I’ve been talking to women about healthy hair care for over a decade now.
Looking at my inbox alone, I’ve received over 2000 emails from ladies telling to me about the issues they have with their hair.  Adding this to the people who approach me in person and those I have advised online I can confidently say that over the last decade, I’ve spoken to thousands of women about their hairs challenges and their hair care practices.

All these conversations have taught me so much and given me an outstanding amount of data from which I have identified the most prevalent hair care mistakes we seem to make. Some of them are classics and some are new trends I have noticed over the last couple of years.

The Classics

These mistakes have taught me that despite healthy hair information ( both accurate and inaccurate) being available online for many years, the vast majority of women still don’t know the basics about black hair care. The myths about our hair are still popular than the truth about our hair. The most classic mistakes may women have made with their hair over the last decade and which I also made before my healthy hair awakening are

1) Using oils as moisturizers.

2) Believing slow hair growth or no hair growth is our problem when more often than not, the real problem is damage and breakage.

3) Thinking you can only have long healthy hair if you were born with it aka -believing that long hair is down to genes alone and not accepting that how you treat your hair has MAJOR impact.

4) The Holy Grail Growth Product syndrome – believing that it is products that will grow hair and not understanding that the main function of products is to help keep hair healthy (preserve the hair fibre for as long as possible) and this is what leads to length retention (longer and thicker hair).

5) Not taking care of our hair….and wondering why it’s not doing well.
To be fair many ladies think they are caring for their hair but are making so many mistakes and inadvertently cause a lot of damage.

The New Kids On the Block

Over the last two years I’ve definitely noticed a shift with ladies who are on healthy hair journeys or have awareness of correct hair care and then take things overboard and cause self-inflicted hair loss as a result.

1) Under-manipulation aka abandonment.
There are many ladies that know that excess manipulation is to be avoided but for some reason this is being converted to zero manipulation which results in badly knotted or matted hair. Manipulation for hair care is essential. It is excess manipulation that is to be avoided.

2) Doing the most!!
Many of us on healthy hair journeys get so carried away with new fads and want to try everything. So we complete the essential aspects of hair care and then also want to add tea rinses, chebe, rice water, onion juice, aloe vera gel, cayenne pepper, a myriad of ayurvedic herbs, etc
Sis, its too much!!! Although most of these will impart some benefit or the other, they are not essential and we should not do them all and jump on every wagon. Incorporating a few is okay but doing them all isn’t wise.

When I started my hair care journey, majority of the above was new to me but I learnt quickly and try to educate others.
Although many ladies have made significant and positive changes in how they care for their hair, the fact remains that majority of us as black women still have problems with our hair and don’t know how to care for it.
Unfortunately, having damaged hair is still more prevalent than healthy hair and in most cases the breakage and damaged we experience is due to lack of or incorrect hair care.

A mission I had and began to fulfill through Hairducation was to demystify black hair and to normalize healthy thriving hair for black women.
It’s a new decade and the mission continues!!!!

x

Lade

I’ve lost track of the number of people who have sent me enquiries asking to purchase my hair products to which I always responded I don’t make or sell any.
I am happy to announce that that is changing finally because I’ve launched the Hairducation Line of Hair Care products.  The first item to be released is the Infusions By Hairducation Hair + Scalp Oil.

So you might be thinking…just another hair oil, right?  Definitely wrong!!! I decided to launch the Hair + Scalp Oil first because oils are the most underrated and misused hair care product given their versatility and proven effectiveness for hair care.

THE INFUSIONS BY HAIRDUCATION MISSION

The aim with the Hair + Scalp Oil was to create an infusion of oils which, based on proven scientific findings, would be capable and effective in meeting the needs of the multiple layers of hair as well impart benefits to the scalp.
Every ingredient of the Hair +Scalp Oil was selected, sourced and combined with the intention that the finished product would be factually able to preserve the hair fibre, support length retention and improve scalp health, without being overcomplicated or excessive.

To give just one example of why and how the Hair +Scalp Oil benefits the hair;  the outer layer of hair contains lipids which have an essential role in in keeping hair healthy and enabling it to protect the inner layer.  These lipids become depleted from washing, wear and tear, chemical treatments, UV exposure, etc.  This causes hair to become dull looking, dry, rough and increases the risk of it sustaining damage. The Infusions Hair & Scalp Oil is very rich in the type of lipid that is found in the outer layer of hair and helps keep the cuticles more intact when applied to hair.

The effect of this is:

• Increased moisture retention thereby reducing breakage
• Strengthening of the outer layer of hair which makes the hair more capable of enduring wear and tear
• Increases smoothness and manageability of hair
• Reduction in the formation of split ends
• Aids detangling
• Increases shine and a healthy appearance.

I will share so many more benefits of the Infusions by Hairducation Hair + Scalp Oil in due course.

HOW TO USE

  1- To Preserve and Protect hair Fibres;
Use as a pre-shampoo oil treatment by applying a generous amount to the ful length of your hair an hour (or more) before washing.  This prevents hygral fatigue, a kind of damage that occurs when hair is being washed or when hair is wet.

2- To stimulate hair growth and to sustain and improve scalp health;
Use as a scalp massage oil once or twice a week to increase the flow of blood within the scalp Only a small amount, one to two teaspoons, is to be used to prevent clogging of the hair follicles.  The oil is intended to be a lubricant for the scalp massage not as a “scalp grease”.

3 -To prevent dryness, breakage and split ends
Use daily as a sealant by applying a few drops to hair after moisturising.  A water based moisturising leave-in product should be applied to your hair.  This should then be followed by application of the Infusions hair and scalp oil.  Doing so will slow down how quickly moisture evaporates from the hair fibre and this keeps it feeling softer for longer. Rub a few drops of the oil on you

4 – To boost the richness of your conditioner, strengthen inner layers of your hair and replenish the outer layer;
Mix a one to two teaspoons  into your deep conditioner and apply to your hair.

Ingredients

An infusion of high grades of botanical oils such as Babassu, Neem, Cedarwood  and Lavender essential oils.
Full ingredients listed on product packaging

How to Purchase, Price & Shipping 

• Standard size ( 100ml) : ₦3,500 ( $10 USD)
  Click the link in my bio on Instagram to order or Pick up in store at Hairitage Salon, The Lennox Mall, Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Nigeria.

• Large size (300ml): ₦8,000 ($23 USD)
  Click the link in my bio on Instagram to order or  Pick up in store at Hairitage Salon, The Lennox Mall, Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Nigeria
• Shipping will be nationally (within Nigeria) and internationally (UK, USA, Canada and Ghana)

The oil has had such great reviews so far and I look forward to you trying this and future products from the  Infusions by Hairducation range.

x

Lade

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Every wash day, I love the feeling of water flowing through my hair and how my scalp goes from being clogged with build-up to feeling brand new.  My hair goes from being a greasy mess to light and fluffy.  I love the outcome of wash days and water has a big part to play in it.

I often have flashbacks though, to those days when most wash days went wrong once I poured water on my hair.  And I am sure most of us grew up hearing tales of how water is bad for our hair and we needed to stay away from it, frankly it seems true because often in those day my hair getting drenched with water would result in it looking frizzy and feeling brittle.  So………in this hair care life we have chosen is water our friend or a foe.

Short answer, It’s a bit of both. But please read the long answer below.

Water As A Friend

1. As I mentioned above, water is one of the key elements of wash day. You can’t wash your hair thoroughly or remove deep conditioner without it.  No water no clean and conditioned hair.
2. Water is an essential ingredient in any deep conditioning or leave in conditioning product. Water is needed to moisturise hair and products that don’t contain water frankly will not be able to infuse moisture into our hair strands.

3. The ongoing battle many of us fight with dryness and breakage cannot be defeated without the repeated use of water rich products in between wash days. So water has to be introduced into our hair on a regular basis for healthy (well preserved) hair and for length retention (longer hair).

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Water As A Foe

1. Water can be a locking agent.
   Water can tighten knots and tangles in our hair so severely that cutting out the knots and tangles is the best option. Even if severe knotting can be untangled, a lot of breakage and damage to the hair fibre will be sustained in the process. This tightening of knots and tangles tends to happen during the washing and rinsing steps on wash days.  The pressure of the water flowing through hair will tighten the knots or matted hair.  It will also encourage shed hairs not removed before washing to wrap around the non-shed hair creating new tangles. This is why so many  of us have stepped out of the shower with locs we didn’t plan on creating.
   This is a key reason why hair should be well detangled and shed hair removed before washing.  I suppose a second tip is to ease up on the water pressure. Prior to my hair journey I never detangled before washing and it always resulted in high levels of breakage.  For some reason I believed water pressure would somehow detangle my hair and that any shed hair would just glide out.  Don’t be me.

2. Now this one is a favourite of so many ladies. We hear all day every day that water is key for healthy hair, that water is the best moisturiser, that water is the be all and end all of what our hair needs (okay I ‘am exaggerating a lil)……so I understand why many ladies simply use water alone as a moisturiser.
   In as much as water is a key aspect of moisturising our hair, water alone is not at the right the PH level  to be used as a leave-in moisturising product.  Using water alone will result in puffy, frizzy and less manageable hair.  It will also increase the risk of tangling.  Good quality moisturising products will definitely have water as the main ingredients but will contain other ingredients and be formulated so that its PH is at the ideal level that will leave the outer layer of hair more compacted than what water alone would.  This will result in smoother, better moisturised and healthier looking hair which is easier to manage.
   In this case, it is the incorrect use of water that is the problem.

3. Exposure to the wrong kind of water will lead to environmental damage (unless correct steps are taken to prevent damage). Hard water, chlorinated water and mineral rich water can cause a lot of damage. I’ve written posts about this which you can read by clicking here.

I hope this post has been useful.  In summary water can be a friend or foe but which it will be is up to you.

Xx

Lade

** Image from Pintrest