Braiding is a great way to allow your hair some rest from combing, brushing and styling.  Except when done too tight (which should never happen) they actually grow your hair and allow some restoration from years of chemical perms, glues, grease and harsh styling products. Braids allow your scalp to breathe.  Even if extra hair is added to yours during the braiding process, the parts made on your scalp allow air to reach in and heat out; thereby keeping you cool during hot summer months. Also, you do not have to worry about getting your hair messed up by the rain, humidity nor high winds.  You can exercise and keep fit without worry! Braids are just as easy to maintain as they are to wear. Your braided hairstyle should be washed weekly or at least bi-weekly. Any shampoo can be used, dilute it to prevent it from sticking on your braids. For conditioning I recommend a  liquid leave-in conditioner because a regular conditioner might stick to the braids and leave build-up. Never wear your braids dirty and never wear a style you feel you cannot wash. You may not be able to see up in your scalp but infections can occur from keeping your scalp dirty. No style is worth getting if it cannot be washed.  Cleanliness in your body is key to a healthy self image. Besides, soiled hair is just not acceptable. Remember cleanliness is next to Godliness. Black people have dry hair, therefore, we put oils on our hair and scalp. This can be a truely spiritual event, as the psalmist say, "Thou anointed my head with oil..." I strongly recommend using only light natural oils on your head.  Especially your scalp, because it has pores that absorb whatever you put on it.  There are many braid oils in the market. My criteria for buying any oil that touches my skin or scalp is that when I read the ingredients, it has to be all natural oils. No synthetic oils like mineral oil and petroleum jelly, and no long scientific names that I do not understand. Worst yet, no alcohol because it drys out your scalp, and no thick grease either, because it would clog your pores.  If you need thicker oils, Shea butter and cocoa butter are thick and absorbable, and they do not sit on your scalp and clog it up. Beeswax is a definite No No! even for locks because it is a heavy grease that clogs up your pores and traps any dust and dirt that flies by. I make a blend of jojoba, olive, tea tree, rosemary and lavender available for purchase, or you can come in and make your own blend. If you feel that your hair, scalp, or skin is unusually dry and needs thicker oils, you may want to consider taking oil capsules orally- like vitamin E, cod liver oil, and Omega 3 fish oils. Don't worry about getting fat; these are actually good oils that help break down bad oils in your body and have also proven to be good for your health in many other ways.

I would like to encourage those who have decided to wear their hair naturally.  Not that there is anything neccessarily wrong with perms, but we must not forget that perms originated from unhealthy thoughts that say our kinky or nappy hair was ugly and that the European straight hair look was better.  The worst part was that we accpeted these lies and began to hate our natural hair. We began to think all kinds of wrong thoughts about our natural hair and also make excuses as to why we could not accept nor wear it the way it is.  This is an insult to our Great Creator.  God makes no mistakes.  He made "nappy" hair perfect and uniquely designed for the people of color.  It is the most unique hair he created.  It is the unique coiled structure of our hair that earned it the name "nappy" or "kinky" representing God's perfect handy work. This unique handwork can be seen in his most intricate creations. The clinging interlocking nature of our hair truely represents our relationship with God and with each other. Our true natural hairstyles also represent this bond. Braids stand for thread of three cords, Twists- two is better than one, and locks are definetly unbreakable.  In primitive African cultures. wearing dred locks are believed to be very spiritual and one has to be approved by the chief priest before being initiated into it (Don't mess with this, Christianity is a lot easier!). Christ said "My burden is light and my yoke is easy". The point is, there's something very spiritual about locks. I have been blessed with the opportunity to talk to many black people who wear their hair nappy/natural and almost everyone that has accepted their God-given natural hair report having this unexplainable joy about their hair and their self-image. Our hair is truely a gift from God. He blends it with our soul and when we accept our gift from Him, He blesses us with more spiritual gifts, such as joy and peace and love. This is very much tied to our overall success, "To those who have, more shall be given."  We must realize also that it takes time to make this transition from hating nappy hair to loving it; let the blessings begin to flow.

It is no mistake that our hair grows upwards.  Our hair has been likened to an antenna.  Because of this, it is truely a spiritual antenna that sits at the top most part of our body and acts as our connection to God. Our hair represents our soul and our acceptance of it blesses our soul and praises our Creator, thanks and glorifies Him. Do you often wonder why Asian people with a completely different hair texture from ours gained control of our hair industry? When you hate what God has given you and you do not appreciate it, you will lose power over it. Perms may be worn as a style but not to the detriment of your own hair to where you have bald spots all over and your edges look like a rat scraped through it. But because you cannot be caught with your "nappy hair", you continue to perm those remaining few strands of hair and the bald spots. Nappy hair is far more a blessing than all of that. The spiritual gift of joy that comes with wearing  nappy hair is all yet to be discovered.  It is truely a shame that we black women do the most damaging things to our hair with harsh chemicals and worst of all glue.

Powered by shoppingcartsplus.com