Staff Writer – Latoya Wakefield
Natural hairstyles such as afros, cane rows and locks have been and still are popular in Caribbean society. However, while many of us would love to rock our natural hair, there are several problems we encounter that we just have a hard time finding solutions for.
There is so much advice on how to deal with processed/permed hair that it makes it so easy to groom, care and style hair. Therefore, many people tend to go towards having their hair being permed than staying natural. Now through CaribDirect, advice will be available for your natural hair.
Natural hair remains beautiful to me, refreshing and offers versatile styles that promotes our creativity of our Caribbean people. You can have natural hair and still look great. The professionals and I will be providing articles here on CaribDirect to assist all those who need the advice on how to properly care and style your natural hair. If you have natural hair, know someone who has natural hair or planning to go natural then this article is for you.
Here are some general hair tips from this week’s professionals, Beautiful Earth Natural Hair Haven on how you should care your natural hair:
Tip 1. Frequency on washing your hair
The timing of how often the hair is washed depends on the individual and there is no ‘right’ amount of time. We generally recommend once a week except for people who are starting locs, and other special circumstances. However, some people wash their hair more regularly and others go 2 or more weeks between washes. As long as the scalp and hair are healthy we don’t tell people specifically how regularly to wash their hair.
Tip 2. Daily Treatment
The ladies at Beautiful Earth do not generally recommend that people put 
anything on their hair and scalp every day (except maybe water). When it comes to product use, less is usually best and so we recommend that people use products every 2-5 days, depending on their scalp and hair condition, the products they are using, and the outcome they are trying to achieve. In terms of regular use, however, I recommend that people use moisturizing products like our Jamaican Virgin Coconut Oil on the hair and scalp, they can also use heavier oils like our Stimulating Peppermint Oil Treatment once or twice a week to help with itching and dandruff. Heavier products like our Honey Loc & Twist Butter are recommended once a week only on the scalp or more regularly on the hair or the ends to prevent split ends.
Tip 2. Hair care at nights
How you take care of your hair at night helps to reduce breakage, retain moisture, and maintain hairstyles… Still, this is also based on preference. Some people tie their hair down and like to use satin or silk caps to keep moisture in.
It depends on the individual and how neat they like their hair, and other considerations. To reduce breakage and retain moisture, follow these three steps: apply a moisturiser, apply a sealer, and cover the hair with a scarf or bonnet.
You can moisturise and seal by spraying with water or other water-based moisturiser and then applying any oil, such as 100% Jamaican Castor Oil or Soft, Shiny Hair & Scalp Conditioner, or butter, such as Honey Loc & Twist Butter, to seal in the moisture.
Alternatively, you can mist the hair with 100% Jamaican Virgin Coconut Oil and achieve both steps in one. Depending on the style you have (afro, twist out, etc.), apply moisturiser, twist the hair into big or small twists with the sealer, and then cover.
In the morning you can undo the twists and pick your afro into place or fluff your hair with your fingers to get the style desired. If you have baby locs or you generally palm roll your locs, tying the hair at night after moisturising and sealing helps to prevent build up of lint and to keep the locs from unwinding.
Tip 4. Protecting your hair
We can protect our hair in various ways. One way is in the type of styling we choose. These are called protective styles, which are hairstyles that allow the ends of our strands to retain moisture by tucking them away.
These styles prevent the friction that gets created when your hair rubs against your shoulders or clothes that are made from materials that rob your hair of moisture and hasten the splitting or breaking of your ends. 
So any style that doesn’t involve all or most of the hair being worn loose, such as braids, twists, canerows, and buns. Another way of protecting the hair is to keep it well moisturized and well conditioned at all times.
Jamaican Virgin Coconut Oil is an example of an excellent product that can be used both to moisturize the hair and scalp and build protein in the hair.
Hair tips were provided by the professionals themselves, Beautiful Earth Natural hair Haven, located 151 Constant Spring Road, Kingston 8. Look out for our next article on ‘how to properly steam your hair’. In the meantime check out Beautiful Earth Natural Hair Haven on twitter, Facebook and they have their own website (see links below).
Tweets by BeautifulEarth1
http://www.facebook.com/beautifulearthja
http://www.beautifulearthja.com/
