If you are reading this article then you have probably invested a lot of time and energy into taking good care of your daughter’s hair. All of your hard work will not go to waste now that she is taking ballet. Yes, she will have to wear a bun everyday but that doesn’t mean that her hair will begin to break off. I know you have probably heard the saying, “if you do the same hair style over and over again, the hair will begin to break off around the place that has the barrettes.”
I was concerned about Julia’s hair breaking off too. So I decided to continue taking care of her hair the same way. I decided that if I noticed a change in her hair I would try a new routine. Over the past three years there has been no change to our routine, and her hair is still healthy and has continued to grow. There are some nights I do not feel up to doing our hair routine, so I don’t do it. However, I tried to complete our hair routine most nights. Here is what I do most nights.
- Remove any decorative hair barrettes or regular hair barrettes you put in her hair that day. Things like clips or bobby pins. These things can pull on her hair while she tosses and turns in her sleep. The end result of this would be her hair being pulled out. Even on nights that I do not feel up to doing the rest, I still try to do this step.
- Take her hair out of the ponytail. Chances are you put her hair in a tight ponytail. You do not want her to sleep with a tight ponytail because her hair will be pulling the whole night long. If it’s pulling her hair, after awhile her hair will get weak and break right off. Have you ever seen some girls who have tiny bumps around the edge of their hair? The bumps mean their hair is too tight and it will eventually come out.
- Now that you have removed everything from her hair, let’s start the routine! I like to work from the bottom of her hair to the top of it. I make horizontal parts across the hair starting from the bottom and slowly comb her hair all the way through, beginning from the roots of her hair all the way to the scalp. I make horizontal parts and comb through each section until I reach the top of her hair.
- Next you need to grease the scalp and her hair down to the tips. This is the most important step of all! The oil is what causes everyone’s hair to grow. The reason most African American girls have short hair is not because it can’t grow, but rather we are not taking care of it properly. We are the only people who do not have natural oil. Most people have to wash their hair regularly to remove all the oil their hair produces, not us. We are the complete opposite, we must wash our hair less so that the oil we are putting in our hair has a chance to sink in and strengthen it.
- When you are done greasing her entire hair now you need to put moisturizer in it. Think of it like this, the grease gives your hair the food it needs (vitamins and nutrients.) The moisturizer gives your hair a drink (keeps it from drying out.) You will need to do both to maintain healthy hair.
- After you are completely done greasing and moisturizing her hair now comb or brush it into a loose ponytail or bun. Make sure none of the hair is being pulled. The goal is to keep it contained but not tight.
- Put a cap on for bed time. You can buy a cap or reuse panty hose that have a whole in them. I like reusing panty hose the most because I find that they stay on better during the night.
- The next day you will only need to make the ponytail or bun a little tighter so that her hair will not come out during ballet class, minimum to little brushing needed.
www.Juliadances.com Challenge: Look for a moisturizer that has water for the first ingredient. Remember the goal of the moisturizer is to keep the hair hydrated. What do we drink when we are really thirsty? Water! Why? It has the ability to completely quench our thirst. Think of your hair the same way as your body. Look for a moisturizer that will hydrate your hair.
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