How to go back to natural and keep hair healthy

 

wet set on medium rod's

wet set on medium rod's with twisties around the front hairline 

wet set with medium and small rod's

As many of you know for all ethnic hair the #1 trend right now is going back to natural, and it doesn't just pertain to texture. Many are going to back to their natural hair color, and also letting those hair enhancement systems (weaves) go. I'd like to focus on going back to your natural texture for this post for one or more IMPORTANT reasons.

1. If you are not planning on wearing your hair natural as a lifetime commitment the Con's clearly out weight the Pro's.
2. The product recommendations are extremely high on the Ph scale and cause breakage, drying and color altering to the hair.

So now that I have your attention these are a few of the risk of going natural and back to an occasional press & curl. When hair is wet it can stretch up to 50% and only 10% when dry; with that being said a lot of breakage occurs when hair is constantly wet and styled or combed through while wet. Split ends and shedding also become an issue with wet hairstyling and leads to extreme damage and breakage that can be seen when you straighten the hair. The drying and brittleness comes from many of the "natural" hair care products. Generally curly or ethnic hair requires a lot of moisture, however, the products used in achieving natural styles lack the required moisture needed to prevent drying and brittleness. What those product do is soften the hair by increasing the alkalinity of the product to make hair more manageable to style naturally.

This is a standard Ph scale of course many consumers have never seen one or may not be aware of the information found on the scale. But, as a licensed hairstylist we've studied and know how to read and locate which items that pertain to hair are alkaline or acidic. Many professional brand products disclose this information to us as it is important when we make our product selections, however, non professional brands or store bought hair care the information is generally unknown. To find out you would have to get a Ph pencil or Ph papers to test out each item to determine if it is healthy or unsafe to use. I pride my work on using items that have a good Ph number that aren't damaging to the hair with the exception of chemicals as those items it is unavoidable.

Now I'm sure your wondering what can you do to temporarily go back to natural and its simple wet sets. The reason is natural styling products, perms or any other chemicals aren't required all you need is setting lotion diluted with water and the rollers do the rest of the work. Also, more importantly wet set's last for 1-2 weeks so re-wetting the hair or restyling aren't necessary. Lastly, because this style is achieved by water and styling product that isn't harsh on the hair, when you want to straighten the hair it is still in good condition.