Is your hair Damaged? - Hair Quiz
Hiya,
So a lot of hair terms are used very loosely in Naija!
You hear things like, 'my hair does not want to grow o' Really?! Have you taken a look at your scalp lately and seen those tightly formed curls sprouting out?!
Or you hear 'my hair can break eh!' . The hair on your comb you are calling broken hair, is it really broken or it's shed hair.
The one that makes me laugh the most is 'my hair is toooooo strong/tough, Kai' I laugh when I hear that because that was always my go to line for the hair problems I faced before I started my hair journey, I find myself making that excuse even now when asked why I won't go natural, lol hair being ' strong' should be a good thing and not a problem right? that it is dry and brittle and therefore hard to deal with means it is crying for moisture, with moisture every 'strong' hair must surely be 'soft'!
If you have found yourself giving those excuses, take your time to answer the quiz below and consider the remedies to the questions so you can effectively identify your hair problems and tackle them accordingly.
Is your hair breaking?
The most common problem people complain about, but like I asked above, is it really breaking? Before you start to fret examine the hair on your comb, if you see a white tip on the strands then your hair is simply shedding, if you have about 10 to 15 strands on your comb then thats minimal breakage ( everybody's minimal gauge is different, study your own and find out what your normal hair loss pattern is) but patches of broken hair signify more extensive damage. To prevent the damage, build a hair regimen that comprises of a good balance between moisture and protein.
Does your hair have elasticity?
Take a strand of shed hair, place it on a flat surface and mark where it ends.
Now gently pull the strand away from its roots without allowing it to break;
Your hair should be able to stretch a considerable amount of its length before breaking. If it can’t be stretched without breaking then it has lost some elasticity and strength, it is in this case you can say your hair is NOT strong! What you will need to do? Up your intensive moisture game, as with everything African hair related, moisture is key. You can make a hair spritz with light oils mixed with water and don't fail to deep condition or co-wash every weekend until you see some improvement, stretch your shed hair strands regularly to gauge your elasticity level.
Do you have shiny hair or is it dull looking, dry and brittle?
Dull hair is a result of loosened cuticle layers, look at a tree, the trunk isn't just one big flat log of wood. It's bark has layers upon layers of overlapping wood that give its trunk the strength and thickness, my dear ladies na so our hair be too! God just replicated the same process on each strand of hair, your hair is shinny and reflects light when your cuticle layers are tightly bound together, when they begin to loosen up, split ends that cause brittleness are created and dull and dry looking hair is the result, to avoid that you know the drill by now, Moisturize and Seal daily!
Is your hair Porous?
Porosity assess how easily the hair accepts and releases moisture and the products and treatments you give it. When your cuticle becomes damaged and is no longer tightly aligned, it will fail to provide proper coverage to the hair shaft ( see my tree illustration above) as a result your hair will be like a basket used to fetch water, how will that work! To prevent this from happening your focus should be building the cuticle again and keratin a very important component that links hair bonds together needs to be infused in your hair through regular protien treatments, either using eggs or specially formulated hydrolized protien infused hair products like this one I found;
Eating a well balanced diet with lots of fresh fruits and raw vegetables ( I wish I was a better example in this regard) can help with this issue. Limit the amount of starches, fatty and processed foods you consume and drink plenty of water.
Do you have split ends?
Who doesn't?!lol! It's the volume that counts! You will know if the volume of split ends in your hair is excessive if you answer this question in the affirmative; Does your hair tangle a lot? tangling and snagging is all caused by frayed/ split hair fibers and that is why your hair is growing but you might not notice any change because your split ends have not given it a chance to show. Regular, strategic trims can avoid excessive split ends, my latest post on trimmed ends can guide you. Avoiding heat especially on your ends can also prevent more ends from splitting.
So there you have it, our first NHCG hair quiz! I have a feeling most of you will pass this quiz because of the many emails I get of ladies telling me about how much their hair has improved. But for those still figuring things out, don't be discouraged, just get with the program and give your hair time to catch up, it surely will!
Xxx
Dabs
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