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...the newsletter that cuts through the noise and brings you science-backed black haircare information and tips!

I know you might be wondering what i mean by 'identifying breakage'. Our hair can fall out as a result of breakage or shedding. You might have seen these 2 words used interchangeably. i'll explain the difference.

Shedding: This is a natural process. Your hair goes through a growth, resting and shedding phase (not all at the same time, if not, we would be bald every couple of years lol). Research has shown that a healthy head of hair may shed as many as 50-100 hairs per day. Shed hair is hair that has reached the end of its natural cycle and has naturally fallen. If you look at shed hair, you would notice a white bulb at the top of the strand which is where it was attached to your head and it tends to be longer than broken hair.

Breakage: This is not a natural process and tends to be as a result of a lack of moisture or protein in your hair, manipulation or product build up. The hairs also tend to be short pieces of different lengths. 

Today's newsletter would be focusing on what causes breakage, how to solve this issue and product recommendations.

Understanding why your hair is breaking is very important. In fact, understanding the root cause of something going on with your hair is always the best first step before a solution can be recommended. Now, i'll explain 4 reasons why your hair could be breaking:

1. Moisture deficiency: Basically, your hair lacks moisture and hydration. Other than an obvious case of just not moisturising your hair at least weekly or not using moisture rich products, there are other causes that could lead to your hair being moisturise deficient. 

a. Frequent use of heat tools like straighteners, blow dryers etc.

b. Use of heavy oils/grease, alcohol based gels

c. Overuse of protein based products

2. Protein deficiency: As the name says, your hair lacks protein. This could be as a result of:

a. Chemical processing- relaxing, texturising, colouring etc

b. Excessive heat use

c. Overuse of moisturising products

3. Product/Mineral Build Up: This is a very common problem with textured hair. Our hair craves moisture so it is always recommended that we use very gentle sulfate free moisturising shampoos for regular cleansing. This however comes with a trade off of build up from the styling products we use e.g. gels, heavy oils, grease, pomade. These sulfate free moisturising shampoos are too gentle to lift these products completely from our hair. If you use no-lye relaxers, live in a hard water region or swim regularly, you would also be prone to mineral build up. Minerals and products deposit on your hair shaft and coat it. This prevents your moisturising products from entering your hair shaft and doing their job. This leads to dryness and breakage.

4. Manipulation: This is pretty straightforward and mainly relates to how often you manipulate your hair, how gentle you are when you handle your hair. The more 'aggressive' you are with your hair, the more likely it is to break.

You may be wondering how on earth you are supposed to know what the reason for your breakage is. I'm sure you would be happy to hear that our hair actually shows signs when something is going wrong.

Moisture deficiency would lead to hair that feels very rough, hard and tangly. It doesn't stretch very much before it literarily snaps.

Protein deficiency on the other hand would lead to hair that feels very weak, gummy and limp. It will stretch a lot before it actually breaks.

Product build up would have a few signs.

a. Your shampoo seems to not be lathering anymore or has just stopped working

b. Your hair and scalp feel coated

c. Your hair feels limp with no movement

d. You are experiencing so much breakage despite balancing your moisture and protein

On to the fun part! What can you do to solve the issue? Firstly, the answer isn't always to reach for a protein treatment. It will depend on the type of breakage you suffer from. 

Moisture deficiency breakage

1. Stay away from the heat tools till your hair regains its strength and breakage stops. If you continue with heat afterwards, make sure to use a heat protector.

2. Avoid heavy/synthetic oils (those including minerals oils and petrolatum) and alcohol based gels. Go for lighter natural oils like coconut, babassu or sweet almond oil and alcohol free gels like Eco styler.

3. Introduce moisturising deep conditioners (with heat caps) and leave in conditioners. Water/Aqua must always be the first ingredient in moisturising products. Some other common ingredients you would find in moisturising products (should be in the first 5-6 ingredients) include: Cetearyl alcohol, Cetyl alcohol, Glycerin, Aloe, Honey, Polyquaternium or Behentrimonium Methosulfate (I know this is a MOUTHFUL but i had to add it in as this helps soften the hair and give the slip that's great for detangling so it is one to always look out for!). The inclusion of natural butters (eg shea and mango butter) and oils (eg avocado, coconut, babassu etc) are great for helping with manageability and retaining moisture.

Protein deficiency breakage

1. Stretch relaxer treatments anywhere between 8-16 weeks to reduce overprocessing and overlapping. These are the main causes of breakage.

2. For my double processed girls (coloured and relaxed), always apply your colour at least 2 weeks after your relaxer treatment.

3. Incorporate protein deep conditioners or treatments every 4-6 weeks. These would usually include ingredients like hydrolyzed proteins (stronger proteins), cholesterol, amino acids, keratin or panthenol.

Product build up

1. Check if you live in a hard water area. A quick google search would show this. If you do, a water filter you can attach to your shower would be great to prevent the minerals from hard water depositing on your hair.

2. Use a clarifying or chelating shampoo every 4-6 weeks and not regularly as they are stripping. Both shampoos are great for a deep cleanse to 'reset' your hair and remove build up. Chelating shampoos however will go deeper to remove mineral deposit from hard water and no-lye relaxers. These shampoos will contain ingredients like Citric acid, Apple Cider Vinegar, EDTA or Sulfates in high quantities (closer to the top of the ingredient list).

Manipulation

1. Go for low manipulation styles which are not tight e.g. twists or braids and avoid touching your hair everyday.

2. Always detangle with care. Start off with finger detangling and finish with a wide tooth comb.

If you do not have any moisturising, protein packed or clarifying products, we have put together a list of some amazing products that would help fight whatever kind of breakage you suffer from.

Product recommendations for Moisture Deficient Breakage

Moisture Rich Deep Conditioners

Moisture Rich Leave in Conditioners/Moisturisers

Product recommendations for Protein Deficient Breakage

Protein treatments

Clarifying shampoos for product build up

I really hope you have found today's newsletter helpful! Please feel free to reply with any feedback or topics you'd like me to cover. 

If you've found this helpful, forward this to a friend or share it on social media.

Thanks for reading till the end. Have a lovely week and see you in 2 weeks!

Uwaye (Founder of Crowned Mane)

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