Black Hair Care and How To Work It, Naturally

When it comes to natural black hair care, for the most part there is no "don't" in what to do with it. Whether it's waist long, you've got color added, pink spikes, purple highlights or a bad ass buzz cut, it's all good. So when you're looking at your hair and you're having to contend with heat that will possibly dry it out, you're having to look at what type of styles you can wear to sort of keep cool. Why? Because the more hair you have, the more heat it's going to produce throughout your body.

One of the keys to natural hair care in summer heat is to make sure your have a good hair care regimen. Shampoo/conditioners, hair butters and serums are great products for nourishing and replenishing your hair during the heated days of summer.

If you can pull it back, put it in a little bun, french braids or bantu knots, it'll allow air and sun to get to your scalp and keep you cooler. So whether it's natural or relaxed, you'll want to add or have moisture. So when it's relaxed, adding moisture can be something as simple as in the evening applying a leave in conditioner as you comb your hair back and have it against your scalp. A conditioner is going to add a coolness that gives you a wet look, depending on if this is a style you like.

However, it is something that's somewhat of a trend and it's a cooler type of style, especially if you have short hair and even with longer hair, if it's relaxed you can do that leave in conditioner type of application and put it back in a pony tail. If your hair is natural, then misting it with water or oil or both, you can even add a couple drops of essential oil to that blend and mist your hair so that it can have moisture added. You’ll want to mist from your roots all the way out to your tips.

A Little Color Never Hurts!

Changing the color of your hair especially for summer, is something a lot of people choose to do to enhance their style. What the sun doesn't do for you, a lot of you have chosen to do for yourself. If you notice, because we spend more time out in the sun, the sun has a tendency to lighten up your hair color. So if you are jet black, what I've noticed is lightening may not occur, but it can actually enhance the depth and darkness of the color of your hair. It just looks real wonderful to see a nice head of hair and if it's more on the brown side in terms of hair color, the sun can actually lighten it up a shade to a lighter brown or red. And, if you've got that brownish red tinge of hair color, you'll definitely see a change in the color scheme of your hair.

It also allows you to experiment with different styles. For some reason when you change your hair color, it also gives you the courage to change your hair style. So for some of you who may have worn your hair longer in the winter, you might want to do a shorter cut for summer, hence you've got a new cut, style, and you've got color.

Then you've got those of you who want to add highlights or stripes. Everything applies at this point. I've seen purple, green and it doesn't matter whether it's natural or relaxed, it's fun. And when you choose to consider what you do with your hair as fun and just living and enjoying your new found experience, it makes it that much more fun.

So when you experiment with your color, please remember that dyes can also dry and break your hair, so you want to look at something with premium or natural protection like henna. For color choices henna is more natural for coloring and won't bring as much damage to your hair especially the tips.

Hair is an individual thing, and for black women in particular, it's really an expression of who we are, who we choose to be in any given day. You can see one person 3 times a week and if that person is confident in who they are and really wants to express their different sides, you may not recognize them because of the various changes in hairstyles that they've found comfort in being able to experience as they express themselves.

Hair Accessories

Don't forget about hair accessories. They will help a lot in changing what you do to your hair. Flowers, sticks, bows, the hair itself can become an accessory as you braid, twists and overlap in terms of different styling concepts. So it's summer time, it's hot and you no longer have to control your frizz. You can enjoy your frizz and see what tomorrow brings as far as your individual expression of hair.

That’s it for this week! As always …

Dedicated To Your Beauty

Juliette Samuel

Esthetician/Author/Publisher

Nyraju Skin Care