Hair Typing Series Part 2(b) of 3 :-)

Hey There Guys!

Here we are now on Part 2(b) of 3 of The Hair Typing Series!
Yayness!
Just in case you missed it, see:
PART 1 - Click Here!
& PART 2(a) - Click Here!

Okay so in this post I will be addressing - Hair Typing - How does this affect how I go about building a Hair Care Regimen?
In the last post,

         My Hair Regimen Basics:

·   Cleansing

·   Moisture Supply and Retention

·   Protein/Moisture Balancing
Were already addressed,

So now we are on to:

·   Hair Manipulation & Protective Styling

·   Relaxing/Texlaxing & Relaxer/Texlaxer stretching

·   Heat vs No Heat


"Hair" we go!

Hair Manipulation & Protective Styling

Hair manipulation is inevitable, be it washing, conditioning, styling, RE-styling because your first style flopped, *side-eye @ those braid-outs that refuse to dry in time!*
Pretty much anytime you touch your hair is an opportunity for breakage. 
Pssssh, what you gonna do? You can't go through very well NOT touching your hair at all, that's kindah extreme, But what we can do is:

• Handle with CARE!!!
• Increase time between STYLING - I.e. Protective Styling or Low Manipulation styling.

That being said: The level of manipulation that each lady's head of hair can stand, again has a lot to do with the combination of Hair Typing Components that she has.

CURL PATTERN:

In general, the kinkier or more coily that your individual strands are, the more prone to tangling that you hair strands will be, knots and breakage often ensue if not handled with care.

STRAND THICKNESS:

The finer the strands, the more prone to tangling they are as well as breakage!

STRAND DENSITY:

The Less Dense the hair is, the more strain there will be on individual hair strands when manipulating the hair, thus making them more prone to breakage.

Hair Manipulation Summary:

Everyone stands to benefit from low manipulation styling & or Protective Styling, everyone! Those more prone to breakage would stand to benefit more so if your goal is length retention.
Those that can't stand to have the same style for weeks at a time, like braids or twists, can chose to do low manipulation styles like braid outs and twist outs that require a bit more daily manipulation but minimal.
What styles work for who is really a matter of the individual, there are lots of styles out there to choose from and try!
My humble advice is to try out any new style out for a short period of time (say a week) at first to see if you hair likes it or hates it before you decide to keep a style any longer, because there is no point in having your hair suffer for weeks because some other persons hair LUVs that style.
Protective Styling & Low Manipulation Styling really works for breakage prone hair like mine, give it a try!
:-) 

Here are some Protective Styles That I've tried and liked:

To see post on Install: Click Here!

I have also tried Wigs and Weaves, but I can't say I use these often, if at all, since I first tried them:

To See my Wig-Wearing Review Post - "Wiggin It To Win It": Click Here

To See my Weave Wearing Review/Results Post: Click Here

Wigs are Very Very helpful when it comes to keeping your fingers out of your own hair, but I have yet to find one that I really like and would wear daily.
Weaves - This was pretty nice actually, I didn't have to worry too much about styling etc, but the take down was a nightmare! I had a lot of breakage, my hair was tangled around the threads etc a MESS! 
I honestly think it was my fault for going Scuba diving with weave - yes yes, I know, someone out there is like "DUH RACH! WHAT were you THINKING?!" 
LOL!
You live, you learn, *shrugs*, but I can't say I'll be going back to weaves anytime soon, that's just my personal preference.

Relaxing/Texlaxing

CURL PATTERN is often what’s used as a guide, at least in the Caribbean. The rationale being:

Kinkier hair is “tough” and needs SUPA strength...

Feel free to correct me if you believe I’m wrong, by all means...
But after all my reading and after getting to know my own hair, I have realized that this is simply not the case.
Kinky/coily hair is often weaker (on an individual strand level) that their straighter counterparts.

The Two Main Hair Typing components that one should really consider when deciding which strength relaxer to use are: 

STRAND THICKNESS

&

POROSITY:

Ladies with Finer Stands and those with High Porosity Strands will be affected by the relaxer much more than their Thicker Strand and Low Porosity counterparts 

and so would benefit from using a Mild or Normal Strength Relaxer.

Low Porosty Hair and Coarse Strand Hair can/ has to use a Normal or Super Strength

*Super strength sounds scary to me by the way, but their are ladies who use it and their hair is fabulous, so, go them!

:-)

Now as for Lye Verses No-Lye, that's at trickier one. That definitely is more on an individual basis.
Regardless of hair type - I've found at least - people either HATE No-Lye and LOVE Lye
or
HATE Lye and Love No Lye.
I will say though that a general rule of thumb is:
No-Lye: Gentle on Scalp - Harsh on Hair
Lye: Gentle on Hair - Harsh on Scalp
Again this is very general, I have yet to devise or read a system that would help people to choose which one they would like in advance.
I personally like Lye because my hair feels better with it (less dry and straw-like) and my scalp has much much less dermatitis flare ups with it as opposed the the No-lye Relaxers I used to use before my HHJ.

Relaxer/Texlaxer Stretching:
Relaxer/Texlax Stretching is an important addition to one's Hair Care Regimen, unless you are natural of course!
Stretching you relaxer simply means increasing the length of time between relaxers. The rationale being: increased time between relaxers allows for more new growth length, and this decreases the likelihood of "overlapping" at the next Relaxer session (i.e. putting the relaxer on previously processed hair).
This helps to prevent over-processing and thus reduces hair damage.
Less damage = Healthier & Stronger Hair!

CURL PATTERN? STRAND THICKNESS? STRAND DENSITY?
It is generally thought that those with with more coily or kinkier new growth will find it harder to stretch their relaxers because of tangling.
But women with hair in the 2 and 3 section of the Curl Pattern spectrum often times complain just as much as as type 4 ladies about this very same issue.
My sister Allison is type 3b/c + 4a and she had major issues with relaxer stretching when she was Relaxed.
Shes natural now,

Heya Alli!! :-)
So no I don't believe that Curl pattern alone contributes to relaxer stretch difficulty. What DOES contribute is any factor that leads to easy TANGLING and Breakage:
So yes Curliness and Kinkiness are a factors that contribute to one's hair's TANGLY-NESS,
but other MAJOR  factors include Fine Hair Strands and well as Increased Strand Density
General Rule:
Regardless of hair type: Keeping your new growth "stretched", "detangled" (for the most part) and "well conditioned" will help MOST ladies stretch their relaxers. 
Good Luck!
Take it one week at a time, ;-)

Heat vs No Heat:

I had to add this aspect of the Hair care Regimen, because employing a NO HEAT POLICY has been a life saver for my strands. I went heat-less at the beginning of my hair journey - exclusively Air-drying except on Texlax Days when a Roller set would be done - and I never regretted it, not once!
My hair does NOT like heat!
& I believe its from one major aspect of my Hair Type:

STRAND THICKNESS:

The Finer the Hair Strands - the more prone they are to HEAT DAMAGE

Ladies with Fine Hair strands would stand to benefit from Significantly reducing the use of heat in their hair regimen.

If you simply cannot go cold turkey

(air-drying is not for everyone) then be very sure to use a heat protectant every time you plan to use heat.

All ladies, whether fine haired or not, would stand to benefit from this practice.

Yayness! So That's part 2 now complete, 

Part 3 will be coming up soon where all the loose ends will be tied together in one little neat package!

I hope that this has been informative/helpful to you guys!

Thanks again for stopping by, and I apologize again for not getting these to you as soon as originally planned.

Hugz!

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below, I'd love to hear from you!

See you again soon, and have a GREAT DAY!

Xoxo,

Rachie :-)