Condition Your Hair Like Oprah, Part 1
Alysse Anxiously Asks:
I`ve been wondering about the Phytospecific line of products formulated for ethnic hair. I`ve heard that Oprah uses the ˜Vital Bath` Conditioning product and I was just wondering if it`s worth the money??
Also, do you have any tips for helping coarse/relaxed Black hair grow better? What products/ingredients should I look for? (I`ve Aphogee`s Treatment for Damaged Hair and I think it`s great!) But my hair still seems thin, coarse, and it`s not growing!! I`ve tried everything from Dark & Lovely to Goldwell Kerasilk to Nioxin, but I`m beginning to fear there`s nothing I can do to help my hair.
The Right Brain Replies:
Alysse, you raised some very good questions about taking care of ethnic hair. So good, in fact, that it will take us two posts to answer them all! So today, in Part 1, we`ll talk about why ethnic hair needs special attention in the first place.
Because of it`s shape, ethnic hair tends to break more easily than Caucasian or Asian hair. That`s because the cross-section of Caucasian and Asian hair tends to be fairly round. Ethnic hair, particularly African hair, has a very elipical shape, almost like a kidney bean. The less round the hair shaft is, the kinkier it will grow out. This distorted shape is caused in part by the shape of the follicle that grows the hair partly by the chemical nature of the keratin proteins that make up the hair.
So, African hair tends to be very kinky and curly and that means it`s harder to get a comb or brush through it. Every twist and turn of the hair shaft results in a dangerous hairpin turn (pun intended) where breakage can occur. It also means that to get rid of the kinks (no relation to the musical group) many people use chemical relaxers to straighten their hair. Unfortunately, this process attacks the hair`s natural protein and causes even more damage.
To reduce damage and breakage people with this hair type need a lot of conditioning. There are many products designed for ethnic hair - some are good; others are not so good. Tomorrow in Part 2, we`ll take a look at the product you asked about: Oprah`s fave, PHYTOSPECIFIC Vital Force Creme Bath, for Damaged and Brittle hair.
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Dena Says:
I found your post very informative, are you still going to publish part II?
CurlyGirly Says:
In the interest of the PC, “kinky” hair is not “distorted”. It’s “different”. Caucasian and Asian hair types are not a sort of standard for Afro hair types to be compared to as the “other”, as one may glean from the wording of the post. I’d also like to note that kinks, curls, etc. are not necessarily “harder to get a comb through”, as though it is defective in this way. ANY hair type can be difficult to comb. Afro textured hair, like my own, poses no issues for me. Others do have difficulty (as is the case in any group: it takes all types), but having Afro textured hair is not a death-sentence promising a life of “hard to get a comb through” hair. Often it’s a case of using the wrong technique, tools and products and beliefs of inherited difficulty from articles worded like this one that those with this texture must deal with daily. Also, one might assume from this article relaxing is done solely to remove “kinks” to “get a comb through” Afro textured hair. That may be for some, however by and large its a style choice. Not everyone wants to be a slave to a flat iron and the high heat required to get curlier/kinkier hair types straight to perform the styles that require it. Also, imitation of European beauty standards has been demanded of those most likely to have this texture for hundreds of years and the psychological ramifications of this often prompt many to relax. As are the economic and social promptings to relax and in effect remove an “ethnic marker” -the Afro hair type. Society rewards assimilation -this is another reason many relax…not to “get a comb through” their mane. With all that said, thank you for being a source of good information. Albeit with less than perfect delivery at times.