The worst night mare for any naturalista is putting a wide tooth comb through your hair and seeing large chunks of it come off with the comb. Trust me, it could cause hot tears and a roller coaster of emotions!
You start to think, “are my village people following me?” lol! Just kidding.
Really though, you start to wonder what you are doing wrong. I am sure it is glaring that with hair breakage, length retention becomes a far fetched dream.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to identify the possible causes of hair breakage to help curb them as fast as possible. Else your case becomes similar to someone who keeps filling a basket, we all know that is nothing short of fruitless!
What are the risk factors/ recipes for hair breakage?
Asides genetics (family history of baldness) and certain medical conditions such as Diabetes or lupus, several other avoidable risk factors for hair breakage have been brought to light.
Illd be sharing 10 of them with you in this post, so seat tight Queens.
1. Inappropriate hair styling tools
This is a very important and avoidable cause of hair breakage! Baby girl, it is my duty to ensure that you know the best tools for styling your 4c hair. You know those closely packed bristle tail combs? Yes those ones! you need to delete them from your hair tool box.
I would continue to sing it, those combs are super damaging to your thick, and luscious 4c curls. What you need girl, is a wide tooth comb and an Afro pick to fluff your hair when you need to flaunt your Afro. You could also get a scalp massager and a soft edge brush to brush your edges in place with any healthy gel of your choice.
Please discard those tail combs and hard weave brushes already! Your hair would thank you!
2. Bad hair practices📣
Let’s make this louder guys! As a natural babe, it would be super disheartening to hear that you still don’t have a regular hair routine. Did you even read my post on “TSJ’s hair care routine” if you didn’t please find the link attached below and educate yourself.
Even if it is a lazy natural girl routine, you need to give your crown considerable TLC from time to time to see it thrive and inadvertently free from alarming breakage. Consistency is key!
3. Combing dry hair
This one is one of the biggest blunders ever! Like how dare you😅
It’s either you are an ignorant naturalist or you just really enjoy pain.
Ok, don’t mind me this is a zero judgment platform, but please girl your 4c hair should always be combed in a damp state, never dry. Combing your hair when dry asides giving you a terrible headache, would yank your hair strands off faster than a jet and in turn open the floor for massive breakage.
Next time you want to comb your gorgeous curls with a wide tooth comb, spritz some water on it and if possible add some conditioner to soften it as well.
4. You hardly deep conditioning
The question is why girl? Deep conditioning makes all the difference with your coils. With the right deep conditioners, you get to nourish your hair strands big time, strengthen them and make them resistant to breakage. My current fav is the Tasala restore conditioner. This is not to hype or anything but no matter how bad my hair shedding is, once I bless my strands with this particular conditioner, and rinse out, it’s over! Guys I mean literally no shedding thereafter.
5. Heat!
Even during my relaxed days, I have always had the “frenimie” relationship with heat. Don’t get me wrong please, heat is not all bad and can be used to achieve certain results. For example, when applying deep conditioners to a freshly shampooed hair, adding low heat with a plastic cap (a.k.a steaming) could help to infuse the conditioners into the system faster. However frying your delicate hair strands with heat, in the name of blow drying or occasional silk press is what I am never down for please. Even if you must use heat please do your hair some good and apply a good heat protectant first! This would go a long way in helping to reduce hair breakage.
6. Sleeping without a hair bonnet/ silk pillow case
If you belong to this group chat, I am greeting you well done ma! You just can’t be exposing your hair to maximum friction every night and expect your hair to thrive. You better repent so your hair can thank you.
7 Hair combing techniques
Let me ask you a vital question
Do you comb your hair as though you are at war with it? If your answer is yes, why??
Please o, as I already mentioned your hair needs to be well moisturized with a good leave in conditioner or spritz of water before delving in with a comb. Always make sure it is a wide tooth comb this is the best comb type for your natural curls.
Even with a well moisturized hair you still need to be gentle with the combing. Remember to start from the tips and work your way gently to the roots. These precautions would prevent unnecessary yanking off of the hair strands and inadvertent hair breakage.
8. You haven’t gotten rid of your Split ends🤦🏾♀️
Split ends are our number one enemy, you dare not entertain them or get too friendly with them. Did you read my post on “The dreaded trims?” If you didn’t please rush to the post now it would help you understand why split ends are terrible and the importance of a scheduled hair trim.
9, Your protective styles aren’t really protective.
The concept of protective styling has been over used and in many cases, misunderstood!
A protective style is simply any hair style that helps to tuck your natural hair in for a little while to avoid excessive manipulation and exposure to harsh environmental conditions.
While many people jump at a couple of styles they claim are protective, two questions come to mind
- Does this so called protective style still give you access to your scalp?
- Is there any form of tension to your scalp from the “protective styles”
If your protective style isn’t ticking these two boxes then you have got it terribly wrong. That style you think is protective Sis is more of a damaging hair style.
10. Over manipulation
I was once guilty of this, I was found of touching and man handling my hair till I learnt the hard way. Sister let the hair rest a little and avoid over combing and excessive manipulation. Tuck it well into a good protective style every once in a while.
So which of these blunders are you guilty of? You could share with me in the comment section and let’s laugh the blunder into oblivion. Till my next hair post loves, stay beautiful ❤️
