Threw them in the trash? Guapa, don’t you know you could have gifted them to someone? I mean, I’m not gonna mention any names (wink, wink) LOL.

Never, ever throw out your hair gadgets, unless they are hopelessly broken. You know there is always someone willing to buy from you, or would really appreciate it if you passed it on to them when you’re done. All jokes aside, I broke down and ordered some (my Sally’s was out) and I knew that it would take way more than a handful to get my entire head done. I would have gladly bought yours

2) Question on behalf of one of my girlfriends. We were talking last night and she told me her hair had gotten heat damaged (again..just after she grew out the old, heat damaged hair!). She’s been rocking a short cut (bob) for about idunno a year now. Now, she’s giving up on short cuts as she’s found that she’s too addicted to heat styling…as opposed to when her hair is longer. She’s natural. Her hair texture has a defined curl pattern with fluff (lol, real descriptive, right? I’d say it’s a little looser than mine, but that’s equally unhelpful. Umm so, let’s say it’s that corbin blue texture give or take). Any suggestions for wearing a short cut and keeping relatively straight styles without too much heat? I told her I had to abandon short cuts for that same reason…so, I wasn’t much help. Oh, and she said Dominican blowout/rollersets really don’t seem to work for her. I don’t know if it was the salon she went to or if they really don’t get the job done.

If you can remember, I told you that my natural hair is similar to Corbin Blue, but I have more frizz and kink to mine. I told my stylist, at one point when I was still in NYC and going through my, “I’m sick of being a slave to relaxers!” phases, that I wanted to be natural AND short.

Um…let’s just say that she damn near scalped me and I don’t mean while she was in the act of cutting my hair.

She, not so nicely, pointed out that I have:
1. a lot of hair,
2. with super tight curls,
3. and kinks
4. and unless I wanted to look like a perpetual chia pet….

it just wasn’t a good idea for me to go really short.

If I looked good in an afro, I would not have cared, not one bit. However, I’m not one of those chicks, who can rock a fro…at least not a short one. Big, natural hair…not a problem, but shorter hair, just doesn’t look good on me.

Now, given the high temps and humidity we’ve been experiencing, there is nothing that I could do with heat, or without, even with my longer length, to prevent the inevitable frizzing, poofing and outta control hair. At my best, a headband (to keep my hair out of my face), a high bun (to keep me cool) and occasional braids (cuz I just was too hot to give a shizz what I looked like) were my only options.

So, you tell your friend that I said, when SHE comes up with a suggestion…let ME know, because I would entertain anything ideas. I just cannot see how she’s going to achieve, OR maintain the look she wants for very long with relatively little heat. My only suggestion, since she said that Dominican blowouts don’t work for her, would be to flat iron the life out of hair, but that’s what lead her to heat-damage to being with, right?

3) It was hot today and I wanted to chop my hair off too lol. Can we say buzz cut?
take care, my dear…hope all is well

Ohhh, I totally hear you on the buzz cut LOL!!!

All is well here, wishing the same for you

Mil besos,

LaNegra

Also, I just recently moved back to NC from metro atlanta and it really sucks now because I do have to do my own hair. The closest one to me in Greenville is almost an hour away! Before I lost my job, I got my hair done religously at Domincan Hair Salon by Masiel’s ( One in Lawrenceville and in Snellville. BTW, Fifa is the best!) so now I am stuck doing my own hair, which I am terrible at.

So I guess,my questions are…how often should I wash my hair( I have a course and dry texture) and what things can I do to make my hair healthy again. Ever since I stopped going to the salon my hair length has decreased quite a bit and its terribly frustrating. I just bought a tea tree oil yesterday also. Would you recommend that?

So sorry for the long post! Thank you so much in advance! Your sight is incredibly helpful! Dios te bendiga!

Hola Sylvia – I’m so sorry that it has taken so long to reply. It seems that some posts have been sitting in a spam box.

Anyway, I shampoo my hair based on my activities. For instance, if I shampoo, do rolos and a blowout I try to make it last. For me, the longest length is two weeks.

On the other hand, if it’s a period where I’m at the gym on a daily basis, sweating like crazy, then I  shampoo every other day. However, I deep condition and rinse daily to remove the sodium (from sweating) and to put some moisture back in my hair.

If you’re daily life include going to the gym often, or any other activity that causes you to sweat a lot, then you will have to shampoo often. If you’re life is rather sedentary, then you can skip frequent shampooing, but still must use discretion.

Limp, lifeless hair typically means you need to shampoo, but kinky curly hair can often be deceptive, as it doesn’t go “limp and lifeless.” Let your scalp do the talking for you. An oily, greasy scalp means that your pores are clogged and it’s time to shampoo.

Dry hair? This is not uncommon for us kinky/curly/coarse girls. Invest in some good quality conditioners (Humecto, Baba de Caracol, or any other moisturizing conditioner of your choice).  Even if you cannot do a roller set, deep condition at least every other week (more frequently if necessary).  Tea tree oil is an excellent oil, not only for stimulating hair growth. I find that it’s a wonderful antiseptic and I always keep it in my stash.

Also, have you had a decent trim lately? That may help you maintain some length too. Often, when we skip getting trims we’ll see our length disappear; split ends are notorious for turning a healthy head of hair into a frizzy, uncontrollable mess and they definitely chew away at the ends of our hair.

Whew…sorry…I know you probably wanted the Reader’s Digest version, lol.

Anyway, feel free to contact me if you need more help

Besos!

LaNegra

Thank you for all you do for us!
Kensmom

Hola Kensmom! Hace mucho tiempo. It’s good to hear from you

This is an excellent question. In fact, was just engaged in a conversation about “hair woes” when vacationing.

There was a time when I would be completely stressed out about how my hair. I would think to myself, “What am I going to do with my hair if it’s really humid? My hair is going to frizz and I’ll look horrible!”

One year I had been looking forward to going away with a few friends. They were SO angry with me, because I wouldn’t go swimming or water parks all because I had my hair blown out and didn’t want to mess it up. They were completely frustrated with me and now I understand why. What’s the point of going, if I’m not going to enjoy myself and why ruin it for everyone else, right? Right.

In recent years, I learned that if I’m going to swim, just take precautions. Before I enter a pool I shower, completely wet my hair, as if I were going to shampoo. I load up my hair with a really thick deep conditioner, such as Baba de Caracol or some other moisturizing conditioner.  I pin my hair up and then put my swim cap on.

Women often think that a swim cap keeps the hair from getting wet. Not true. However, if you wet your hair and apply ample conditioner, it will prevent your hair from absorbing so much chlorine. When you’re done swimming you can shampoo with a clarifying shampoo and deep condition again. If your pressed for time, just rinse out the conditioner you put in prior to swimming and style as usual.

As for styling, bring your favorite serum, some spray sheen and wear your hair curly or wavy. If your hair is not naturally curly, no problem…just twist your hair, or braid it at night, applying a little serum, then finish up with your spray sheen. In the morning let your hair down and your hair should be full of waves or curls and be full of body.

Another option is to put finger curls (pin curls) in your hair and style in the morning. To cover up frizzing hairlines, use a pretty scarf to tie around your head, like a decorative headband.

Ultimately, you do not want to spend your vacation stressed over your hair. You want to have fun and believe me…worrying about your tresses will not make for a fun time.

Hope this helps  and enjoy your vacation!

LaNegra

Hey amiga, I cannot see why doing rolos every other week would be harmful, as long as you condition well and moisturize. I find that for my coarse, curls doing rolos and blowing out the roots has been beneficial, even when I do not have a relaxer. This allows the oils in my hair to work down the hair shaft, rather than stopping at the scalp. I actually find that my hair maintains more moisture when it’s blown out. I have noticed that my hair is dryer when I wear it natural, curly.

If you do rolos and skip sitting under the dryer, allowing your hair to airdry, or setting the dryer on a medium temp will minimize heat damage. If you decide to blow out your roots, do not pull too much. Let the blower do the work, not the brush.

Now, before you start a rolo regimen, get yourself a few decent conditioners or at least use oils to deep condition and moisturize religiously. If you must…buy an inexpensive conditioner, add some olive oil to it and let it send on your head for at least half an hour, before rinsing out. This can be done before or after shampooing.

I also recommend Humecto, Baba de Caracol, or any other deep moisturizing conditioner. My favorite leave in is CHI Silk Infusion, so I highly recommend investing in a bottle of this. It’s a little costly, but does the hair well wet, or dry.

Keep me posted

BTW, can you share the salon in TX? I’m sure a few folks would be happy to get that info.

Hola Jackie, I think it’s great that you are laying off the heat during the summer. For many of us, the summer is difficult, as we sweat heavily, causing our freshly blown out hair to frizz. In addition, the heat of the sun, compounded by the heat of styling tools, doesn’t make for healthy hair. It’s a good idea to give your a break

As for repairing the hair…well, once it’s damaged, it’s a wrap. Before you panic, let me explain. Our hair endures the elements, handling and even chemicals, but if it should become damaged, and depending on the type of damage, there’s nothing you can do to repair the damaged portion.

For instance, if you have split ends, they will continue to be split, no matter what you use to seal or seal them together. Yes, there are products that will give you temporary relief from the fly-aways, but ultimately, a good trim, possibly a cut, will be the ONLY thing you can do to permanently “repair” your ends.

The same holds true for chemically damaged hair, or heat damaged hair. You can use products to maintain your hair until you grow it out, but damaged hair is forever damaged.

Ok…enough gibberish…if you are experiencing damage, I highly recommend Aphoghee 2 Step Protein Treatment. Just like the name says, it’s a two step product, which requires that you buy both products, but it’s well, well worth it. If used properly, in conjunction with proper handling, you should be able to maintain your hair while pampering your new growth. However, I don’t recommend using this more than once every other month.

I also recommend a good moisturizing conditioner, such as Humecto and Baba de Caracol. These are my two favorites. Of course, you’ll need a good leave in. Hands down it’s CHI Silk Infusion. CHI is my liquid crack. I cannot live without it!

So mamita, here’s to healthy hair!

LaNegra

I definitely recommend that you pass on using the flatiron. It makes the hair look super smooth, but I do not advocate using heat right on the hair. This is just my opinion, but if you consider the fact that throwing clothes in a dryer to remove wrinkles vs. ironing puts the cloths at less risk for getting burned. I have ruined a number of blouses using an iron, but very few articles of clothing using the clothes dryer.

Anyway, try an anti-frizz serum on your hair. I’ve used Paul Mitchell Super Skinny, Garnier Fructis Anti-Frizz Serum and Bumble and Bumble Straight with good results. I apply the serum to freshly shampooed hair, just before putting my rolos in.

Now, do not expect that you will not frizz when it’s extremely or sweat a lot, but it does help keep the frizzies at  bay.

To be quite candid…when the weather is extremely humid, I don’t fight it. I work my kinks with some sheen and rock my hair natural. It takes so much time to put in rolos, blow out the roots just to sweat it out as soon as I walk out the door, ya know what I mean?

Suerte!

LaNegra

Bienvenidos Abby,

There is only one Dominican salon that I know of in Trenton, Yosi’s. However, I have no experience there, so cannot attest to whether or not they do a good job.

Yosi’s Dominican Style Beauty
1914 Greenwood Avenue
Trenton, NJ 08609-2310
(609) 890-0202

As for learning to do your own hair, take a look at my older posts and spend time learning which products work best on your hair. If your hair is super curly, you’ll probably do going with some additional moisture, especially if you are working any color treatment out of your hair. Unless you find a good salon, that can make product recommendations for you, go for small sizes of products (in case they don’t work well for your hair).

If you decide to go the DIY route….focus on wet setting your hair, smoothing the ends over the rolos, then move on to learning how to blow out your hair.

Keep me posted!

LaNegra

Thank you!

Mamita, I think that you need to refer to the post from yesterday and be brutally honest with yourself.

I know I’m going to catch flack for this, probably even from family members, but I do not approve of relaxing tender heads. I had a lot of hair growing up and I’m sure my mother spent as much time taming my knots as she did taming me. Regardless, she refused to allow me to get chemicals in my hair until I was 15; her reasoning was that I would be mature enough and ready to care for my hair on my own (within reason).  I had cousins, who got relaxers as early as 4-years-old, but one in particular has struggled with periodic thinning throughout her teens and adult life.

I cannot see your hair, or the condition it’s in, so I can only make blanket recommendations. However, if you have any new growth at all, then chances are your hair IS growing, it’s just difficult to see the progress when you have relaxed and natural hair vying for attention. As always, I recommend that you do the best you can to pamper your hair, relaxed and natural.

1. Try using Aphoghee Two Step Protein Treatment once every 6 – 8 weeks.

2. Add lots of moisture to your shampooing routine (Humecto, Baba de Caracol are my faves).

3. If you are wearing your hair straight, opt for rolos, rather than blowing it out directly. You can always pass the blower over the roots to loosen the curls.

4. If you have substantial new growth, and you’re brave…get a cut. Typically, I recommend a trim, but in this case, cut it off. It being, all of your old relaxer.

5. If you feel uncomfortable wearing short, natural hair…get a nice wig. Hell, get a few different wigs and switch it up a bit.

It’s difficult to maintain relaxed hair, when you haven’t yet learned how to handle your natural hair.

My hair is in the middle not “good” not “bad” really curly and from all my attempts to be creative, really really really DRY! my other problem is length! my hair grows in volume..like i have a lot of hair..but it seems to not grow length wise. any tips on getting the length going.  when i was younger my hair grew long with no problems. i suppose the damage ive done with tintes, highlights, flat irons and all that have really taken its toll or do i have a chance? i just went in for a “trim” the other day (you know our Dominicans)and it turned more into a haircut.  Now that i have no relaxer and a lot of dead ends cut i was hoping to start from scratch.
Thanks!

Hola Astrid (gorgeous name),

I’m not going to beat you up on blowing your wet hair…you already KNOW it’s not a good idea You nailed it when you said, “kill new growth.”

What I’m going to get on you about is od’ing on Silicon Mix + Emergencia, or any other harsh proteins. While these products are excellent when used properly, they have an adverse effect when overused. It’s best to use them once in a while (once every month or two) or right before/after a chemical service.

In order to combat dry hair add moisture every chance you get! Opt for Humecto, UNA Hydro Masque, Baba de Caracol. You can use any of these anytime you shampoo, or rinse your hair. When my hair is super dry, I sleep with either one of these products and rinse out the following morning. My hair comes out really soft. Be sure that you are drinking a good amount of water too. I try to get in anywhere from .5 – 1 gallon daily (bathroom runs are a pain in the tush!).

Now…the fact that your hair is all clear of the relaxer means that you are going to have to look for other hairstyles and perhaps give your hair a “style” break before applying any heating tools. I don’t subscribe to the “good/bad” hair theory. In my opinion, healthy hair is not just good hair, it’s GREAT hair I also do not recommend constant use of heat to straighten the hair, if you have tight kinks or curls. An occasional blowout is not necessarily threatening, but repeated use of intense heat will take a toll on your tresses.

So, while you experiment…remember to add moisture to your hair OFTEN, avoid heat and get regular trims (NOT cuts – trims) to ensure that you are not losing length to split ends.

Hope this helps,

LaNegra

Hola bella,

I am a little jealous that you get to watch novelas y comer pastelitos!! LOL.

However, I want to clarify that I never blow out my entire length of hair, only the roots. With that in mind, I hold the brush at the scalp, pulling just enough to straighten the root and then pass the blower over (See the video.)

If you are planning on blowing out the entire length of hair, rather than put the brush on top of of the hair, you put it underneath the section of hair and pass the blower over, pulling the brush down with your hand.

If you get the blowing technique down, you shouldn’t need to use the flatiron.

Suerte!

LaNegra