Keeping your hair healthy when visiting Dominican Salons

I can not tell you how elated I was when I first heard talk of Dominican salons. These salons were described as a wonderful place for those of us who were disheartened by the not-so-positive experiences of many traditional African American salons. Not only were these salons less expensive and delivered faster service, the stylists also seemed to possess
magical powers that could transform our dull lifeless hair to silky strands unlike anything we have ever known before.

Then reality set in. We soon learned that too many visits to these salons could eventually led to thin, lifeless, and even damaged hair. I have personally experienced damaged hair from doing the Dominican salons the "wrong" way. I also have met some wonderful people who understand the Dominican salon experience and how to do it the "right" way.

I want to share with you the best practices of three ladies I came across at my favorite salon. These ladies served as examples of how to frequent Dominican salons the right way. Lets talk about them and what they did to protect their hair along the way.

**The experiences I am about to share with you are real, names have been changed to protect the innocent.**

Example #1: Nikki
Nikki was already about to receive her blowout when I walked into the salon. She sat in her seat with her rollers neatly in place. The stylist removed the magnetic rollers one by one and began to blow out Nikki's hair. Nikki had extremely thick hair that reached her shoulders. The length and "eveness" of her hair led me to believe that she sported a cute bob not so long ago. I sat amazed at how thick and healthy her hair looked. No thin ends for her.

At the foot of Nikki's styling chair sat a large bag. Bringing a bag to the salon was not unusual. My bag was the place for my books, water, snacks and whatnot. Nikki's bag, on the other hand, had within it her hair product stash. The stash consisted all of the products that worked well with her hair. Nikki even brought her own relaxer with her. Nikki knew what worked well for her hair and made sure that her hair was receiving the same benefits whether she was doing her own hair at home or at the salon.


That, my friend, is the first lesson of doing Dominican Salons the right way. Bring your most effective products with you.


Example #2 Dominique
Dominique was next to me as we sat under our hooded dryers.
I immediately was intrigued by her large jar of garlic conditioner. I opened our conversation by asking her if the product was worth the price. One thing led to another and she began to detail her weekly routine of coming to the salon for a wash,set, and wrap.

No blow out for her, Dominique came in only to receive weekly deep conditioning treatments from her favorite stylist. Week after week of maintaining this ritual allowed Dominique's relaxed hair to regain its strength and length.

The lesson I learned from Dominique was to look at the salon in a new light. The Dominican salon was not just the place to go for blow outs, you can also go visit your local Dominican salon for deep treatments to help bring your damaged hair back to life. When doing so, you should avoid the blow dryer and opt for wraps instead.

Example #3: Anya

Anya walked into the salon and had every one's attention immediately. She had the most beautiful mid-back, thick hair that I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. After seeing her on several other occasions, I just had to ask her how she could come week after week and still maintain the health of her hair. Anya told me that she was unable to do her hair herself and came to the salon every wash day. I became even more intrigued and asked she give up her secrets.

Here they are:
1. Anya only allowed certain individuals to wash her her hair. With her hair being so long, she knew of the likelihood of experiencing tangles. Tangles are the one of the worse culprits of damaged hair at Dominican salons. Most of the stylists run a comb small tooth comb through your hair with little concern about how much hair is lost in the process. She would literally make requests for certain individuals not to wash her hair. She knew who could handle her hair the right way and she made sure that only those individuals could touch her beautiful hair.

2. Anya made special requests to have her only her roots blown out. She admitted to me that her hair would not turn out as straight as others in the salon but she preferred having more body to straight lifeless hair. Anya also required her stylist roll her hair in a different direction than others in the salon. Client after client would have her hair rolled "under." Anya's hair, on the other hand, was rolled in the opposite direction so that her final blow out would result in full fabulous hair.

I remember one visit when Anya and I were finished with our style at around the same (I actually stayed and waited for her to get done so I could see the finished product). Anya's hair was full, healthy looking, and fabulous(think Kimora Lee's hair when its done up). My hair was super straight and limp. I envied Anya and her luscious hair. What's more amazing is that Anya have type 4 hair just like I did. The difference between our visit is that she took the initiative to modify her Dominican salon experience to fit her hair's needs.

The lesson that I learned from Anya is not to just sit in the chair like I am just another client. I need to make special requests (if necessary) to obtain the results I want without sacraficing the health of my hair.

Are Dominican salons the answer to our prayer for silky beautiful hair? Perhaps. But we must make certain to learn from those who have cracked the Dominican salon code. Those lucky few can endure the harsh styling methods and still maintain healthy hair.


Oh, before I go, I want to include some of my tips of how to help protect my hair when I go to the salon.

Tip #1: Pre-poo. We always make sure to pre-poo when we are at home doing our own hair but do we take the same precautions when we get our hair done? Before every appointment, I make sure to saturate my hair with as much conditioner and oil as I can.

Tip #2: Detangle before you go. I have suffered greatly from not taking the time to prepare for my salon visit. When I take the time to comb out the hair that shed the previous week, the person roller setting my hair does not have to battle with a bunch of tangles.

What tips do you have that help protect your hair from damaging blow outs?

My coconut milk alterantive for stronger hair

This week while browsing through some of my favorite hair blogs, I found yet another recommendation for including coconut milk into my hair routine. The milk would serve as a nice source of protein for my pampered tresses. I love coconut oil for numerous reasons so I immediately knew that adding this step would be a good move.

Much to my dismay, some of the various websites who covered the subject detailed the drippy, potentially messy, experience of having milk run down your back. Not only was I turned off by that visual, I was also weary of having to throw half a can of coco-milk away because of not having used all of it in one sitting.

A few days later, while gingerly strolling down the aisles of my local Asian supermarket, I stumbled upon the answer to my dilemma. There before me was a tuna sized can of coconut milk powder.

A myriad of thoughts began to run through my mind.

"Coconut powder will probably last forever."
"In powder form it'll be easy for me to use as little or as much as I need without having to throw the rest away."
"I can use the powder in my green smoothies."
"I'll mix this powder with my moisturizing conditioners to add a kick of protein."



Before long the can of coco-powder had found itself a new home. Last night I cracked it open the can and gazed upon the fine white powder. Everything in me wanted to taste it soooo badly. Without the help of a spoon, I immediately stuck my tongue into it and scooped as much as my tongue would allow. The powder immediately melted down my throat leaving a slight hint of coconut flavoring. After the episode repeated itself a few times, I decided it was now time to actually use it. I separated the powder in two zip lock bags, one to be used for hair purposes and one for consuming.

The powder is so fine that I had absolutely no problems mixing it in with my conditioner. I experienced wonderful results and would highly recommend that you try powdered coconut milk as an alternative to the runny sticky milk. You also have the option of adding water to you powder and creating your own coconut milk if you chose to do so.

(Maybe next time I will mix with coconut oil and create some sort of coconut-milk-oil-concoction )


Coconut Milk Powder-Try it, you might like it!

The Top Ten Ways to Know if You Are Spending Too Much Money on Hair Products

I'm feeling a bit lighthearted today so I decided to list my top ten ways to know if you are spending too much on hair products.

Here we go.....

#10. Every time you go to the grocery store, your first and last stop is the hair product aisle.

#9. You researched all the non-traditional holidays to see if there are any more that involve buying of gifts. If necessary, you will convert and participate in whatever rituals just to have another opportunity of receiving new hair products as gifts.

#8. You have all of the email addresses of major hair product manufacturers in your contact list.

#7. When you receive a credit card offer for 0% intrest on purchases, your very first thought about is about placing your hair product wish list order.

#6. The guy who owns the beauty supply store knows you by first and last name.

The number five way to know that you are spending too much money on hair products...

#5. Your carpel tunnel starts acting up again when you post your long list of hits and misses on LHCF for the last month.

#4. You start to exhibit crack head like behaviors when purchasing new products.
First you ask the girl in the counter "you got dat new.... Then you proceed to clasp the product with both hands before sniffing it for potency. You quickly put the money on the counter and run out of the store without a bag or the receipt.

#3. You are now to the point where you have to hide your hair product purchases because at first everyone thought you were doing good things to your hair, but now everyone thinks you're crazy.

#2. Every time someone on the forum lists the new product you get all excited only to find out that you have it already.

The number one way to know that you are spending too much money on hair products.


#1. You spent all of your grocery money on hair products so you reason with yourself that you and your family can consume some of them because they contain natural ingredients.

While strolling down the streets of youtube USA, I stumbled upon this video of a very lucky gal with a gorgeous head of hair. She was generous to share some of her healthy hair habits with us. There are actually two videos because she takes her time to explain of all the details of how she maintains the health of her hair.
Enjoy!




Andrea is another youtuber who shares with us her hair tips. She experienced an inch of growth in a month. Here she details what has helped her along the way (you'll get used to looking at the sideways angle once you watch the first couple of clips). She has a couple of other vids (part 3 and part 4) but she rambles a bit so I left them out.

Your hair routine. How to make it work for you.

In the early days of my hair journey, I would lovingly gaze upon the hair of some lucky person who had fabulous tresses. The first thing I would think to myself was, "I wonder what her routine is." Once I found out the magical secrets, either by asking the person, or by researching online, I would be somewhat disappointed.
The routine of this person would not reveal any hair growing secrets that I was so desperately longing to hear. Worse yet, her routine would consist of similar steps that what I was doing week after week.

That's when I decided to fine tune my routine instead of constantly seeking salvation in another person's way of styling. Don't get me wrong, I definitely picked up some great ideas along the way. But overall, I can confidently say that I know what she did to achieve such great lengths. She was consistently using a solid routine that she worked long and hard to perfect.

So for those of you who are still experimenting with your routine to see what works best. Here are some ideas on how to make your routine the one that others will want to know about.

Start with an objective
The simple premise of creating a hair routine is to develop a series of steps, you can replicate, that will result in similar (fabulous) results time after time. There should be no guess work in how your hair will turn out. In fact, you should have a visual picture in your mind of how you want the end product to look even before you start your routine. Take a few minutes to visualize your hair if it turned out absolutely perfect. The more clearly you see the picture, the better.
In fact I would even take it a step further and develop an idea of what you want your hair to look like at every step of the process.

Scrutinize every step
Your wash routine should consist of multiple steps. Whenever anyone works on a complex task, there is bound to be room for error. Washing and styling our hair is no different. You should think if the process as one that is of high importance and must be done to precise standards. If anything goes "wrong" along the way, you're stuck with hair that must be bunned to avoid the shame of your shabby styling skills (believe me, I've been there). Noting can be worse than having to walk around with hair that does not meet expectations.

So when I scrutinize each step, it looks something like this:
Prepoo
Objective-"I need to make sure to saturate all sections of my hair with the oil/conditioner before I wash.
End result-"My hair will be evenly be covered with the product. I will also make sure to saturate the ends."
Make certain-"That I don't get lazy and just put the product on the top of my hair and not take the time out to section and saturate each one of the sections completely, including the ends."

Shampoo
Objective-"To cleanse any product, dirt, and buildup from my hair. I also want to treat my dandruff. I may also want to use the opportunity to massage my scalp."
End result-"My hair will be clean and my scalp will be treated. The hair will be ready to receive deep conditioning."
**You then ask yourself which product(s) work best to create this result.**
Make certain-"That I don't tangle my hair in the process. If I do, I will create havoc for myself later on when I try to style."

Condition
Objective-"To provide much needed moisture and strength to my hair for maximum health."
**Again, you want to scrutinize all of your many conditioning products to see which one(s) will create the result you want.**
End result-"My hair will detangle easily. I will also increase the moisture levels of my hair along with adding a light or heavy protein depending on the needs of my hair.
Make certain-"To assess the needs of my hair before I condition. Do I need more strength or moisture?" "If I provide more moisture when it needs more protein, I will still be fighting unnecessary breakage and my objective will not be reached."

Styling
Objective-"To produce healthy shiny looking hair. I also want to wear my hair straight this week so I need a styling method that will allow me to easily achieve that style."
End result-My hair will reflect shine naturally. It also will feel soft and healthy to the touch. I should be experiencing less breakage."
Make certain-"That I take my time when rollersetting. Any wrong moves and my entire rollersetting experience is down the toilet. I need to make certain I dry my hair completely under the dryer and each individual section is properly rolled in a way that will result in a smooth curl (you can even take it a step further and breakdown the rollersetting process step by step).

Notice that I tried to keep the format as generic as possible. The reason for this is because ultimately you have to fine tune your routine to what works best for you. Think about what you want for your hair. Then dissect each step until you achieve it one step at a time. When you break your routine apart into sections, there is also a better likelihood that you can isolate areas of weakness much more efficiently.

For example, lets say you know that you have a hard time with styling your hair. You can break down each incremental step of the process until you isolate the step that is not working for you. Once you find that step, modify it over and over again until you have what you want. The goal is to create a fool proof system that will work for you time and time again to produce magnificent results.

Even if you did implement my weekly routine step by step it probably won't "work" the same way. Your hair is different. It reacts differently. Your job is to develop your personal routine by taking a more systematic approach to entire process. Once you have the system down pact, you won't have to worry about how your hair will turn out for a special event. Your results will be consistent and your hair will flourish. Best of all, wash days will become less of a hassle.

Great luck.

-Here's to the health of your hair.

Summer's coming! Maximize your hair's growth with these tips.

A study published in 1991 article of the British Journal of Dermatology revealed that hair tends to grow faster in the summer months than in winter. Summer is also a time when alot of us are no longer experiencing the massive shedding cycle that normally occurs around the end of the year. Those two factors combined can mean only one thing-lengthier locs!

Now is the time to plan ahead and create action plans to capitalize on this extra growth to reach our hair goals that much faster.If you are consistently taking action to benefit your hair this summer, your reward will certainly be great.

Just in case you forgot, here are some of the healthy hair fundamentals that need to happen this summer:

*Nutrition-My last post discussed the benefits of adding green foods to your diet. Since then I bought this nifty single serve smoothie maker at Walmart.

This thing is marvelous! I love the fact that the "blender" part doubles as a cup that I can take with me on the go if I so choose. Best of all, the cost was around $15.00. I'm giving everyone I know one of these for Christmas.
For those of you who don't really like taking all of those nutritional supplements, or you tend to forget to take them, a smoothie maker may be just the solution for you. You could add all sorts of hair food to your drink. I have bottle of a liquid multivitamin purchased from Vitamin Shoppe that is just begging to take part in my smoothie concoctions.

*Cleansing/Conditioning-The hot stickiness of the summer is likely going to result in more frequent washings. More washings is a good thing. That means more chances to add conditioning moisture to your hair and more scalp stimulation during the wash. Your hair definitely thrive if you wash more frequently. Even if it's just a day or two sooner than you normally do. Just be careful not to take wash days lightly just because they are occurring more frequently. You still want to take extreme care to be as gentle as you would if you had one wash day a month.

You also want to make sure that your hair is properly conditioned so that it can retain all of the wonderful growth that you will experience this summer. Because of how hot it gets down here in Florida, I had to make some changes to how I deep condition. No longer will I sit under a hot dryer and sweat my way to beautiful hair. I have since implemented this fabulous little hair towel in my routine to help me in my deep conditioning needs. The one I actually have is a generic version that I bought from a $1.00 store. After washing I wet it with very hot water and secure the towel on my head. I then place a plastic cap over the towel to trap the heat and viola! Deep conditioning w/heat without having to sit in one place.

*Trimming-If your hair is getting to that point where it would definitely benefit from a trim, now is the time act. Don't think about losing the 1/4" inch of damaged hair that has no business still being on your head. Think about the new healthier appearance your hair will have once you finally get the nerve to trim those ends.
I can honestly say that every time I've received a trim, my hair benefits. Any length gained after trimming is extremely obvious because of the massive reduction in breakage. If you do what needs to be done now, you will forget all about it four months from now when you are gliding your fingers through your luscious lengths.

Protecting-I like wearing my hair out for all the world to see but I realize that summer time may not be the best time to do that. First of all its hot! So that means that I probably won't even want to wear my hair down if even if I could. Secondly, it's sticky. So wearing my hair down will likely mean that my ends to succumb to unnecessary moisture from touching my wet back (sorry for the visual). Wet ends that are allowed to air dry can be very dangerous. Avoid the probability of happening at all costs by wearing your hair in the most appropriate protective style for that occasion.

I can't wait until the early fall months when I am assessing the amount of growth I was able to retain from the summer rush. Lord willing I will millimeters away from mid-back by then and all of my wildest dreams will come true. Start thinking about your game plan for maximizing the health of your hair this summer. Don't allow summer to pass without you reaching another hair milestone.

-Here's to the health of your hair.

Going Green.....for the health of your hair

There's lots of talk nowadays about going green. Well I'm here to talk about how we could be friendly to our hair by going green. Specifically, green superfoods and how they can take our health, and our hair to the next level.

I ceased from eating red meat and chicken about a year and a half ago. As I started researching the nutritional impacts to my decision, I stumbled upon a wonderful world of green supplements that I had never before heard of. These superfoods came in the form of blue-green algae. The more I researched the health benefits the more excited I got about the overall possible improvement to my hair. I even found this fantastic video on youtube that went into detail about the nourishing qualities of the green foods.

This food product has been called the world's healthiest food. I was attracted by the fact that spirulina, pound for pound, contains more protein that meat. It even contains high amount of valuable B vitamins one does not normally find in plant foods.

Lets talk about some of the benefits:
*Spirulina contains 10 times the concentration of beta carotene of carrots.
*Spirulina is the highest protein food without the negative effects of cholesterol.
*Spirulina contains essential fatty acids and amino acids.
*Spirulina contains phytonutrients for optimal health.


Spirulina's close relative is chlorella. Chlorella contains all of the wonderful nutritional properties of spirulina along with an added property that helps to detoxify the body. I can usually find Spirulina in powder form but for some reason, I usually tend to find Chlorella in tablets. I keep both the spirulina powder and chlorella tablets around. The powder for when I have time to make delicious smoothies in the morning. The pills for when I have to rush out the door.

Sometime last year I was able to cultivate the habit of drinking a green smoothie every morning. The smoothie was a combination of:

1 Banana
2 Vanilla Soy Milk
3 Spirulina
4 Powdered fiber

It was a fairly simple and truly delicious drink. The spirulina will make everything turn green but don't be fooled, you will not likely taste it. The only time I can remember actually tasting the stuff was when I got adventurous and mixed the powder with plain water. That was before I knew how easily I could mask the taste with just a banana and some soy milk.

At one point in time I was faithfully making my morning smoothie daily. My wavy new growth was proof that my hair follicles were being nourished by the superfood. The new hair was unlike anything that every grew out of my head before. It made stretching a snap. I fell off the daily smoothie bandwagon when my mixer malfunctioned. But I know that now is the time to get back to my routine! Since going without a blender for so long I have found alternative ways to enjoy my spirulina powder.
*I mix with my Yoplait yogurt
*I add to my Bolthouse farm juices.

Next I will try mixing into plain fruit juices to see how it goes. These alternative ways of consuming will keep me from making excuses when I don't feel like peeling a banana. I can no longer make excuses for not consuming this incredible product every single day.

So join me, won't you, in helping to make our world a better place. A better place by going green and creating a head of healthy hair. The planet will thank you.