Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Setback

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I’ve been doing right by my hair for a long time. I’ve been taking Manetabolism hair vitamins, deep conditioning, sleeping with my satin scarf and all of the other DO’s of having natural hair.

I straightened my hair at the end of February and again at the end of March. I thought to myself that it was too much in a short period of time (although there was no heat damage), so in order to continue to do right by my hair, I decided to refrain from heat for now.

All was well. I stretched my hair on washday by twisting it, so as the days went on it became easier to manage. I was getting used to styling my hair without gel. I was really enjoying it until…

Yesterday when I combed my hair I noticed little chips of hair in the sink. Chips of hair!!!!! Like BREAKAGE! I freaked out! My hair sheds, but I never, ever, ever see breakage.

I spoke to a few of my natural hair friends and the first question they ask is… Did you change products? Did you change your regimen? Products, yes… but I always do. I rarely use the same products weekly. Regimen, yes. I haven’t been blow drying my hair.

Somewhere along my natural hair journey I realized that blow drying my hair helps to prevent single strand knots. Sooooo… since I decided to be heat-free I haven’t been blow drying, which lead to more single strand knots and my hair finally began to break where the knots were. Sigh.

Realizing this, I washed and deep conditioned my hair, blow dried it and trimmed it.

Problem solved!

XOXO,
Rece

Workout Prep

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Many wonder if you can workout with your natural hair straightened. Yes! Yes! …and Yes!

I used to be nervous about working out with straightened hair because I knew that would be the end of my style… until I tweaked my method of prepping.

We need to be beautiful inside and out and working out will help us achieve just that.

Here are 7 Steps I use to prep my straightened hair before a workout:

1. I apply a little bit of extra virgin olive oil (my oil of choice) and/or a straightening serum mostly to my edges. This is a key step because it helps to prevent the hair from reverting when you start sweating.

2. I smooth my hair back into a secure ponytail.

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3. I wrap the length of my ponytail into a bun being careful not to let the ends of my hair fall on the inside of the bun so that they are as far away from the sweat as possible.

4. Secure the ends onto my bun using a jaw clip.

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5. Wrap a cotton scarf around my head to keep my edges laid down while I workout. I use a cotton scarf because it’s a pretty absorbent material compared to a satin or silk scarf. Leave the flap open in the back to allow some air to circulate.

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6. Once I’m finished working out, I leave the cotton scarf on until after I shower. I then brush my edges (without taking the ponytail out otherwise the curls will have free reign) and wrap a silk/satin scarf around the edges to maintain the smoothness until my hair dries.

7. Once my hair dries, I can style as usual.

This method works well. I workout hard, but I’m not running marathons or anything!

XOXO,
Rece