my name is khrystina y yo soy una cubana . (…welllllll a little lol) i am actually haitian and cuban and thats what i would like to ask you about. I have the ups and downs of having mixed hair. Ups: my hair is thick and full and soft. Downs: its very thick (yea, it can be downer too) and very VERY coarse. My hair only seems to be wavy when I flat iron it buutttttt ya tu subes what flat irons can do to hair. They damage it, and leave it brittle and weak. I want your advice on how to better take care of my hair to restore it to how it was when i was a little nina and your advice on products? specifically for my type of hair? I have tried regular products but they leave my hair dry (it need ALOT of moisture) and I have tried products for “colored” hair but it leaves my hair WAYYYY too thick and not as silky as I want. Any advice??

Muchas gracias

Morena

Hey Morena,

First, I totally get where your coming from when you mention the “ups AND downs” of having thick hair, but trust me when I tell you, you have way more options with thick hair, regardless of the texture.

Next, without seeing and touching your hair, I cannot make any suggestions. However, I will tell you to peruse my site and glean from it. Unless your hair is naturally straight and not in the least bit coarse, chances are your hair is somewhat dry. That coupled with heat, particularly heat that actually touches your hair, you are probably removing most of your natural moisture.

This is what I do, not the gospel, simply what LaNegra does. I shampoo no more than every other week. Because I do a lot of aerobics, I rinse my hair quite often. I’ll apply a deep conditioner to my dry hair, before even hitting the water. I either use a store bought product, or one of my oil concoctions. I’ll leave that on for a minimum of 20 minutes and then rinse well.

My favorite moisturizing conditioners are Humecto and now Baba de Caracol. There are others that I try, just because I cannot walk past them in the isle at the store, but nothing that I absolutely MUST have.

For a leave-in, I swear by CHI Silk Infusions. I don’t care what I run out of, I have to have a full bottle of this at all times. I like it so much that when I’m about half way through a bottle, I check to see if I have any other bottles on hand and if not, I order some immediately.

If I’m doing my rolos, then I let my hair dry, blow it and style it. I then spray some sheen on. If I’m wearing it natural, I just leave my hair to dry on it’s on and spray sheen only as needed.

You want your hair to be back to the way it was when you were a girl, so you’re going to have to handle it as if you were a little girl. Me entiendes? Comb your hair as if you are an infant, who might break out in tears if your hair was pulled too harshly. Avoid brushing your hair while it’s wet, because it’s weak then and prone to breaking. And as I always say…you must, must eat well. If you’re not eating well and drinking plenty of water, your hair suffers.

Always be patient, bella. Sometimes, it’s a matter of trying a product two or three times before you can properly assess it. Also, if your hair is damaged (I don’t know that yours is), it’s going to take some time to get it to a point where it actually responds to treatments. One time is not always enough to see a significant difference. If you know for sure that your hair is damaged, then I highly recommend Aphoghee Two Step Protein Treatment. I always use this every two months, as a preventative, and found that it worked magic on my hair.

Hope this helps,

LaNegra