Rehairducation

ph Balance and your child’s hair and scalp

The pH of a healthy adult’s scalp is between the range 4.5 to 5.5.  At this level or range the microorganisms [bacteria and fungi] that live on our scalps are regulated or under control and our scalp has a good balance.

A scalp that is not balanced or not within the ideal 4.5 to 5.5 range will be more prone to developing conditions that cause flaking, itching and infections, etc.
The pH balance or levels of our scalp is set or created by both sweat and sebum. When either sweat or sebum production is abnormal [too high or too low] the scalp pH is thrown off balance.

From age 3 to 6 months, the sebum production of a child slows significantly and stays low until the child hits puberty. This low sebum production is why babies are less prone to cradle cap after 6 months. It is believed that cradle cap is caused by the overproduction of sebum on the scalp.

Although less risk of cradle cap is a pro for lower scalp sebum production, there are also cons to it.                                                            Low sebum production causes the hair and scalp of children to be HIGHER than the ideal range. This means the microorganisms on their scalp are not as well regulated as they are on an adult’s scalp. Because of this, children are more susceptible to scalp infections and conditions like ring worm.

The increased risk of scalp infections makes having a healthy hair care regimen and practicing healthy scalp hygiene very important for children. Ideally a child’s hair should be washed once a week. For many female black children however, washing every single week is not practical especially because often, their hair is kept in twists, cornrows, single braids or other woven styles created to last for two or sometimes even three weeks. Washing their hair in those styles often results in the style becoming very rough or even unraveling partially.

These challenges do not have to prevent your child’s scalp health and hygiene from being possible.
A practical and quick way to help keep your child’s scalp clean and fight the heightened risk of infection is to use a cleansing and scalp care product such as the Infusions by Hairducation No Rinse Scalp Cleanser + Toner kids formula. The formulation of this product is non stripping so it will not deplete the little sebum that your child does have. It cleans your child’s scalp and influences its pH level so that is better regulated and less prone to scalp infection.

It is easy and convenient to put a child’s hair in braids and abandon all hair care for several weeks, the out of sight out of mind approach. An approach which has caused so many of us to have varying degrees of hair loss and hair follicle scaring from childhood.    It will be so much more difficult for our daughters to have a healthy positive relationship with their hair and see regular hair care as a normal hygiene requirement rather than a chore if this approach is adopted.


There really should be a middle ground between practicality and healthy hair care practices for black girls.

Creating a practical hair care routine, choosing styles that can be worn for a couple of weeks and combining that with innovative child friendly hair and scalp care products that make is possible for your child’s scalp to be kept clean and healthy between wash days is the much better approach.

I hope you have found this post helpful.

Lade

 

Damaged Hair: What Is It, How does it Happen and Why Afro Textured Hair Is Prone to It ?

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“Damaged” is a word no one wants to hear when their hair is described because it often means breakage and hair loss isn’t too far behind. I find that many blog posts focus on setting out causes of damage and how to avoid it.  This is great and I have done the same in previous posts.  In an effort to add another facet to the topic and to bring more understanding to anyone reading I would like to share more of what exactly damage is and the reasons why afro textured hair is more susceptible to damage than other hair types.

 

 

What is Damage? 

Damage is degradation of hair fibres.  After hair grows out of our scalp, the fibres will begin to sustain damage from various things such as harsh weather conditions, harsh products, chemical processes, hair care practices, general wear and tear and styling choices.

Even with great hair care, our hair will sustain some damage due to general wear and tear.  What we can do is control the severity of damage and slow down how quickly it occurs through hair care.  Damage can be sustained quickly over a few months (resulting in high levels of breakage and unhealthy looking hair that seems stagnant in length) or happen gradually over several years (resulting in longer and healthier looking hair).
Everyone’s hair is damaged, just to different degrees or severity.

Hair care preserves hair fibres so the that wear and tear or damage occurs at a much slower pace.  The better our hair fibres are preserved, the healthier our hair will look and feel and the longer the fibres will go without breakage.
Bad hair care and bad hair styling practices will speed up the damage and wear and tear of hair fibres  resulting in unhealthy looking hair and breakage much much quicker than hair that is well cared for. For example, flat ironing hair every wash day will likely result in hair becoming damaged which may break off or need to be cut after a few months.  If hair is flat ironed 2 to 3 times a year, the hair will not become damaged as quickly.  This along with other hair care practices, will help the hair fibres look healthy, have very little breakage and go several years without the need for a major cut.

 

 

How Does It Occur?

Damage usually begins at the outer layer.
The layers of the cuticles and the bonds between the layers are broken and weakened when hair is being damaged.  This makes the cuticle layer thinner and in some cases the cuticle layer is totally removed.  The cuticle layer is supposed to protect the inner layers and once weakened or destroyed, it allows the inner layer sustain damage what will eventually lead to breakage.  Damage to the cuticle layer is also the first step in the forming of a split end.
Hair with damaged cuticles will look and feel damaged.  Hair with little or minimal damage to its cuticle layer will look and feel healthy.  Understanding this has made me respect the cuticle layer so much more.  This knowledge greatly influences how I choose and use my hair care products, which practices I complete and how I select ingredients for Infusions by Hairducation hair care products.

 

 

 

Why Black Hair Gets Damaged Easier Than Other Hair Types

 

The main reasons why black hair is much more susceptible to damage and breakage is to do with the unique shape/structure of our hair fibres. Being very brief, three reasons why our hair gets damaged and breaks much more easily is set out below.

1 – Each curl and kink in our hair is an area of weakness (the fibre is thinner in those spots) which means our hair has several points at which at the risk of breakage is higher.

2 – Curly/kinky hair is much more prone to tangling and this increases the risk of wear and tear, damage and breakage.

3- One of the most forgotten reasons why our hair sustains damage easily because afro textured hair has less cuticle layers than the hair of other races.  This means our hair has less protection than other hair types.

 

Our hairs structure means that it requires care using particular methods and rich products to stay well preserved (healthy) and to retain length.  Unfortunately, we often have the most aggressive hair care and hair styling practices, the very things our hair does not cope well with.

Products which are able to penetrate and help strengthen the inner layers of hair, help maintain the integrity of the cuticle layer, reduces the forming of tangles and reduces the damaging impact of detangling by lubricating hair fibres should be in your hair products arsenal.

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And yes I am pushing my market and very proudly so because I know the infusions by Hairducation Hair + Scalp Oil is a highly effective hair product that does all the above.

 

I hope you have learnt something valuable form this post that will have a positive impact on your care.

More blog posts coming soon.

 

Lade

 

The Healthy Hair Trinity: Growth, Retention and Internal Factors

 

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Hair growth and hair retention are two different things.
There is still so much confusion out there because many ladies still do not understand the difference between growth and retention and why BOTH are important.  Until we are able to understand the difference between growth and retention, many ladies will continue to fall prey to products claiming they will help you grow an inch a week or magic hair growth scarves that grow your hair as you sleep. It is important to separate growth and retention, so ladies don’t go wasting money on dubious claims.
I have a big smile on my face right now reminiscing how many growth potions and magic hair scarves I bought prior to my hair journey.  Trust me I’ve been down that road.
In this post,I hope to help more ladies avoid mixing up growth, retention and help highlight the true function and purpose of hair care.  I will also set out some internal factors that have an impact on our hair growth rate. It’s a long one, so if you’re interested in learning, get comfortable and get reading.

 

Hair Retention

Retention is preventing the damage and breakage of hair that has already grown out of your scalp.
When the hair you have already grown is not getting damaged, not breaking off or being cut off, it will get longer as your hair continues to grow out of your scalp.  If you are able to keep (retain) the hair you have already grown, then over time as the same hair keeps growing out of your scalp, it will get longer.

Allow me to explain better using an example.  Imagine you would like to have very long nails, but your nails are always getting damaged and chipped so you keep having to cut it off, or let’s assume you bite your nails, will it get longer? NO,…..because the nails you have grown keeps breaking off or needs to be cut off because of damage or because you’ve chewed it off.
Is the problem that your nails are not growing?  NO, the problem is that you are not keeping or retaining the nails that you have already grown.

Ladies, the same theory can be applied to our hair, if you want long healthy hair but the hair you have already grown is breaking off or needs to be cut off because of damage, will your hair get longer and look healthy? NO.
Is the problem that your hair is not growing? NO, the problem is that you are not keeping or retaining the hair that you have already grown.

So how do you retain or keep the hair you have already grown??  The answer is hair care.
Hair care is essential for retention.  Hair care will help you prevent or minimise damage to your hair so that it does not break off or need to be cut off in high quantities because off the damage.
So like I said in the first post of this series and on my IG stories, hair care is very important and essential. Retention is the reason why hair care is important.  Hair care however does not make hair grow, hair care allows you to retain length.

That amazing shampoo and conditioner is not making your hair grow faster, it is helping you fight hair breakage and reducing the risk damage so that you retain hair.
That amazing moisturiser you use several times a week is not making your hair grow faster …it is helping you fight breakage and damage. That magic scarf does not make your hair grow but it will help you fight split ends and damage because it protects your hair from the cotton pillowcase you sleep on.  That scarf will not speed up how fast your hair grows out of your scalp.

So if retention through hair care is how our hair stays healthy and plays a big part in our hair getting longer, why should we care about continuous hair growth?  Why is hair growth still important?

 

Hair Growth

Hair growth is about how our hair develops within our hair follicles (hair root) and eventually comes out of our scalp.

When the hair cells are within the roots they are living cells but by the time they come out or grow out of our scalp they are dead cells.  This is why hair care products applied to preserve the dead hair fibres cannot speed up hair growth.  You can’t make your hair fibres grow faster by taking care of the dead parts.
If you would like to ensure you have healthy hair growth then you have to do so from within, ie work on or influence the parts of your hair that are still living.  This does not mean you should stop caring for your dead hair fibres, remember retention is important.

Now  to answer the question about why is hair growth just as important as hair retention?
If your hair isn’t growing, what will you retain? Or if your hair begins to shed at alarming rates and does not grow back or if your hair growth becomes extremely slow, it would be challenging to get longer hair length that looks healthy too.
As an example, imagine a lady’s hair became very damaged and all broke off or she decided to transition from relaxed hair to natural hair.  If she shaved it all off and then, her hair stopped growing, would she have any hair to retain, NO.

As a further example, imagine a lady’s hair grows to 16 inches and then stopped growing.  She carries on taking really great care of her hair but even with hair care over several years, the 16 inches of hair gets older and weaker and the ends needs to be trimmed a few times a year to remove the weathered and thinned out ends.  After several years of trimming, she would eventually have no hair left IF her hair stopped growing because the 16 inches will eventually all get trimmed off.
For a healthy looking head of hair that is also long, you need continuous hair growth AND hair retention.

 

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The Healthy Hair Trinity – Internal Factors

When thinking about Internal factors, besides wanting to help ladies identify dubious products claims by clarifying the function of hair care and hair care products, I had a second set of ladies in mind. The ladies who take exceptional care of their hair but are not seeing much progress with their hair and believe, incorrectly, they must be getting something wrong with how they care for their hair.
I also thought about the ladies who take great care of their hair but also know they have slow hair growth and do not realise that they may be able to improve their hair growth rates.

I have to point out that some internal factors are within our control and some are outside of our control.  The ones we can control however, can make a significant impact on our hair growth rate or help ensure we don’t slow down our hair growth.

  • Stress
    High and prolonged levels of stress can increase hair shedding rates beyond normal levels. Stress causes inflammation of the nerves around hair follicles, this combined with other internal factors can cause increased levels of shedding.
    If your hair is shedding at very high rates it will become thinner. Stress often manifesting in a physical ways and can affect our skin, hair and lead to other problems.  Reducing your stress levels is great for your overall health and for your hair too.

 

  • Deficiencies
    Deficiency in iron, other minerals and vitamins can also lead to increased rates of shedding as well as slowed down hair growth. Vitamin D stimulates hair follicles and lack of it has been linked alopecia. Many of the B vitamins influence healthy hair growth, Zinc also helps to stimulate hair growth. Iron deficiency has been proven to cause increased hair shedding and slow hair growth as well as many other symptoms. There are a multitude of vitamins and minerals needed to keep our bodies healthy and deficiencies in them can have an impact on our hair.Having a healthy balanced diet which meets the needs of your body is one way give your body the vitamins and minerals it needs to be healthy and in turn grow hair at a good pace as opposed to a slowed down rate.  You have some degree of control over this internal factor as you can make eating healthy a priority, not just for hair but for overall health.Please note that some deficiencies are not caused by a poor diet alone. Also note that having a good diet may not be enough to correct some deficiencies. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies will require medical diagnosis and in some cases a prescribed medication to overcome.  Please see your doctor if you suspect you have some deficiencies.If you have suffered some hair loss as a result of deficiencies, you should see an improvement to your hair growth rate and reduction in your shedding rates a few months AFTER the deficiency has been regulated.

 

  • A variety of health conditions, medications and treatments. This includes some scalp conditions.
    Some medical conditions that can cause hair loss includes thyroid diseases, some types of alopecia, some types of scalp infections, severe scalp inflammations and infections, some types of lupus, etc. Please note that this list is not conclusive, I am only setting out a few examples.
    Nobody wishes to have health problems or medical conditions, unfortunately some people will have them.  The condition itself or in some cases the treatment of the condition can result in hair loss. Moisturising and sealing is not going to solve the issues in this case.
    Please work with your doctor if you have any conditions that may be affecting your health as well as your hair.

 

  • Hormonal changes.
    Many ladies experience what is known as post-partum hair loss after having a baby. In brief, when a woman is pregnant she has elevated levels of oestrogen in her body which causes her normal hair shedding to reduce dramatically.
    This is why many ladies note that their hair flourishes when they are pregnant.  After she has had the baby, her oestogen will begin to return to normal levels and the hair that should have been shed during pregnancy begins to fall out, sometimes at a very scary rate.    This hair loss is not caused by improper hair care and cannot be solved by hair care.
    It also does not mean the woman has a deficiency in oestrogen levels after birth.  This type of hair loss is a normal result of a woman’s oestrogen returning to normal levels after childbirth.  Within 6 months to a year after childbirth the normal hair growth cycle should be restored and the excessive shedding should have stopped.Other causes of hormonal changes and imbalances in the body which may result in hair loss or slower hair growth in some women include menopause or having a hysterectomy.
    Please note that what causes hair loss in a woman may not cause hair loss in another, for example some women do not experience severe postpartum hair loss.
    Concerns about hormonal imbalances should be raised with your doctor.

 

  • Diet and Fluid Intake
    In many ways this can be linked to point two (deficiencies) above.
    Please note that if your body is deficient in essential nutrients and vitamins and minerals, the body is designed to allocate the little amount to essential organs first.  And if there is any surplus vitamins and minerals at the time (when the deficiency is ongoing) it will be stored or reserved for future use by the essential organs.  Our bodies are amazing.  God is amazing. I hope this points helps to emphasise the importance of playing your part to avoid severe levels of deficiency…..try to eat well and drink a good amount of water. Healthy bodies have a much higher chance of  growing healthy hair at normal speed as opposed to a slowed down speed.

 

  • Lifestyle
    Some aspects of our lifestyles can have a positive or negative impact on our hair.
    For example, prolonged lack of sleep and  lack of exercise have been shown to have a negative impact on our overall health as well as our hair.
    Again these factors will affect hair from within but we have some control over this factors by trying to get adequate sleep and getting regular exercise which has been proven to help boost hair growth rate.

 

From the above, I hope you will see that you can positively influence your hair growth rate by working on having a healthy diet, drinking an adequate amount of water and playing your part to stay healthy by getting a good amount of sleep, exercise and reducing stress level.  I do realise that doing all the above is much easier said than done.
I truly hope that many will find this post has educative and that it has cleared up the confusion about hair growth as opposed to hair retention and that you know what you can do to support healthy hair growth.

Now, I am going to throw a spanner in the works and say something that is rather annoying which at first glance might seem to be in complete contradiction with everything I’ve just said in this post BUT stay with me ……..
Read up till the end.  It will make perfect sense.

Scalp massage as a hair care practice does in fact encourage or have an impact on hair growth  because it works on the parts of the hair that are still living.  Scalp massages encourages blood to the hair follicles by stimulating the nerves, muscles and blood vessels in scalp.  This helps the hair follicles receive nutrients and oxygen from blood flowing to it.
Scalp massages can stimulate faster healthy hair growth because they work on the living cells within. They influence internal factors.  Massaging your hair fibres will not stimulate your hair follicles because the hair fibres are dead fibres.  The scalp is alive and the follicles within the scalp are living.  It makes sense right?

The final post of this series will be about external factors and will be my favourite of the series because it will  show even further, the importance of hair care. Because, hair care is the best way to respond to many external factors and as well as the best way to counter the challenges we may face with our genetically pre-determined hair type.

Come back soon for my next post in which I will breakdown and explain this statement.

See you soon and happy hair journey

X

Lade

 

The Healthy Hair Trinity – Genetics

Hello ladies,

Happy new year!!!I hope you are happy and thriving wherever you are.

Hairducation is focused mainly on hair care, however hair care is just one of the aspects that is important to have a healthy head of hair.  I’ve come to realise that so many ladies believe that hair care alone matters when on a hair journey and although hair care is ESSENTIAL, there are other factors which will determine the state of your hair besides your hair care practices.
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Over the first few posts of 2019, I would like to give Hairducation readers a fuller picture of healthy hair.
If you follow Hairducation on Instagram you may have seen one of my IG stories last year  in which I shared that healthy and long hair is determined by three main factors: Genetics, Internal factors and external factors.  I like to call these The Healthy Hair Trinity.
I wrote a post a short while ago about these three factors which you can read by clicking on this link.  I think it makes a good introduction into The Healthy Hair Trinity series.

In today’s post, I will put up a reminder of which characteristics of our hair is determined by genetics.  The main focus of this series however is on internal factors and external factors and how these factors can either support or hinder your hairs genetic potential.

 

GENETICS & YOUR HAIR


 The vast majority of the physical characteristics of our hair is determined by our genetic make up
Some of these characteristics includes

  • The colour of our hair
  • The texture and thickness of our hair strands
  • Density (number of strands)
  • How long our hair can grow and the speed of our hair growth                                                                                 

I once had a client who decided to transition to natural hair.  When she told me she had decided to transition, she sent me pictures of the type of hair she wanted to grow.  Predictably it was the Tracee Ellis Ross-esque curly kind of hair.  I had to burst that bubble and explain that her natural hair type would be determined by mother nature.

Focusing too much on another person’s hair may prevent you from embracing the qualities and beauty of yours.  Altering our genes is not really an option so accepting your hair type (either in its virgin or relaxed state) is very important.
What I find fascinating is that many ladies may never know what their hair’s true genetic characteristics are. This is because of the variety of internal and external factors that are preventing them from realising it potential.


So by now I’am sure you’re wondering what these internal and external factors are!!!!!
My next post will focus on internal factors, the significant impact they have on the “reality” of our hair and what control we have over these factors.  It will be a good read if I dare say so myself.

 

See you soon

X

Lade

Essential Oils Revisited

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Essential Oils are extracted from plants and tend to be highly concentrated, have a strong scent and are volatile (evaporate very quickly).
They are so potent they must not be used directly, they must be added to a carrier oil before use.  “Normal” oils such as olive, coconut, avocado, grapeseed, almond, jojoba, Castor, etc are called carrier oils because they are ideal for “carrying” (being mixed with) essential oils.

Whilst carrier oils are great for sealing, act as great lubricants for hair and can boost shine, essential oils have a more therapeutic/medicinal function in hair care.

Although essential oils are not necessary for healthy hair care they are certainly beneficial.  There have been numerous scientific studies which show that essential oils have the following benefits:

  • They stimulate the scalp and promote healthy hair growth
  • They help nourish and strengthen hair follicles. When applied to the scalp, they are able to penetrate our hair follicles and impart their beneficial properties more directly.
  • They help wake up dormant hair follicles.
  • They increase blood circulation
  • They can prevent and fight inflammations which sometimes cause severe hair loss
  • Many essential oils contain anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-septic and anti-microbial properties
  • They help fight hair loss and premature greying due to their anti-oxidant properties
  • They promote scalp health

Please note that not all essential oils contain all the benefits listed above but all essential oils posses multiple properties which benefits our hair and scalp. Personally I use essential oils for three main reasons: Scalp health, overall health of my hair fibres and to stimulate hair growth.

 

 

How To Use Essential oils

I have written posts about using oils for healthy hair care which you can read by clicking here and here.  These posts will give you a tonne of helpful information that can make a significant difference to your hair regimen.  For your convenience however, I have pasted parts of the older posts, which show the ways you can incorporate essential oils into your hair regimen.

Pre-poo
A few drops of your essential oils can be added to the carrier oil or conditioner you apply to your hair as a pre-poo treatment.

Mixed Into Your Deep Conditioner
A few drops can be added to your deep conditioner. This will give have a stimulating effect on your scalp whilst you deep condition.  It will also enrichen your deep conditioner.

Scalp Massages
A mix of carrier and essential oils can be applied to your scalp and massaged in for a few minutes.

Please note that pregnant women should not use any essential oil unless they have been given permission by their doctor to do so.

 

 

New Additions to My Essential Oil Collection

Over the last year I have expanded my essential oil collection to 7 by adding Cedarwood, White Thyme  and Laurel Leaf.

Cedarwood
This is obtained from the wood parts of the Cedar Tree and has a woody sweet smell which I really like.  It is fast becoming one of my favourite essential oils and has the following benefits for hair.

  • It is anti-bacterial and anti-fungal
  • It promotes hair growth by increasing circulation to the scalp and has been shown in studies to help regrow hair and reduce thinning
  • It improves scalp health
  • It has mild sedative effect, so it is super calming and might help you nod off if you have trouble sleeping.
  • It is a natural antiseptic

Laurel Leaf ( also known as Bay Laurel essential oil)
This oil is derived from the leaves of the Bay Laurel tree.  I love it’s fresh and spicy scent and was not surprised to when I found out its use in men’s fragrance is prevalent.  It imparts a wide spectrum of benefits for healthy hair care such as

  • It is antiseptic, anti-fungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and also has natural antibiotic properties.
  • It is an astringent and this helps to prevent hair loss by tightening the grip of our hair follicles in the scalp.
  • It encourages hair growth
  • It helps to treat scalp ailments

 

White Thyme
This is obtained from the thyme herb and in my opinion smells like kerosene mixed with tea tree oil.  The scent and the oil itself is strooooooong and must be used in moderation!!!!  I am however able to look past this when I consider the benefits it has for hair which includes

  • It increases blood flow to the scalp
  • It help promote hair growth or re-growth where there has been hair-loss
  • It helps on the control of dandruff
  • It is antimicrobial and helps to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi.

 

 

Ladies do not sleep on essential oils, especially when you consider all the benefits listed above.   Essential oils are relatively easy to find across the US and Europe but for my ladies in Lagos they are not readily available but that will be changing because………. Cedarwood, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Tea Tree, Lavender and Rosemary will be available for purchase at Hairitage Salon very soon.

 
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Do you currently use essential oils in your regimen?  Which ones are your faves and how do you use them?

My next post will be a hair update and my first official length check.  I get asked very often exactly how long my hair is in inches, find out in my next post which also doubles as my texlax update.
I still don’t know how I managed to stretch to 7 months.

See you soon

x

Lade

Lean | Change | Grow