Connectnigeria Articles

By Ada Arinze

As Africans, we tend to unknowingly cause damage to our hair. We do this in so many ways; through the chemical processes of relaxers, permanent hair dying, use of inappropriate combs and hair products, heating tools without heat protection, and so on. Our environment does not do much to help matters, as sometimes this damage come from external elements. There is damage from the sun, the dry wind, the chlorine when we swim. Dry weather especially dries out our hair shafts and weakens our hair. Drying out also means your scalp gets itchy and flaky, and this may result in dandruff, split ends and eventually, hair loss. Here are some ways to best the weather when it comes to your hair:

Find an effective moisturizing method: This is most important- to find a way to retain moisture in your hair. Wash your hair regularly. Hot water strips away moisture, so during washing, use the coolest water you can find. After washing your hair, it is good to add a little, say coin sized amount, of olive or coconut oil to your hair; working it around the scalp and the ends. Adding a humectant like honey and leaving it in for at least 10 minutes will help a great deal in bringing back the lustre of your hair. Also, treating your hair to a hot-oil treatment every other week won’t hurt.
Skip the Tools: To dry your hair, lay off the hair dryer and flat ironing tools this season. Remember, the weather is already dry; your hair does not need the extra heat trauma. Towel-dry your hair. Use a wide toothed comb and work your way gently inwards, from the ends to the scalp. This helps you loosen out the knots in the tangled wet hair easily, so that you do not end up tearing the hair and suffering an unnecessary loss.
Reduce exposure: Before now, you could get away with simply sleeping with your hair on a pillow and not suffer the consequences of extreme moisture loss, but now you just cannot. It does not help that the weather gets colder at night. For sleeping, ditch the hair net and get a satin hair wrap/ scarf. In addition, if you can get silk/satin pillow cases, do so. The smoothness of these materials will reduce chaffing, which occurs when you continuously rub your hair on a not-so-smooth cotton pillowcase, and the close-knit texture helps in preventing moisture loss too.
Get regular haircuts: Trim your split-ends every 6-8 weeks to keep your hair looking shiny and beautiful. Split ends occur when the hair splits longitudinally down the strands, and are caused by hair stress or excessive drying. The only way to get rid of them is to trim them off. Don’t worry; this only helps your hair to grow back healthily again.

Even with these tips, it is not advisable to leave your natural hair on during harsh weather. Wearing a weave or braiding your hair this season would be the best way to put your hair out of harm’s way. Don’t forget to use a hair friendly relaxer when it’s time to let out those locks again.

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This article was first published on 15th January 2013

jehonwa

Joy Ehonwa is an editor and a writer who is passionate about relationships and personal development. She runs Pinpoint Creatives, a proofreading, editing, transcription and ghostwriting service. Email: pinpointcreatives [at] yahoo.com