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How porous is your hair?

Written By Bold Apps - February 06 2014

Hair porosity is the ability of the hair to retain and absorb moisture. *Quick porousity test - take a couple of stands of hair from your comb and drop into a bowl of water, let it sit for 2 - 4mins. If your hair floats you have low porosity, if it sinks you have high porousity. Alternatively you can choose a strand of your hair stretch it and run your fingers up and down, if it is bumpy it is a sign that your scales are lifted/broken and you have high porousity. Low Porosity Hair Characteristics & Care Tips:

Healthy looking, shiny, repels moisture when wet, hard to treat chemically as it resists penetration
Stay away from protein rich daily treatments as this can 'sit' on your hair making it look oily and greasy
Protein-free daily humecant treatments such as glycerin (including vegetable glycerin) and honey can benefit your hair by attracting and holding moisture to the hair
Use lighter liquid based products such as hair milks
Emoilients such as coconut oil complement moisturerisers because they are able to penetrate your hair shaft more readily

Medium Porosity Hair Characteristics & Care Tips: Holds styles well, doesn't require much maintenance, can be permed and coloured with predictable results

Do not over process/style this hair as this can cause damage in the long run and increase porosity
The occaisonal deep conditioning treatment with protein rich products can maintain good hair conditions but protein rich products shouldn't be used in your daily hair regimen

High Porosity Hair Characteristics & Care Tips:

Prone to frizz & tangling in humid weather due to capacity and tendency to allow moisture in freely, simply bathing can cause your hair hair strands to swell
Anti humecants (such as beeswax, palm oil, olive oil and shea butter) used in high heat and humid climates allow your hair to retain moisture by adding a protective layer to the shaft and prevents them from absorbig excess moisture from the environment
Protein rich leave in conditioners, moisturisers, sealants/hair butters are your best friend, these fill the gaps in damaged cuticles adding protection from further damage and protects your hair from losing too much moisture

Which category do you fall under? Tell us your hair care regimen

Hair Type 4

Written By Bold Apps - January 09 2014

Posted by Lil This is where the hair classification system starts to refer to ‘black people’s hair’ exclusively. Although some people with this hair type would say that their hair falls into different sub-categories ('a' at the front 'c' at the back etc), it still helps to know how one can generally care-for their hair, so I personally find this chart very useful. Let’s begin with some interesting facts about black hair: 1. The hair growth rate of African people is 0.9cm per month whereas Asian people enjoy a growth rate of 1.3cm per month 2. African hair is more fragile in comparison to European hair 3. African people generally have black and curly hair that is dry in nature 4. Balding can be seen more in African and European people as compared to people of Asian origin 5. Elasticity is lower in black curly hair and higher in light coloured hair 6. Type 4 hair can range from coarse, wiry, thin to fine hair with lots and lots of strands densely packed together. People with the latter often describe their hair as ‘carpet-like’. Type 4a hair resembles defined coils that often have the circumference of a chop stick or crochet needle. There is a definite 'S' pattern and it has more moisture than 4b. The texture can be fine and wiry and can often have areas where the hair is more 3c. Due to the fewer cuticle layers than other hair types, this hair has less natural protection from damage. A celebrity with this hair type is Solange Knowles. Type 4b hair has less of a defined curl pattern but more-so than that of a person with 4c. The texture of the hair is cotton like, wiry and often very tightly coiled. Hair can up to 75% of its actual hair length when wet. When washing this type of hair use a heavy and creamy cleanser. Products that contain honey and coconut are great for detangling as they have lots of slip and allow you to detangle with ease. Deep condition your hair weekly to keep your coils hydrated and seal in moisture with hair milks or styling butters. A celebrity with this hair type is Esperanza Spalding. Type 4c hair resembles what I like to call a sponge. It looks almost identical to 4b hair - except the curls are so tightly wound that the curl patterns are not defined atall. This hair type is often remarked upon as being the most “challenging” or at least more so than that of a person with 4b hair. This hair type can shrink more than 75% its actual hair length when wet. When washing your hair always co-wash as shampoo suds strip your hair of much-needed moisture. Deep condition every 3 days to maximise the strength of your coils. Heavy creams are great for elongating and defining your otherwise blurred curls. A celebrity with Type 4c hair is Erykah Badu. When it comes to wash day for Type 4 hair (if possible) begin by separating your hair into sections of about 6 and either loosely braid or twist these sections whilst applying conditioner to the ends of your hair (as this is the eldest and therefore most fragile part of your hair). This acts as a 'Pre-Poo' (pre shampoo) and protects your hair's natural and precious oils from being over-stripped by your shampoo. Products that contain coconut oil or avocado oil are fantastic for sealing the hair from the outside – preventing internal moisture from escaping. Similarly when it comes to conditioning the scalp, the particles are small enough to be absorbed into the skin allowing all the beneficial nutrients seep right in and work their naturally fantastic magic. For your hair-type Hug My Hair recommends Palm down...it's just a conditioner and Vintage. References:

What's in your toolkit?

Written By Bold Apps - December 26 2013

Posted by Lil So everyone has their top five things that they can't go without for more than 48 hours when it comes to their hair - especially if they'd rather their hair didn't turn into a bird's nest! I'm going to have a go at listing mine, but it would be great to find out what in yours? 1. A silk/satin cap! When I'm sleeping my cap protects my hair from breaking. This is because it slides against the material rather than rubbing against and/or getting caught onto my cotton pillowcase. I have also managed to find one that doesn't come off at night (i know right? shock shock horror) - I got mine from Ebay for £7.99 here. 2. An empty spray bottle! My hairtype LOVES moisture. And the only thing that can give it moisture is water. I fill my spray bottle with three quarters water and one quarter of my favourite oil (to seal in the moisture). Whenever my hair gets thirsty I give it a quick spritz and I'm good to go. Spray bottles are also handy for section by section detangling (which i do a lot). 3. Silk scrunchies! My hair thinks these things are amazeballs (am I allowed to say that at my age?). Like the silk scarf it doesnt get caught onto your hair and break a chunk off everytime you want to tie your hair up. I've been putting my hair in twists as a protective style and then tying those twists into a ponytail. So far so good. Only thing is that if my hair is oily then they can get a bit oily also so always handy to have more than one whilst the oily one is in the wash. I got mine from Ebay for £2.10 here. 4. A wide tooth comb! Whislt my hair has conditoner/detanger in it, I gently comb through with my wide-tooth comb. The teeth are wide enough to separate groups of curls and prepare hair for styling without aggravating any knots that can be worked through with detangling brush afterwards. 5. Plastic shower cap! As well as the obvious use...these are great for deep conditioning your hair. This keeps the moisture in and the heat build up opens the folicles on the scalp allowing the 'good stuff' from your conditioner to be absorbed. Some people like to put this on and then put the silk bonnet ontop and keep it on overnight. I tried this after saturing my hair with with coconut oil, my hair was very soft after washing out the morning after. If you're on a budget, use a plastic bag, works just as well if you're not keeping it on overnight

There you have it, i've shown you the top 5 of what's in my toolkit, so what do you keep in yours?

About Me & My 4c Hair

Written By Bold Apps - December 12 2013

Posted by Lil I have spent 25-26 years using product after product just to find that despite their labels my hair is still breaking, still coarse, still sparce around the edges, and definately doesn't look like it has grown as much as it should have done since I went natural 8 years ago. But since I have been making and using my own products I see something exciting happening

and I want to share it with you, as God knows, I am not alone in this struggle to find an effective regimen for my natural cotton-ball like hair. Exhibit A My motivation I've done the relaxer, the braids, the weave, the lace weave, the wig!...it's time to be proud of the 'Me'. After watching Chris Rock's Good Hair (2009) and Tyra's What Is Good Hair? (2009) I was inspired to embrace my roots and make the most of natural me. After doing alot of research (and still learning) I decided to put money and time aside to create my own product. This product will:

deep condition my hair (will use plastic cap and sit under heat bi-monthly)

work as a pre-poo (protect my hair's moisture from being stripped by shampoo bi-monthly)

feed my scalp and stimulate growth (nothing can grow on uncultivated soil - weekly all over and daily on my edges which have receeded due to heavy braiding and hair pulling)

moisturise (this will help beat the brittle out of my hair)

work as an effective detangler and sealant (sO necessary if i want to retain length)

leave my hair feeling and smelling yummy (making me confident and happy)
benefit most if not all hair-types when used appropriately (creating a community of happy hair huggers).

Is Protective Styling For You?

Written By Bold Apps - December 05 2013

Posted by Lil on July 27, 2012 at 3:25 PM Protective styling is something that long-haired people say has really made a significant contribution to the length of their locks. So naturally, I have been trying it. What is it? I hear you say, well I haven't quite mastered it as my hair is about 20cm high (yes high, it grows upward and outward not down) but from my reading, I gather that it has a lot (if not everything) to do with keeping your ends (the oldest parts of your hair) moisturised and out of the way. Protecting your hair doesn't make your hair grow, what it does is act as a barrier of sorts against breakage, allowing you to retain your hair length. One thing I had to come to terms with when deciding to hug my hair and really look at the best ways in which to take care of my particular hair type, was learning that my hair never stopped growing. It has been growing for the past 8 years that I have been natural, I have just not been looking after my hair appropriately, so eventually my ends dry out and break off. Several reasons I can think of why this happened to me are...

Combing my hair when it was dry
Using a comb with narrow teeth
Not protecting my hair whilst I sleep
Washing my hair in a rush
Pulling my hair too tight
Not letting my hair recover from styling
Covering my hair at home
Using petrolium based 'moisturisers'
Washing my hair too often

Another thing to mention is that protective styling isn't for everyone. The styles can be unnatractive or can even mean that even though you finally get long hair - you can't wear it down/straighten it as often as one would like to. I hear there are other ways of retaining hair length (though I have yet to see the evidence) that work and It really depends on whether or not you value your hairstyle over your desire to retain length.Some people are lucky enough to be able to strike a balance between both...but the rest of us? Not so much. I have been trialling two-strand twists for the past 8 weeks and have received the following feedback from the few (lucky) people I allow to see my hair: "your hair looks really healthy" "your hair has aquired a really nice texture" "that's the girl I remember in primary school"* *in primary school i was 'au naturel' This has been quite encouraging for me as it's allowed me to gain confidence in my natural hair. I wash my hair in it's protective style and when I condition and detangle - not HALF as much hair falls out by the end of it all. I used to think having a mini afro on my afro-pick at the end of every hair-combing session was normal. But when I decided to hug my hair it's as if all sorts of lightbulbs went off. For example - It didn't even occur to me to question why the phrase 'comb hair' in my native tongue (swahili) actually translates into "tear/wrip hair". So there you have it, Is protective styling for you? If not, then what have you trialled to retain hair length and is it working?

hugmyhair

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How porous is your hair?

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Hair Type 4

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What's in your toolkit?

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About Me & My 4c Hair

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Is Protective Styling For You?

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