Let's Talk Hair - My tips for fixing damaged relaxed hair

Healthy Hair amongst Black Women

Published by The Duchesne

"I like your hair.  Is it Yaki or Remi?  Where did you buy it?"  - when I respond it is my hair I get,    "Chile please, that's some tracks and a weave!"    and without permission, people rummaging their fingers all through my hair doing what is known in hair terms as 'the scalp check'.      Then comes; “you must be mixed with something."

A lot of Black women can relate to the above. And truthfully, I used to be one of those people rummaging my fingers through Black women's hair if it was below shoulder length or assuming they were mixed. I am not mixed for the record. Have a look at these photos of me and hazard a guess which photo has tracks or weaves.

Tracks, weave, all mine?

Tracks, weave, all mine?

All mine or added a lil something?

No lil something has been added to any of the pics and just 12 months ago my hair was a different story.

12 months earlier

I managed to turn my hair around because of several bad relaxer treatments at hair salons which prompted me to go online and research Black hair. Contrary to what we have been brought up to believe, Black hair does grow and will grow to any length if properly cared for.


Black Women everywhere now are learning to take care of their hair and have stopped believing the nonsense that Black Hair can't grow past shoulder length unless you're mixed. Remember I was in the same category just a year ago believing this same nonsense.

To feed the multi-million dollar industry which is Black Hair Care Products, we have been conned sisters and brothers, Bamboozled.
There is no mass marketing on learning about Black Hair Care. We are instead targeted with all the products in the world that claim to be good for our hair when in truth they are not.


Thankfully, things are looking up for us due to the wonders of the world wide web as countless hair boards, blogs, sites and you tube videos are now easily accessible with very valuable and reliable information on Black Hair Care. It is from these same sources I acquired all the information that propelled me to take the steps necessary to have and maintain healthy hair whether relaxed or non-relaxed (natural).


So if you're a Black woman struggling to maintain healthy hair, run don't walk, run to google and you tube and you'll be amazed. I promise the way you look at Black Women and Hair will never be the same.

Caring for relaxed hair: My tips

1. Give your hair a rest - Low maintenance is paramount for our kind of hair because our hair is brittle. This can be achieved through wearing wigs, weaves, head scarves, buns, braids (not tight) etc.
2. Deep condition- Important for all hair types. This can range from protein deep conditioning to moisture deep conditioning.
3. Stretching relaxers - This means lengthening the amount of time you get a relaxer treatment. I didn't relax for my hair for 10 months and when I did relax I did it myself! That brings me to the next tip.
4. Self relax - No one will care for your hair the way you care for it and a lot of stylists that we trust our hair to, do not understand how to care for our hair. Let me not begin to tell you the amount of bad experiences I have had. You can google youtube links for self relaxing.
5. Educate yourself about our hair - Black people's hair is the driest of all hair types hence very susceptible to breakage. It needs a good protein and moisture balance. Youtube is a great source for information specific to caring for black hair. 
6. Don't rely on products - Products will NOT grow your hair regardless of what anyone tells you. What products will do is help prevent breakage and so on. 

        Additonal info.

• The tips on the list are not exhaustive
• Pic 1 & 2 taken June 2010
• Pic 3 taken September 2010
• Pic 4 taken September 2009

If you have any questions or would like an opinion on anything hair related, please use the comment section or Contact page.




Photography, The Duchesne