Summer care for coily hair

1. Head wraps and hats for sun protection 

Just like your skin your hair also requires sun protection. The absolute best sun protection for the hot Summer days are head wraps and hats. You want to wear one or the other as much as you can in this hot summer heat.

2.  Oils for Sun protection

Sunflower seed oil, protects hair from the absorption of ultra violet rays. In a dark color bottle, mix 1/2 sunflower seed oil, 1/2 grape seed oil and 1/4 cup of unrefined coconut oil. Apply daily during the summer time. Beginning with 1 tablespoon smooth really well through hair being sure to coat all strands. Grapeseed oil and coconut oil also have heat protection properties.



3. Enhance growth and cool down your scalp with coily hair spritzers!!!

Hair growth spritzer

These hot Summer days can leave your scalp hot and sometimes itchy. Hair spritzers  help to cool a  hot and itchy scalp while enhancing hair growth. During the hot months, our hair growth rate increases. You can enhance this growth with Coily Spritzers. 

CoilyQueens growth spritzer

Using a tea ball add 2 tablespoon of good quality green tea to 7 ounces of hot water. Once tea cools add 3 drops of pure peppermint oil and 4 drops of rosemary oil. Shake well and store in the refrigerator. When you come home from a long hot day spray your scalp with this minty cool spritzer. You can also use this spritzer as a wake me up in the morning. Remember to concentrate spritzer on the scalp area this will help stimulate growth. 

CoilyQueens scalp cooler spritzer

Add 2 tablespoons of a good quality green tea to a tea ball. Boil 7 ounces of water. Remove water from heat then place tea ball in hot water until it cools. Once tea has cooled add: 5 drops of sage oil, 5 drops of rosemary, 5 drops of tea tree oil and 2 tablespoons of jojoba oil. The tea tree is antiseptic. The sage and rosemary are anti bacteria and jojoba will help to balance your sebum.

4. Help for frizzy hair and shrunken fros!

Summer time is frizz time if you have curly coily hair. Whether it is a wash and go or a twist out, anytime you wear your hair loose you can expect shrinkage, during the hot months. Our hair shrinks due to the humidity. The hot humidity creates moisture and water makes our curly, coily hair shrink. There are products on the market called anti humectants. These products contain ingredients which help to block the humidity so no moisture settles in your hair. No moisture equals no shrinkage. So when you shop look for the term anti humectant. There are many on the market you have to find the one that works best on your hair. I do not recommend using any anti humectant products if you are experiencing dry hair. If your hair has a hard time retaining moisture an anti humectant will make your it worst. When using an anti humectant apply your leave in conditioner and oils first then apply your anti humectant.

Popular anti humectants:
Aveda Brillant Anti Humectant order here!
Sabino Moisture Blocker  order now!
Bumble & Bumble De-frizz order here!
Anti humectants (made with natural ingredients)
John Master Organic Hair Pomade order here!
Kinky Curly Gloss Pomade order here!

Add some flax seed gel to your regular hair gel to keep the frizz away!

Popular products you should not overuse

While making your rounds on the hair forums you find out that apple cider vinegar is great for the hair.  You find out that doing a final rinse of apple cider vinegar will help your hair cuticle to lay flatter, thus locking in moisture for longer periods. You give it a try and you are amazed how the ACV rinse makes your hair feel. Because of this experience you add apple cider vinegar to your regular hair care regimen, cause you cannot wait to do one again.
 

STOP not so fast!

True organic apple cider vinegar is great for the hair and many other things. However, apple cider vinegar should not be used on the hair, on a regular basis. Think of ACV as a medicine for the hair or better yet a treatment. Treatments are meant to treat the hair for a specific issue until that issue is no longer a problem. If you are experiencing chronic dry hair, then ACV rinses will help you whip your hair cuticle back in shape. You use it for around 4 weeks, then your hair should be able to hold moisture on its own. When your hair is holding its own then you discontinue use. Apple cider vinegar is acidic when compared with the PH of hair. Using a ACV rinse on the final step of  your shampoo regimen helps to balance the scalp and make the hair cuticle lay flatter. Once you have completed several ACV rinses your hair cuticle should start to lay flatter on its own. Going forward simply rinsing out your deep conditioner with cool water should be enough to make your hair cuticle lay flatter.

Always buy organic apple cider vinegar

Dangers of using apple cider vinegar for long periods of time. 

• ACV will change your hair color.
• Your hair will become fragile.
• Breakage will eventually occur.

Remember just because it is natural does not mean you should overuse it and that it cannot damage the hair. Moderation is always a good ideal.

Easy DIY deep conditioner

Other treatments to not overuse

Honey
Adding 1 tablespoon of honey to your conditioner will turn it from drab to awesome. So if you have a deep conditioner that does not perform well add one tablespoon of honey to it. Honey is a natural humectant. Honey leaves the hair soft, shiny and moisturized. Your hair will hold moisture longer when using honey. If you use raw organic honey, then you can use it weekly with no issues. However it you use regular brown honey, it will take some of the color out of your hair with weekly use. The raw organic honey cost more and is cream in color. The processed honey is brown and about half the price of raw organic honey. If you choose to use honey on a weekly basis opt for the raw organic honey and you can use it as much as you desire.

Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil is an oil you should always have in your cabinet. It is aniseptic. This is an oil that should be used as a medicine and not for everyday use. This oil is very strong and when used to often can give you a headache from the strong smell.

Castile soap
Many feel because this is a natural soap, it is good for use on the hair. Yes castile is natural but the PH of castile soap is around a 10 or 11. This is way to high. Castile soap should be used when you have buildup because it is so strong. Frequent use of this soap will leave the hair stripped. Stripping the hair on a continuous basis will make your hair dry and brittle.  We know that dry, brittle hair eventually breaks.

Black soap
Black soap in the liquid form normally has a high PH. Only use this soap for clarifying and deep cleanings. Using this soap on a weekly basis can lead to lots of tangles and knots. Hair tangles more when it is out of balance. When you purchase any type of black soap check the PH of it by using PH strips. Purchase black soap that comes in chunks instead of the liquid form.

Protein treatments
Protein treatments are amazing in helping you to strengthen your hair. Protein makes your hair stronger so it can withstand manipulation and not break. A good protein regimen will help you grow your hair to great lengths. The best protein treatment to choose is one which has hydrolyzed keratin protein in the top 3 ingredients. Always follow the directions of the protein treatment you choose.  If your protein treatments says to only use once every 4 weeks then do not reapply after 2 weeks. 

Learn more about protein treatments and how they can help you reach longer lengths here.

The one thing you should never use on your hair!

 

Sodium Bicarbonate aka BAKING SODA!

Baking soda

Have you read of people with low porosity hair washing their hair with baking soda? Maybe you have heard of a hydration method which suggests applying baking soda to your hair to lift the hair cuticle so you can receive deep moisture penetration from your products?   There are people who wrongly believe that water nor moisturizers, penetrates their hair enough to receive adequate hydration. However using baking soda to lift the hair cuticle is very damaging to the hair.  Baking soda is abrasive and it tears the hair cuticle. Baking soda has 150mg of sodium per 1/8 tsp. Sodium is drying to the hair. Anything that is drying is not good for Afro curly hair.  

Whether your hair is high or low porosity water will always penetrate it. Most commercial products are not formulated to penetrate the hair shaft, nor do you want them to. Using backing soda to lift the hair cuticle is not necessary, warm or medium temperature water will lift the hair cuticle. This is why the CQR method recommends rinsing your shampoo out with medium temperature water, this gets the hair cuticle in a position to receive the deep conditioning step. Sitting under a hair dryer while deep conditioning also opens the hair cuticle, so your hair can receive the amazing benefits of your deep conditioner.  Continuous use of baking soda on the hair will dry your hair out and make it break.

Dry brittle hair hey no fair!!!

Some people use baking soda as a natural way to clarify the hair.  Baking soda is a poor choice, for clarifying the hair, because  it does not successfully remove all product buildup. When you need to clarify there are lots of good clarifying shampoos, soaps and clays to choose from. Nikki's Naturals sells an awesome black soap that is great for clarifying the hair and cleansing the body.  As I am products has a good clarifying shampoo that is properly PH balanced for the hair. Bentonite clay or red clay is also great for deep cleaning the hair. The CQR recommends using a clay wash once a month to remove build up and to give your coils a boost.

Order your good quality shea butter and black soap HERE!

For clarifying or removing buildup

Bentonite clay---Order here!

Red clay---Order here!

Black soap----Best black soap here!!!

As I am clarifying shampoo

Shea Moisture black soap shampoo

Castile soap

The dangers of relaxers (a must read)

Women go natural  for a variety of reasons. Those ladies who went natural because it was the "in" thing to do, will often be tempted to relax again. They convince themselves that Afro hair is to difficult and that straight relaxed hair is much easier. Some of them do not like their hair texture and most do not like the shrinkage that comes with Afro hair. At least every other day, I see comments stating,  they are tired and are tempted to go back to relaxing,  When people make the "back to relaxer"  announcement they are usually trying to get people to give them a reason why they should not go back to relaxing.  I will give you the ultimate reason why you should NEVER go back to relaxing your beautiful Afro  hair.

Limp straight hair

Think before you act!

When you apply that relaxer chemical to your hair,  you stand a great chance of permanently damaging your hair follicles. It does not make much difference, if whether you did your relaxer at home or you went to a professional.  There are lots of black women who get in their mid thirties and start to have issues with their scalp. First it starts with itching in a certain area, usually the crown. Then the scalp can become sore to the touch. This itchiness and soreness can stay that way for years, until one day you notice,  the hair has significantly thinned in that area. Many times you will notice a dime size or or quarter size bald spot, which seems to appear overnight. But it has not been overnight, your hair follicles have been dying slowly each day. So what causes this type of hair loss? Inflamed scar tissue under the scalp from past relaxer applications. Yes you can get burns under your scalp from the relaxer chemicals. When the burns heal they leave scar tissue. The scar tissue gets in the way of your hair growth at the root. You hair grows but the scar tissue prohibits it from sprouting from the scalp. Eventually the hair follicles completely close.  Because this condition happens very slowly it is hard to convince many black women that this happens a lot. Think about the fact that by the time a black woman hits 35, she has been relaxing her hair for 25 years at least. She has probably had at least 6 relaxers each year. That is a lot of harsh chemicals exposed to your hair and scalp. It is almost impossible for that chemical to not touch your scalp. This is not scare tactic, this is knowledge so you can make an educated decision on continuing to relax  or going back to relaxing your beautiful God blessed hair.

So what can be done about this condition?

 

Early treatment is crucial!

If your hair itches in a specific spot all of the time go see a dermatologist. If your scalp is sore in one area off and on, go see a dermatologist. Early detection is key. Tell the dermatologist all of your symptoms and be totally honest. He or she will want to know if  you ever used relaxers. The only way to know what is going on under your scalp is for the doctor to do a scalp biopsy. Understand that this can happen from just one relaxer application. It does not matter how many years you used relaxers. There is no cure for this type of hair loss. The doctor will treat it with steroid shots to the scalp. The earlier you seek treatment the more likely the shots will work to stop the progression of the bald area. You may not get back the hair you loss but the shots can stop you from losing more hair. 

So does a relaxer sound tempting after hearing this?

If this does not deter you then nothing will.  Do you want to risk baldness, just for the sake of having straight hair? God blessed you with beautiful Afro curly hair. Learn to love your curls. When you love a thing it flourishes for you. You do not have to destroy the structure of your hair in order for it to be beautiful. There is an abundance of great information available at your finger tips to help you take care of your coily hair. You are currently on one of the best sites that will help you get to know your Afro coily hair. All of this information is FREE, so take advantage of it. 

Wash it and let it FRO! Beautiful!!

Flat twist out!

Flat ironed hair! Beautiful!!

 

Naturally stretched hair.  Beautiful!

Afro curly hair is not difficult. God would not bless black women with difficult hair. Our hair is our glory. Start a healthy hair journey today and watch your hair transform in 3 months. The Coily Queens Method makes it easy for you. You will be amazed!!!

Start your journey here!!!