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Hair Cuticle 101 – The Most Important Part of Your Hair

Hello Lovelies!

I’d like to start this post with a quote from renowned hair scientist, Dr. Neil Persadsingh:

The appearance of the hair depends largely on the health of the cuticle, the protective sheath of the whole hair.

If you’re on a journey to grow long hair, take this quote to heart. The cuticle layer of human hair is the most important factor in hair growth. Without a healthy cuticle layer, you can expect to never reach your long hair goals. Since hair is dead and it can only be preserved, you must keep the most protective layer of the hair strand (the cuticle layer) intact for as long as possible if you want your hair to reach longer lengths.

The Cuticle Layer – What Is It?

The cuticle layer is one of the three major portions of the hair strand, and its the outermost layer that functions to protect the innermost layers of the hair shaft. Personally, I like to also call the cuticle layer the “style layer” because it’s this layer of the hair that determines how well your hair styles and how it feels, but it is also responsible for allowing moisture to pass into the hair shaft and stay there. If you look at the cuticle layer of the hair under a microscope, it looks very similar to the layout of shingles on a roof. The shingle like structure of the cuticle layer are made up from protein scales within the layer that overlay on top of each other to keep moisture within the hair shaft.

How the Cuticle Layer Functions and Protects the Hair Strand

The cuticle layer consists of protein-based scales that open and close when “activated.” When these scales rise, chemicals and ingredients can pass through the cuticle layer to the control center of the hair strand, the cortex. The cortex determines the hair strand’s color, curl pattern, thickness, and texture. In order for chemical processes, such as hair color or relaxers, to be effective on the hair strand, they have to get past the cuticle layer (think of the cuticle layer as the big brother in large family of kids who protects the younger, more vulnerable kids).

Hair color and relaxers are only able to alter the color or curl pattern and texture of the hair because they have enough strength to raise the hair’s cuticle and reach the hair’s cortex and manipulate it. Hair color has chemicals in it that are specifically designed to raise the cuticle layer and deposit color into the hair’s cortex. Hair relaxers also have special chemicals that raise the hair’s cuticle and break certain bonds in the hair’s cortex that straightens the curl pattern of someone with naturally curly hair.

Once these changes are made to the cortex, they can’t be reversed. We all know that these processes can be quite damaging to the hair, most particularly the hair’s cortex, and once the cortex is damaged, the entire hair strand is pretty much damaged beyond repair. When the cuticle layer is healthy it can help prevent some of this damage, but in some instances, the cuticle layer itself simply can’t withstand to the abuse of strong chemicals, heat, and constant manipulation over an extended period of time. However, the good news is since the cuticle layer can be manipulated, either for the bad or the good, you can learn how to control your cuticle layer and optimize its strength and preservation to grow longer hair.

Difference in Cuticle Layer by Hair Type

All cuticle layers aren’t created the same. In fact, the cuticle layer and how its scales naturally align varies according to hair type. For straight, type 1 hair, the cuticle layer hugs the cortex very tightly and the layer’s scales naturally lay flat. This is why straight hair shines more often and tends to stay moisturized for a longer period of time than any other hair type. For curly hair types, the cuticle layer’s scales are naturally raised and don’t lay flat. As a result, curly hair tends to shine less and doesn’t feel as smooth to the touch. Raised cuticles are also the reason why curly hair tends to look frizzy and tangles easily. If your hair falls in between straight and curly, the alignment of the cuticle layer will depend on how tightly your hair curls or waves. Since curlier hair textures have naturally raised cuticles, it’s important that people with highly textured hair take extra care to preserve their hair’s cuticle.

As you all know, I think chemically processed hair, relaxed or color treated hair is its own hair type because the hair’s structure is permanently altered, and the cuticle is even more naturally raised than curly hair; it’s practically wide open, and in some instances the cortex is pretty darn close to being completely exposed. So if you have chemically processed hair, you have to go the extra mile and use special hair care products to close your hair’s cuticle layer.

People with curly or highly textured hair or chemically processed hair often suffer from something known as high porosity. Since the cuticle layer is naturally raised and often hard to close without special hair care practices, the hair has a hard time absorbing moisture and keeping moisture in because the cuticle acts as a revolving door.

How to Optimize Your Hair’s Cuticle Layer

Closing or sealing the cuticle layer is the number one way to control the cuticle layer and ultimately control the condition of your hair. A cuticle layer that is properly closed or sealed keeps moisture in the hair shaft for a longer period of time, so the hair is much more flexible, soft, manageable, and less prone to breakage. So how do we make sure that the hair’s cuticle layer is properly sealed and retains moisture? Well there are two ways.

pH Balancing for a Healthy Cuticle Layer

The cuticle layer opens and closes or reacts to the pH in substances we use on our hair, including water. Hair has a “happy pH” it likes to be at, between a range of 4 to 5.5, and it’s within this happy pH range that the cuticle layer is able to remain closed. On the other end, when the cuticle layer comes into contact with substances that are outside of this happy pH range, it reacts by opening or raising its scales. Every substance you put on your hair has a pH level, and your hair will react to that pH level by lifting or closing the cuticle layer.

For healthy, strong hair that grows long, we want to close the cuticle as much as possible, therefore we must use slightly acidic hair products on our hair. From your shampoo to your conditioner to your styling aid, most of your hair products should be within the 4 to 5.5 pH range in order to preserve the health of your hair’s cuticle. Now most hair product manufacturers don’t print the pH of their products on the label, so we have to test the pH of the products we use on our hair to make sure they’re suitable. For more info on pH balancing and how to test the pH level of your hair products, click here. If you have curly or highly textured hair or hair that is chemically treated, pH balancing is the best way to close and protect your hair’s cuticle layer.

Using Heat for a Healthy Cuticle Layer

Heat is the second way to activate the cuticle layer and lock in moisture. Heat is able to lift a stubborn cuticle layer and allow the hair to receive moisture. Now all types of heat aren’t acceptable when it comes to obtaining a healthy cuticle. Heat from the sun or direct heat from styling tools, such as a handheld blow dryer or a curling iron, are usually not good for the cuticle layer, or at least getting it to open up to receive moisture. The types of heat we want to use are mild, indirect forms of heat, such as a hot towel wrapped around the head or a hair steamer or hooded dryer.

The mild, indirect forms of heat should be used when you’re deep conditioning the hair. We use the heat to lift the cuticle so that as much moisture from the deep conditioner can penetrate the hair shaft as possible. At the same time, the deep conditioner you use should still be within the happy hair pH range of 4 to 5.5. This way when the hair absorbs as many nutrients as it can, the cuticle will close or seal when the deep conditioner is washed away.

How to Repair a Damaged Cuticle Layer

When you think about all of the things that the cuticle layer does and protects, you have to admit it’s pretty tough to be perhaps the thinnest and most overworked layer of the human hair strand. The thing that gives the cuticle layer its remarkable strength is protein. The scales of the cuticle layer are made up from a special protein called keratin. Keratin is fibrous, high-sulfur protein found in hair, skin, and nails. Now keratin does indeed give such delicate things such as hair and nails strength, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be damaged.

When we submit our hair to constant abuse via overuse of chemical processes, endless heat styling or aggressive styling and grooming, we’re slowly but surely chipping away at the scales in the hair’s cuticle layer. When these scales eventually break off completely, the hair strand is left with holes and gaps that makes the hair more susceptible to split ends and other nonreversible damage; in the hair care world, this is common referred to as porous hair. All hair is naturally porous, but when the hair has too low of a porosity or too high of a porosity, it can make managing the hair and growing it long a bit more of a challenge (check out this infographic for more information on hair porosity).

Protein treatments are the number one way to remedy the holes and gaps in overly porous hair and mitigate further damage. When protein treatments are applied to hair that has a damaged cuticle layer, protein deposits will fill in the gaps and missing sections in the cuticle layer to counteract the damage the hair strand has already sustained. While protein treatments will give you the illusion of smoother and stronger hair, it’s just that, an illusion. Damaged hair that’s treated with protein is still damaged, and the effect from protein treatments are temporary. Most protein treatments will wash away within one to a few cleansing sessions; similar to most other hair products.

What protein treatments will do is prevent your hair from sustaining further damage and allow hair that is somewhat damaged to grow longer. In order to experience optimal benefits from protein treatments, you must apply them to your hair on a continual basis to ensure that your hair maintains a protective sheath around of the hair strand. However, the key to strengthening a damaged cuticle layer with protein and turning your damaged hair around is finding the proper balance between protein and moisture for your hair. For more on the hair’s protein/moisture balance, read this post.

So there you have it! The key to growing longer hair and reaching your long hair goals is pampering and outright nurturing the cuticle layer. The good thing is that preserving the cuticle is fairly simple, and it’s often the simplest hair care practices that will give us the long, luscious locks we desire.

pH Balancing – The Key to Manageable and Healthy Long Hair

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies,

As you all know, I believe that the science behind hair and its structure is the key to understanding your hair and how to make it grow longer. The most important piece of science that helped me master my hair and gave me the ability to manage my hair no matter its condition was pH. yes, pH, lovelies.

Now I know you’re thinking, what does pH have to do with hair care and growing long hair, and I’m here to tell you that it has everything to do with it and more. You see, hair, similar to skin, naturally has a slightly acidic pH level, and hair needs an acidic pH level to thrive. Before we move along, let’s review the pH scale just in case you’ve forgotten it.

ph scale of hair

The pH scale is a scale that is used to measure how acidic or alkaline/basic a substance is. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Substances with a pH level of 7 (the middle range of the pH scale) are considered neutral, substances that have a pH less than 7 are considered acidic, and substances with a pH reading greater than 7 are considered basic. Got it? Good (see, high school science would come in handy some day).

Human hair is happiest at a pH of 4 to 5.5, which is slightly acidic. Naturally you’d think that human hair would prefer to be neutral, but that isn’t the case. I thought this too, and I was shocked to find out that even water, with a pH of 7, is too alkaline for human hair (this is why hard water wreaks havoc on our hair).

When human hair comes into contact with alkaline substances, substances with a pH greater than 7, the cuticles of our hair responds by swelling and rising or opening up. If you’ve been reading up on hair structure, you know that raised cuticles are a bad thing. Raised cuticles equals porous hair, which is sort of like a revolving door. The hair will suck up moisture, but it’ll also have a hard time keeping moisture in, so that means your hair will be drier than usual, rough to the touch, tangle frequently, and be much more susceptible to damage and breakage.

chemical hair processes Many chemical processes like hair color and relaxers are alkaline in nature, meaning they have a high pH and will cause the hair shaft to swell. This is why people who color and relax their hair have to use special shampoos and other hair care products to counteract the high pH of the chemical processes they use; it’s to keep the cuticle closed and prevent the hair from becoming porous. The number one way to do this is via pH balancing, which is also known as sealing the cuticle.

Now on the other end of the spectrum, when human hair comes into contact with lower pH substances, the cuticle reacts by contracting and laying flat. This is precisely what we want because a compact cuticle holds in moisture and is less likely to sustain damage. Additionally, when the cuticle is intact and flat, your hair just looks healthy, but back to pH.

So how do we pH balance the hair, simple? Use hair products that are within the range of 4 to 5.5 pH level. Well how do you know the pH level of your hair products? Well some hair product makers and manufacturers are getting savior with their labeling and they’re printing the pH of their product right on the packaging. However, if your products don’t have the pH on the label, you can find out the pH level via pH strips. You remember those from high school science classes, right? Those little strips where you swipe a little sample of the substance you’re testing across it and wait for the strip to change in color. Simply match the color to the pH indicator chart, which is usually printed on the package the pH strips comes in, and find out the pH.

Test the pH Level of Your Hair Products

Once you purchase or receive your pH strips in the mail, get every hair product you’ve ever used on your hair and test it. You may want to have a notebook handy so you can jot down the product’s name and its pH level. Once you’ve tested all of the products, organize them into two categories, one category for products with a pH higher than 7, and another category for products with a pH lower than 7.

If the products on the acidic side fall within the happy hair pH range of 4 to 5.5, these products are safe and perfect to use as is. If the products are above the happy hair pH level, you can still use them, but they need some “formulating” before they’re safe for use.

Alkaline products need an acidifying agent to bring their pH down to the happy hair pH range. Some of the acidifying agents I like to use are:

Aloe Vera Juice (pH level of 3.0)
Apple Cider Vinegar (pH level of 3.0)
Juice of a lime or lemon (pH level of 2.0)

Now I recommend separating out your favorite moisturizers and hair products that are too alkaline from their original container and mixing them with acidifying agents in a separate bowl. Making your alkaline hair products will take a bit of trial and error because when it comes to pH, a little bit can equal a big change. I would only add an acidifying agent by the teaspoon, mix it into the alkaline product, then test it to see what the new pH is. If it’s falls within the happy hair range, perfect! If the new concoction is still too alkaline, add an additional teaspoon of your acidifying agent, mix the concoction, and test again. Keep doing this until the pH falls within the 4 to 5.5 range.

Now this may seem like too much to you, but if you want to turn your stubborn and unruly hair around and reach your long hair goals, it really isn’t. pH matters! It wasn’t until I practiced consistent pH balancing after every washing session with a special leave-in conditioner and with my other hair products that I experienced hair that was never dry, brittle to the touch, or dull, and for the first time, my hair actually grew past my bra strap.

Some Hair Types Need pH Balancing More than Others

curly hair needs pH balancing If your hair is curly or highly textured, you need pH balancing more than any other hair type. Sebum, the oil that our scalps produce, has a pH that falls within the happy range of 4 to 5.5. As you know, the curls and kinks found in certain hair textures makes it difficult for sebum to reach the full length of the hair, unlike straighter hair types where sebum reaches the ends of the hair with no problem. This is precisely why curlier hair textures tend to be drier, more susceptible to damage, and less likely to retain as much length in comparison straighter hair types. It’s due to the fact that the sebum is not coating the entire length of the hair so curlier hair textures aren’t pH balanced within the happy hair ranged. So where nature is lacking, science can pick up the slack.

If you have curlier hair, especially if you have a relaxer, hair color, or any other type of chemical treatment, pH balancing is your friend. If your hair falls within the curly range, pH balancing will be the most important step to getting your hair healthy and under control.

Terminal Length – How Long Can The Average Person’s Hair Grow?

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies,

For some reason, many of us have this ingrained fear that our hair just can’t grow past a particular length. I know I’ve suffered from this fear myself as I’ve told you my hair story and how my hair was stuck at the same length for years. Well I’m here to tell you that yes, all hair does have a specific point where it will stop growing, and that length is formerly known as terminal length. Even though all hair has a terminal length, more than likely it won’t keep you from reaching your long hair goals because the average terminal length is much longer than most people imagine.

What Exactly Is Terminal Length?

Terminal length is the longest possible length your hair can reach if you just allowed it to grow without it ever breaking or being cut. Terminal length is a real thing. At any given moment, 85 percent of our hair is growing, the other 15 percent is resting preparing to shed or it’s actually shedding and being pushed from the hair’s follicle. Those 15 percent of hairs that are shedding or preparing to shed have simply reached their terminal length. Since they are in the telogen phase, that is the longest those hairs will ever grow.
terminal hair length

Thankfully the strands of our hair reach terminal lengths independently or at different times; otherwise, if all of our hair reached terminal length at the same point, we’d be bald when those hairs eventually shed, until the new hairs grow in.

What Is The Average Terminal Length?

Technically there is no such thing as an average terminal length. If you had asked me 5 years ago, I’d say my terminal length was about shoulder length because that was the longest I could ever grow my hair. Now I know better, and I know that there is no such thing as an average terminal length, because your terminal length depends on time.

Our hair doesn’t stop growing when it reaches a certain length, it stops growing when our growth cycle ends. The average growth phase for humans is between two to six years, and many scientists say it depends heavily on race and hair type. However, no matter your race or hair type, if your growing phase is at minimum 2 years, you can grow at least 12 inches of hair, providing your hair grows at the average monthly growth rate. Twelve inches of hair is no where near short, and for many women of average height, 12 inches of length would fall around the bra strap. The good news is that I know most of us can grow more than 12 inches of length. According to many scientists, most humans can expect to grow between 12 to 36 inches of hair before they reach their terminal length. That’s practically waistlength and beyond, and I’m willing to bet most women can grow their hair even longer, but so many of us fail to do so.

Many women, especially women with curlier, highly-textured hair, simply don’t know their terminal length because they haven’t made the most of their growing phase. Of course things like age and bad health can affect the growth cycle, but for the average woman, it’s bad hair care practices that keep us from realizing our hair’s longest potential. Remember, your hair needs the best growing conditions possible to reach its true terminal length.

Terminal Length and Genetics

The longest possible length your hair can grow isn’t determined by genetics. However, as I stated above, genetics does determine your growing or anagen phase. If you judge your terminal length by the length of hair the women in your family are able to grow, you still may not get an accurate estimate because growth phases still vary significantly even within families. Additionally, chances are if you’ve been damaging your hair, you learned those practices from the women in your family. When it comes to genetics and terminal length, my advice is simple, focus on what your hair can do and learn how to help it thrive.

In conclusion, some people will have a genetic advantage when it comes to the length of their growth phase, but a solid and focused hair care regimen can overcome what a long growth phase will not. While you may be unable to grow your hair to your knees, growing your hair to waist length isn’t some unimaginable feat; you can definitely grow your hair to your waist with proper care and dedication, terminal length be damned!

Please stay encouraged ladies and focus on the things that you can change and manage on your journey to long hair rather than the things you cannot control.

Reader Question: Will Cutting My Hair Really Make It Grow?

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies!

Cutting your hair will not make it grow

I’m so excited for today’s post because I’ll be answering our second reader submitted question. I just love these because it lets me know that you all are really reading and challenging your minds about what you’ve been taught in regards to hair growth and growing long hair. Today’s question comes from a reader by the name of Lindsey S., and Lindsey asks:

I always hear the same cut your hair every so and so weeks to make it grow, but it makes no sense to me that I should have to cut my hair to get it to grow longer. So what’s the truth? Will cutting my hair really make it grow?

I have a little secret for you Lindsey and all of the other readers out there, cutting your hair has absolutely nothing to do with hair growth. So. then why all the advice from every magazine to every celebrity hair stylist to trim your ends every 6, 8, or however many weeks if you want your hair to grow? I presume most people give that advice in regards to trimming off damaged ends that could stunt how much hair growth your retain, but not how much or how fast your hair grows.

The ends of our hair is the oldest part of our hair at any given moment in time, and because of that, they have sustained the most abuse and everyday wear and tear. If your ends are damaged, your hair is more susceptible to breakage, which translates into hair that never grows beyond the points of damage. Cutting the ends of your hair will not transmit some magical response to your body that it’s okay for your hair to grow longer now.

To be honest, the whole trim your hair every “x” amount of weeks thing is a commercialized message to get you into a stylists chair more frequently. In my humble opinion, this advice is mostly cosmetic and just another way to fatten your hair stylist’s pockets. There has never been a peer-reviewed study that has proven cutting your hair will make it grow. However, keeping your ends in good shape by regular trimming may help you slow down the occurrence of split ends and damage that could affect your overall length retention. So, the advice that purported hair gurus should give is that cutting your hair may help you retain more length, but frequent trims will not make your hair grow faster.

If you don’t want to cut your hair on a frequent basis, avoid doing things to damage your hair in the first place. That means stay away from chemical and heat styling products and tools as much as possible. Ensure that your hair is always properly conditioned and wear protective styles that allow you to treat the ends of your hair with the tender love and care they deserve.

Realize that split and thin ends are the result of damage, not the cause itself. If you’re suffering from less than desirable ends, there was or is something you’re currently doing to your hair that led to that result. Your job is to figure out the hair care practices that are causing your hair to break and nipping them in the bud as soon as possible. This is the key to avoiding unnecessary trims and retaining more of the hair that you grow.

If you have a hair growth or general hair care question you’d like to ask, feel free to submit your question here.

The Number One and Only Solution for Split Ends!

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies!

Split ends! They’ve made many a head look unhealthy and they’re the culprit behind the stunted hair growth of millions. It’s fair to say that split ends are the archnemesis of hair growth. As long as you have hair on your head, it’s bound to split at some point because that’s just what hair does. The more you submit your hair to chemical, physical, and thermal abuse, the faster it’ll split. The more your protect your hair and the gentler you treat it, the slower your hair will split.

If you currently have split ends, you absolutely want to take care of them right away. The longer you hold on to split ends, the further those splits will travel up the hair shaft, until eventually you’re left with extremely damaged and broken hair that even a wing and a prayer can’t save. However, if you utilize the one and only solution for severely split ends, you can turn the condition of your hair around and reach your long hair goals faster than if you hold onto split ends. So what is this magical solution? Cutting your split ends! But before we jump to the gun, let’s find out if you even have split ends to begin with.

How Do I know if I Have Split Ends?

Example of hair with normal wear and tear

Split ends are like dust in the wind, we can’t always see it, but we know it’s there. As long as you have hair on your head, it’s susceptible to splitting. Split ends start at a scale that is so small they can’t be detected by the human eye. When your split ends get to the point where we can see them, then your hair is severely damaged and needs to be cut immediately (seriously, go get some scissors right now and cut those ends!). Even if your hair hasn’t reached the point to where you can see that your ends are split, your hair will still physically show if you have them or not.

Hair that is healthy and has minimal split ends will have the same thickness and fullness from the roots of the hair toward the ends, with a slight taper the closer you get to the ends of the hair. As our hair grows, the ends of our hair will naturally thin and taper. This is due to normal wear and tear, and the fact that the ends of the hair are the oldest part of the hair on our heads at any given moment. There really isn’t much you can do about the normal wear and tear our hair sustains. However, if you have split ends, the ends of your hair will become extremely thin over time.

The type of thinness that is caused by split ends is not gradual, it’s extremely noticeable. If your hair is relatively thick at the roots but drastically thin towards the ends, split ends are likely the culprit. This is drastic change in thickness is what many experienced hair professionals call “see-through ends.” The term is pretty self-explanatory in that split ends have caused a person’s hair to become so thin that you can see through the ends of the hair as it rests against the back of your shirt or as you hold a section of hair up to light.

The bottom line is that if you’re treating your hair well, you can assume that it’s splitting at a much slower rate than normal. If you’re abusing your hair and submitting it to unnecessary stressors that cause damage, you can assume that it’s splitting at a faster rate than normal.

How to Cut Split Ends

When it comes to split ends, I believe that the method you use to cut them depends on your hair type. If you have straight hair with no discernible waves or curl pattern, it’s easier to see where your hair drastically tapers off at the ends, and you should simply cut a quarter of an inch or more above that point to get rid of split ends.

If you have wavy hair, I suggest you put your hair in a single braid at the nape of your hair and cut the braid at the point where it drastically begins to taper. Now if you have layers cut into your hair and you’d like to keep them, this method may not work for you. Then I’d suggest you cut your hair while it’s wet and use the method above for straighter hair textures to get rid of split ends. If you have layers and you don’t mind losing them, then go ahead with the braided cut method to get rid of split ends.

If you have curly or highly textured hair, the last thing you want to do is straighten it to cut split ends. That defeats the purpose and there are better methods to cut split ends that don’t require further damage to your hair. I recommend you place your hair in two-strand twists all around your head that are fairly equal in thickness and density. Pull each twist one-by-one and cut the ends of the twists at the point where your hair drastically tapers off.

How to Prevent Split Ends

For reasons that I stated above, you can’t really prevent split ends, what you can do is slow down the rate at which your hair splits to a point where it doesn’t cause any hair growth and length retention setbacks.

If you have normal to thick hair, deep conditioning on a regular basis, keeping your hair moist, keeping heat and chemical styling to minimum, and wearing protective styles from time to time are all hair care practices you can use to cut down on the incidence of split ends. When you combine these hair care practices in unison, you can drastically cut down on the rate at which your hair splits.

If you have thinner hair, you have a bit more work to do in regards to keeping split ends from stunting your hair growth. For my thin-haired ladies, the key to mitigating split ends is dusting your hair rather than trimming it on a frequent basis. Dusting is simply a hair care practice where you cut only a tiny portion of the ends of your hair (so small it looks like dust). Since thin hair isn’t as dense and strong as thicker hair strands, it naturally splits at a faster rate than any other type of hair. Dusting will help you zero out any damage that your thin hair sustains to the point where it’s as if it’s not even taking place.

I know it sucks to hear that the only way to get rid of split ends is to cut them, but trust me, you’ll be happier if you get rid of them now and take steps to cut down on them in the future than if you do nothing and let your hair continue to split and never reach your healthy, long hair goals.

4 Ingredients That Sound Scary But You Absolutely Want In Your Deep Conditioner

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies!

4 deep conditioner ingredients

When it comes to deep conditioning your hair, the success of this hair care practice weighs heavily on the ingredients of the deep conditioner you use. As I’ve stated before, all deep conditioners aren’t created the same, and therefore they aren’t equal. So, if you use a deep conditioner with crappy ingredients, you betcha you’ll end up with less than stellar results, which leads many people to believe that deep conditioning doesn’t work or simply isn’t for them. This couldn’t be further from the truth! When searching for a deep conditioner, there are certain ingredients you should familiarize yourself with, so you know whether you’re paying for a good product or wasting your hard earned dollars. Below you’ll find four ingredients that I believe work well in deep conditioners and will provide noticeable results for your hair. Now I know that these ingredients may sound “scientificay” (is that even a word, lol?) and a bit scary, but trust me, they’ll work wonders!

Panthenol

If panthenol makes you think of Pantene Pro-V, you’re already ahead of the game! Pantene has built their entire line around this popular hair care ingredient and its properties. Panthenol is derived from vitamin B-5, and it is largely found in plants and foods like eggs, milk, vegetables, and cereals. In hair products, panthenol functions as a humectant and an emollient. If humectant makes you think of humidity, you’re more of a hair scientist than you tought. Humectants are simply ingredients that draw in moisture to the skin and the hair to keep them moisturized. Emollients give some conditioners their creamy, slippery texture that can make detangling the hair easier and pain-free. Emollients also gives the hair added shine and increased volume. Panthenol is famous for making the hair appear thicker. As panthenol absorbs into the hair strand, its ingredients cause the hair shaft to swell due to increased moisture retention.

Since panthenol is naturally occurring, you don’t have to worry about it doing any damage to your hair. If you could use glossier, moisturized, and more manageable hair, give hair products that contain panthenol a try.

Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein

The majority of our hair is made up of protein, so it only makes sense that our hair would need protein when its damaged and in need of repair. Hydrolyzed wheat protein is an ingredient you absolutely want in your deep conditioner because it can not only help repair your damaged hair from the inside out, it can also help your hair retain moisture and become more manageable. Hydrolyzed wheat protein is derived from whole wheat, and don’t let the “hydrolyzed” part scare you, that simply means it was broken down into smaller parts that can actually penetrate the hair shaft.

You’ll find hydrolyzed wheat protein not only in deep conditioners, but shampoos, hair dyes, and other hair products as well. Now while I recommend using a hair conditioner that contains this ingredient since you’ll only be using it but so often, I wouldn’t recommend using cleansers or daily styling products that contain hydrolyzed wheat protein, because too much protein can be a bad thing.

Cetearyl Alcohol

When most people think of alcohol in hair care products, the common advice is to avoid it, but that isn’t always the best advice. All alcohols in hair care products aren’t bad, in fact, some of them are actually good for your hair. The good hair care alcohols are known as “fatty alcohols” because they are derived from animal fats and oils, and they won’t dry out your hair. One of the best and most common fatty alcohols found in hair care products is cetearyl alcohol. Cetearyl alcohol is used in deep conditioners to give the product a thick and creamy consistency. Cetearyl alcohol doesn’t have any direct affect on the hair’s structure, but it does make detangling and deep conditioning the hair a much easier process.

Behentrimonium Methosulfate (BTMS)

Betrol-methol-what? That’s what I first said when I discovered this ingredient. However, don’t worry about the name, only concern yourself with the magic of this ingredient, and boy is it magical! BTMS is a cationic surfactant, which is simply a positively charged molecule that is attracted to and bonds with the negatively charged hair strand. Now there are all types of cationic surfactants that are found in deep conditioners and other hair care products, but BTMS is perhaps the most lubricating of them all. BTMS works well for all hair types, and it will make even the kinkiest, highly textured hair a breeze to detangle and deep condition. To add to it’s magical properties, BTMS will not cause buildup on the hair; in fact, surfactants like BTMS will actually remove product build-up and excess oil from the hair, much like a shampoo.

The next time you’re out shopping for a new deep conditioner, keep these four glorious ingredients in mind. If you can’t remember the name or the pronunciation of them (seriously, who would?), simply write them down and look out for deep conditioners that lists these ingredients towards the top of the product’s listed ingredients.

What is Deep Conditioning?

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies!

I think that deep conditioning is perhaps the most important tool when it comes to growing long hair. Now there has been some debate among hair scientists as to whether deep conditioning is effective and if its even necessary, and I’m in the it’s absolutely necessary camp. Your opinion may differ depending on whether or not you have he proper frame of mind as to what deep conditioning is actually meant to achieve. I am convinced that most people don’t know the true purpose of deep conditioning and have absolutely no idea as to how deep conditioning works. I’m sure of that because I was one of them, but I’m here to set the record straight.

Deep conditioning is a hair care practice that can restore or maintain the strength of the hair strand so that it is better able to withstand day-to-day stressors without sustaining damage. Many people erroneously believe that deep conditioners work by primarily penetrating the hair and providing tons of moisture to the inner workings of the hair shaft. Now there are ingredients that have the ability to penetrate the hair shaft and work their magic on the hair’s cortex, but for the most part, Deep conditioning allows for temporary repair to the hair shaft via surfactants, small particles found in deep conditioners, adhering to gaps and damaged sections of the hair strand.

what is deep conditioning?

How Surfactants Work

To understand how surfactants work, I need you to recall a bit of 8th grade science. Surfactants are small molecules that come in two types. They can be hydrophobic (water-repelling) or hydrophilic (water-loving), and they can carry a positive, negative, or neutral charge. The type of surfactants that are typically found in deep conditioning products tend to carry a positive charge. Human hair has a somewhat negative charge, so when you apply a deep conditioner to the hair that contains positively charged surfactants, these positively charged molecules are attracted to the negatively charged surface of the hair, sort of like a magnet. Surfactants are not absorbed beyond the hair’s cuticle into the hair shaft, but they are rather adsorbed onto the hair strand, meaning the simply adhere to it. The by-product of this temporary bond is hair that looks healthier, is easier to manage, and overall feels smoother.

Choosing The Right Deep Conditioner

All deep conditioners aren’t created equal. The most expensive deep conditioner that makes elaborate claims about its ability to transform your hair may have very little to no effect at all, and the cheapest deep conditioner around may actually provide noticeable results to the condition of your hair. So how do you choose the proper deep conditioner for your hair’s needs? The answer is to pay attention to ingredients. Instead of relying on marketing and hype on the front of hair products, turn the product over and become familiar with the ingredients. Check out this post for a specific list of the type of ingredients you should look for when choosing a deep conditioner.

6 Reasons Why You’re Experiencing Breakage and How to Stop It

By Renee Price

6 reasons why your hair is breaking

Hello Lovelies! Nothing will cut your long hair dreams faster than breakage. The bad news about breakage is that it is most likely caused by your own actions. The good news is that since most breakage is caused by our own damaging techniques and lack of care, our breakage problems can be solved! Isn’t that great? Stress is at the root of all hair breakage. No, not the biological reaction to emotional challenges that is commonly known as “stress.” Nevertheless, that kind of stress can cause hair loss, but that’s usually hair loss in the form of shedding, which is completely different from breakage, but I’ll explain that in another post. The type of stress or stressors that causes hair to break are external stressors. When these external stressors become too much for our hair to handle, it breaks off at points where the damage is most severe. So in order to stop breakage, you must stop, or at best block, the external stressors that are causing acute damage to your hair. Read on to find out the six types of stress that causes severe hair breakage, and find out the solutions to stop the damage dead in its tracks.

Over-manipulation

A tug here, a twirl there, why can’t we seem to keep our hands out of our hair? This is what I like to call “hand in head” syndrome. Styling or playing in your hair any more than necessary is called over-manipulation. Those style changes and hair twirls may seem innocent, but in actuality, they’re perhaps one of the leading causes of hair breakage. Why? Well over-manipulation is cumulative. For instance, let’s say you redo your ponytail everyday in the same spot, with the same hair tie, because you know, what girl wouldn’t want her pony looking fabulous and neat everyday? Well, overtime, you may experience breakage around the perimeter of your head and in the crown of your head where you place your ponytail. This is happening because you’re constantly manipulating the same sections of your hair everyday. If you rubbed the same spot of carpet on your floor every day, you’d eventually notice a bald spot in that area because you wore away the fibers. The same thing is happening when you over-manipulate your hair. Even the friction of rubbing your hair against a cotton pillow as you sleep can be damaging to your hair overtime.

The Solution:

The best way to prevent over-manipulation is to wear your hair in protective styles. These styles beat over-manipulation and breakage in two ways. One, it protects your hair from yourself, because if it’s tucked away, you don’t have as much access to tug and twirl it. Secondly, it protects your hair from friction and other stressors that are known to cause breakage. If you choose to wear the same style over and over again, such as a ponytail, simply change up where you place the ponytail every now and then. Perhaps rock a high ponytail for a few weeks, then rock a low one for the next couple of weeks. This way you aren’t placing stress on the same sections of hair. Additionally, sleeping on a silk or satin pillow will protect your hair from friction that could cause breakage over time.

Heat Damage

It’s fun to change our hair hair texture and try different styles with heating tools like flat irons, curlers, and blow dryers. However, too much heat and using heat too often is perhaps one of the quickest ways to damage your hair and cause breakage. When you heat your hair beyond a certain point, the hair’s cuticle, which functions as a protective layer, lifts from the rest of the hair shaft. When this happens, it’s hard for the hair to hold in moisture, which eventually leads to dry and brittle hair. Dry and brittle hair is more prone to breakage and irreversible damage in the form of split ends. In curlier hair textures, heat damage can not only cause breakage, but it can permanently alter the hair texture.

The Solution:

To avoid heat damage the solution is simple–turn down the heat. Use an appropriate heat setting according to your hair type whenever you plan to use heating tools. Always apply a heat protectant spray or cream to your hair prior to using heat tools to protect the hair from burning. Or better yet, give the heat tools a rest. Instead of straightening or curling your hair, wear hairstyles in your natural texture that don’t require any heat tools to completely eliminate the possibility of heat damage.

Chemical Overlapping

Dying our hair different fun and funky colors and applying chemical straighteners make for fun and attractive hair changes, but improper application of these products could cause severe damage to your hair. Sure, no one wants visible roots to throw off their fabulous dye job, but overlapping hair color, relaxers, bleach, and even keratin treatments can swell the hair cuticle beyond resiliency. Additionally, overlapping chemical processes can wear down the very thing that makes our hair strong–protein bonds.

The Solution:

If you don’t want to forego chemical processes on your long hair journey, at the very least, keep them to a minimum. That may mean stretching your relaxers or faking the new ombre hair trend as your dye job grows out. If you chemically treat your hair while you’re growing it out, regular protein treatments are an absolute must. Regular protein treatments will keep your hair strong by ensuring that the cuticle and the protein bonds in the hair shaft remain intact.

Sun/UV Damage

We all know that UV rays from the sun can be damaging to our skin, but it turns out that UV rays from the sun can be equally as damaging for our hair. Have you ever noticed your hair change colors after spending an extended period of time in the sun? Well, that’s a clear sign you’ve sustained some damage from the sun’s rays. UV rays from the sun break down the protein bonds found in the hair shaft. The damage caused by UV rays can be even harsher on chemically treated hair; this is why color-treated hair becomes brassy during the summer time if you don’t provide adequate protection.

The Solution:

Similar to how we protect our skin from the sun’s rays with sunscreen, we need to protect our hair from the harsh rays of the sun with an equivalent product. There are tons of sunscreen sprays and creams for the hair that should be applied prior to spending time out in the sun. At the very least, wear a hat or adorn your tresses with a light and fashionable head scarf as a protective barrier from the sun’s harmful rays.

Environmental Damage

From hard water to wind, several environmental elements can cause damage and breakage to your hair. The winter is perhaps the number one time our hair is most susceptible to damage because the air is dryer and the winds are typically higher. Now most of us don’t have the ability to stop something like the wind (and if you can, maybe Captain Planet should recruit you for his team), but what we can do is protect our hair from environmental that we otherwise can do nothing about.

The Solution:

When it comes to certain environmental elements, the best you can do is to hide your hair from their harsh conditions. This may mean wearing your hair in bun when it’s windy to prevent the friction of the wind from drying and damaging your hair. If you suspect you have hard water, you can remedy the problem with a water filter for your shower.

Hygral Fatigue

Have you ever stretched a scrunchy or something else “stretchy” over and over and over again? Well, what happens? It eventually loses its strength, right? Sometimes to the point where it won’t go back to it’s original shape. Well that’s what happens to certain types of hair when you wash it too much, and it’s called hygral fatigue. The constant swelling and deswelling of the hair when you wash it too often chips away at the hair’s cuticle and protein bonds, which can cause moisture loss and dry, brittle, weakened hair. Now hygral fatigue doesn’t happen to everyone because every head of hair isn’t the same. Some people can get away with and even benefit from washing their hair frequently while others cannot. Nevertheless, if you suspect hygral fatigue is happening to you, there are a two ways you can stop it in it’s tracks.

The Solution:

The simplest way to stop or hygral fatigue is to simply not wash your hair as often as your normally would. If you want to remove excess oil and buildup from your scalp in between washes, try a dry shampoo. If you absolutely must stick to your current hair washing schedule due to your level of activity or for other reasons, try pre-pooing your hair with certain oils to keep water from excessively swelling the hair shaft during cleansing sessions.

Example Hair Care Regimen For Relaxed Hair

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies!

This hair care regimen example is just for my relaxed hair ladies. As you know, I think relaxed hair deserves a hair type of its own because the texture and structure of the hair is permanently altered from its original state. Now with any hair type, hair care regimens differ from person to person, but I find that with relaxed hair, there are certain practices that most ladies must adhere to protect their hair and ensure that it remains strong. Nonetheless, always experiment with what works best for your hair and stick with that.

Monthly Hair Care Regimen

What Are My Hair Challenges This Month: Dryness and breakage

How Do I Plan to Combat Hair Challenges: Experiment with proper protein/moisture balance, moisturize daily and maintain low-manipulation protective styles

What Will I Use to Clarify and Cleanse My Hair: Nexus Aloe Rid to chalate/clarify and Giovanni Smooth as Silk Shampoo for weekly cleansing

What Will I Use to Detangle My Hair: A wide tooth comb and diluted Queen Helene Cholesterol Plus

What Will I Use to Condition My Hair: Mane N Tail Conditioner

What Will I Use to Deep Condition My Hair: Mizani Moisturfuse Conditioner, and I will deep condition two times each month

What Will I Use to Strengthen My Hair and How Often Will I Do Strengthening Treatments: Aphoghee 2-step Protein Treatment, and I will strengthen my hair once each month

What Products Will I Use to Style My Hair: Elasta QP Mango Butter each day to maintain moisture

What Will I Use to Seal in Moisture: Coconut Oil

How Often Will I Protective Style and What Kind of Protective Styles Will I Wear: Protective style four days a week with a simple bun

What Hair Tools Will I Use to Style: A wide-tooth comb

If I Use Heat Tools, How Often Will I Use Them: I will not use heat to maintain moisture/protein balance

Yearly Hair Care Regimen

relaxed hair regimen January: Continue with regular hair regimen

February: Continue with regular hair regimen

March: Continue with regular hair regimen

April: Trim the ends of my hair and continue with regular hair care regimen

May: Continue with regular hair regimen

June: Continue with regular hair regimen

July: Continue with regular hair care regimen

August: Trim the ends of my hair this month and continue with regular hair care regimen

September: Continue with regular hair regimen

October: Continue with regular hair care regimen

November: Continue with regular hair care regimen

December: Trim the ends of my hair this month and continue with regular hair care regimen

Hair is Dead!

By Renee Price

Hello Lovelies

I have a message for you, and well, here it is:
hair is dead
That’s right, hair is not alive, well at least not beyond your scalp. Once a hair strand reaches beyond the surface of your scalp, it is physiologically dead. Don’t believe me? Just ask yourself this one question: When you cut your hair, does it hurt? Of course it doesn’t, because the hair strand has no blood, nerves or muscles. Our hair only continues to get longer because the new protein within the hair follicle beneath the scalp continuously pushes older protein (hair) beyond the scalp until the follicle dies (lives out its anagen phase) or becomes damaged and breaks. Furthermore, since hair is dead, it cannot be nourished, only preserved.

So if hair can only be preserved, how do we get long, healthy hair? Well, there technically is no such thing as healthy hair. Hair is no more healthy than the fibers in your carpet, but just because hair is dead, that doesn’t mean it can’t be cared for.

Hair breaks and tears, that’s just what it does, but the trick to preserving your hair and growing it long is creating the optimal circumstances where your hair breaks and tears much less frequently than it grows. That means developing a hair care regimen that allows the protective layer, or the cuticle, of your hair to remain intact for as long as possible. No matter your hair type, there are two, key ways to keep the outermost layer of your hair intact and care for this amazing, dead fiber that sits atop of our head.

The Importance of Keeping Your Hair Moist

The most common roadblock to long hair that I find with women across all hair types is the failure to keep the hair moist. Even though our hair is dead, it can still remarkably absorb water, lots of it. In fact, hair can hold its own weight in water, and it’s diameter can swell by 20 percent in size with just water. However, I must note, moisture doesn’t always mean water, it can also equate to the lack of dryness and the resulting appearance of dryness. Simply put, this is why certain hair products (hair creams, oils, etc.) are so important; they can provide the “moisture” our hair needs to avoid dryness.

When our hair is dry, its dull, rough to the touch, and much less manageable, all things that increase the likelihood of breakage and damage. So, when it comes to long hair, moisture is king. Moist hair simply doesn’t break, become unmanageable and it’s rarely, if ever, rough to the touch. On the flip side, there is such a thing as over-moisturizing the hair, so the key to moisturization is finding the perfect balance for your hair type and your individual hair care needs, and as with anything else, it just requires experimenting to find out what your hair likes and doesn’t like. Once you figure out the perfect moisture balance for your hair, you’ll notice a remarkable difference in the look, feel and length of your hair.

Low-Manipulation and Protective Styles

In addition to keeping your hair moist, if you want to grow your long hair, you must style it for growth. The best way to style your hair for growth is via protective styles that require little to no manipulation over a period of days or several weeks, and in some instances, a couple of months. Protective hairstyles can range from a simple bun to a hair weave, it really just depends on your hair type and your hair care needs. Now, protective styles aren’t really necessary to grow long hair, but I find that these styles will give you the best chance of preserving your hair and minimizing breakage.

When it comes to hair growth, and growing long hair that appears “healthy,” I believe it’s more about what you don’t do to your hair than what you are doing to your hair that determines the lengths your hair will reach. To make it plain, keep your hair moist and leave it alone if you want it to grow long. It’s truly that simple lovelies. Eliminate the opportunity for your hair to become dry, break and suffer severe damage, and you’ll experience more growth than you’ve ever imagined was possible.

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