BREAKAGE

One of the main reasons why we cannot grow our hair to the lengths we desire is the dreaded "B" word *cues horror film music*


I'm talking about BREAKAGE. As black women, we naturally have coarse hair that tends to dry out very quickly, resulting in hair that breaks easily. We also tend to use combs almost, if not daily, which can also lead to hair breakage. Next time you comb your hair, pay attention to the process. I bet it will probably go something like this: you moisturise your hair (without parting it in sections), take your comb (most of us use  close teeth combs) and start combing through your hair. Now if your hair is even slightly fra, you may hear it actually being pulled out of your scalp (while you make the funny faces that go with the pain). Then once we have achieved our desired style, we.....*horror film music again*.... look at our comb and remove the mass of hair on it, casually throw that away, wash our comb and hands, then walk away happily.


What we don't realise is that the mass of hair that we casually throw away is the difference between our current length and our desired length. There are two mistakes that we make while combing our hair:


1) not moisturising properly
2) using close toothed combs


The best way to moisturise hair is to do it in sections. Divide your hair into 4 sections and start moisturising from the ends up to the roots. Remember that your ends are the oldest part of your hair, therefore, they are the most fragile part. If you have some growth, remember that the part of the hair where the relaxed hair meets the growth is also most prone to breakage as its where two different hair textures meet.


Now that the moisturising is covered, lets talk about combing. Its best to either use a wide toothed comb or finger comb through your hair. You may also then use a soft brush (I prefer baby brushes) after combing to flatten the hair more if desired. Be careful not to comb your hair in all sorts of directions as too much manipulation could cause the hair to break.


The wide tooth comb - I prefer to use this one

The close tooth comb - I try to stay away from these

In addition to these, remember to also add protein to your hair care regiment. Protein aids in keeping our hair strong. The key is to maintain a balance between moisture and protein as too much protein can also cause breakage.