NAT 202 (a)

Hi Ladies, hope the week's coming good. How's the weather? :)

Speak of the weather, to begin this article I'll highlight the most important point to note for hair this season of harmattan before delving into our major discussion.

MY MANES AND THE WEATHER: 
HONEY and/or GLYCERIN is a 'NO-NO this season. Please do not include them in any of your treatments
REASONS
Honey and Glycerin are humectants. Humectants absorb moisture from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Normally during the wet season, humectants absorb moisture from the atmosphere to our hair as the moisture content of the atmosphere in this period is high but during the dry season, the reverse is the case. So, do scrap out these 2 ingredients from all treatments this period.

Now to the topic at hand. Still on the hair regimen and things to consider when creating a hair regimen;

HAIR ELASTICITY
This is the ability of the hair to return to its original length after being stretched without breaking.
Hair Elasticity can high or low.

HIGH ELASTICITY HAIR
Manes with this elasticity type are safe. This hair stretches more than 50% of its original length especially when wet and returns to its normal state without breaking.
Basically, the low elasticity hair requires more attention.

LOW ELASTICITY HAIR
Hair with low elasticity breaks when stretched or just remains in a stretched out shape without returning to its original form.
 
SIGNS OF LOW ELASTICITY.
 
1)Hair feels spongy when wet
 
2)Hair is limp and shapeless
 
3)Increased frizz
 
4)Hair has trouble holding styles or curls
 
CAUSES OF LOW ELASTICITY.
1.The of use and excessive amount of force when combing or styling your hair, you can exceed the yield strength of your strands so they no longer bounce back. Think of this like stretching an elastic band so hard or so often that it no longer returns to it’s original size and ends up shapeless and limp.
 
2. Rough handling the hair when wet is not advised. Its important to note that hair stretches much more when wet. This makes it especially easy to exceed the stretching ability of hair and permanently reduce elasticity of wet hair. Always be extra gentle on fragile, wet hair.
 
3. Moisture-deprivation; Without getting too technical, hydrogen bonds play a big part in keeping your hair elastic. If there isn’t enough moisture in the hair shaft, hydrogen bonding will be decreased meaning lower elasticity. So you want to keep your hair moisturised.
 
4. Protein-deficiency; Preserving the protein structure of the hair is also important to keeping the hair elastic. So keeping the correct balance between protein and moisture is key
 
5. Over-processing like excess heat, colouring, highlights, relaxers, perms and other chemical treatments can all lead to low elasticity. These are pretty much to blame for a great deal of hair troubles.
 
HOW TO IMPROVE HAIR ELASTICITY
 
1.Deep conditioning. For best deep conditioning, allow conditioner to sit for 45mins
 
2.Moisturising and Sealing with oil: If your hair is feeling stiff, brittle, or snaps easily when pulled, try increasing your use of moisturising products
 
 
3.The use of protein treatments: If your hair is overly mushy, soft, and stretchy, try adding protein-heavy products to your routine
 
 
4.Pre-shampoo treatment with coconut oil can help prevent hygral fatigue, which is damage caused by the shrinking and swelling of the hair as it goes from being wet to dry
 
 
6.The best, and simplest, advice is to be gentle with your strands. Especially when they're wet
 
HOW TO TEST YOUR HAIR ELASTICITY
Here is a simple way of testing your hair elasticity
 
1.Take a single strand of hair and hold the ends between the finger and thumb of each hand.
 
2.Slowly stretch the strand of hair
 
3.The further your hair strands can stretch without breaking, the more or high in elastic they are. If your hair has low elasticity, it will break easily and quickly when stretching.

*excerpts from Natural Hair Babes; facebook

Until next week, do have a lovely hair week


El Poiz©