey, when a product or technique is no longer working for you; review, regroup and carry on.

Mistakes I Made With Products

There are two mistakes I made with hair products.

1)The first is that I did not give some products enough chance. I gave up on them and later realised that I had been using them incorrectly, eg, using too much or too little of the product.

2)The second mistake I made with products is that I gave up on products that worked well on my hair because they contained some ingredients I was trying to avoid like mineral oil and petroleum.
I switched from a conditioner that contained them to one that didn’t. The new one did not seem to work for my hair so I tried other conditioners that didn’t contain petroleum or mineral oil. Again they just didn’t seem to do much for my hair, so I went back to my Motions Moisture Plus which seems to keep my hair happy even though it contains some ingredients I am not too keen on.
My advice when it come to products is this: always try the products that are mineral oil and petroleum free first, if they are not working for you and you have a product that works for you but contains mineral oil/petroleum, you can go back to using it BUT keep an eye out for a better product, ie one that doesn’t contain such ingredients and works well on your hair.

Mistakes I Made With Styling

When my hair was shorter there were so many cute protective styles I could have rocked but didn’t because I was too focused on growing longer hair. Now when try to create some of those styles it doesn’t look quite right.

Mistake I Made About Black Hair

Early on in my hair journey, I thought that when my hair became long and healthy I would be able to do all the things you aren’t supposed to do to black hair.
I thought I would be able to use a curling iron every day, and leave it down all the time and comb it till my hand ached. For some reason I thought being successful on a hair journey would give me a licence to do all these things to my hair.
Healthy black hair is still BLACK HAIR!
Healthy black hair (relaxed or natural) is still delicate, cannot tolerate heat abuse, must still be handled with care and protected. Being on a hair journey will not turn the hair you grow to Brazilian, Peruvian or hair of another race.

The point of hair journey (in my opinion) is that at last, all the myths about black hair can be set aside and we as black women LEARN to give our hair what it needs.

So if you are natural, be aware of what your hair needs and how to take care of it.
If you are relaxed, learn what relaxed hair needs and how to take care of it.
The same applies to ladies with coloured or locked hair.

Off course their are black ladies out there who wash their hair with anything and always wear it down and don’t even deep condition but still have butt length hair. These ladies are exceptions, I think we all no too well what happens to a lot of us when we don’t care for our hair.

I hope you learn something from my mistakes.
Happy hair journey ladies.

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow.

Lade December 6, 2013

HAIR BY TYPE 4 – THE “R” COLLECTION

Hello Ladies

I am so happy and excited to write and share this post. At last I can show a few pictures of some of the wigs in the R Collection.
I can also share the news that Hair by Type 4 is featured in the current issue of Exquisite Magazine Nigeria.

Back in August, a writer and stylist for the magazine wanted to set up a photo shoot titled “Proudly Nigerian”. I loved the perspective of the article which was aimed at showing that Nigerian design was not limited to “Ankara, tribal designs” or clothes. The article would then feature some Nigerian designers whose work dispelled this stereotype and showcase some of their work.
My sister and I are so happy and honoured to be featured.

So the shoot was held at the end of August however, the issue we were featured in was only published at the end of November. Clearly I could not share any of the pictures until the issue was out. As a matter of fact, we did not see any of the pictures till we got our copy of the magazine.
We are very pleased with how the pictures turned out. Our only minor concern was that the lighting on some parts of the wigs could be brighter, especially at the top /crown areas.

We are currently setting up our independent shoot that will show the wigs up close and in more detail. After the photo shoot, I will put up our official pictures and the price list of the wigs in the R collection.
Thanks for all the support and interest you have shown as my sister and I embark on this entrepreneurial journey.
A big thank you also to the clients we have made custom wigs for.

Top row left – The “Racy” wig
Top row right – The Romance wig
Bottom centre- Wig created for the shoot (this may be added to the R Collection in the future)

Top left – my sister, Tayo and I.

Tayo (in the blue dress) is wearing a wig made with Brazilian hair. Her wig is over 5 years old and is still going strong.

I am wearing the Romance wig, at the time of the shoot the wig was a year old. I washed and conditioned it. Put some bendy sticks in it and it was good to go.

Well so there you have it, a sneak peek. Let me know what you think.

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow