Advice needed !

[east_african_princess]

Hey, i'm east-african-princess, and I'm new to nappturality, and quite newly natural.

I did my BC almost 8 months ago, because my hair was ridiculously thin, and was almost balding at the crown of my head, due to chemical and heat damage, and a whole lot of neglect/ignorance.
my hairs thicker now, and my TWA is now long enough to braid. I've been really busy recently so I've been neglecting my hair again. Now the ends are dry, its breaking and knotting at the ends of the hair strands. So I'd like to know about different protective hair styles.
I generally braid my hair, and use extra virgin olive oil. But I can never leave my braids in for more than three days. Is the benefit of a protective hair style lost, if its done every three days? Are oils (such as, almond oil, jojoba oil, extra virgin olive oil) sufficient to use as main moisturisers? Is it neccesary to "seal in moisture"? If so then what does that mean exactly? And also, are you supposed to moisturise your hair while its in a protective style (because I don't know how that'd work - but it might be the reason my ends are so dry)?
I also haven't trimmed my TWA, purely out of fear. Is 8 months a crazy long time to not trim your hair? I know its normal to lose a certain amount of hair a day, is it the same with breakage? I'm sooooooo tempted to go back to straightening my hair, but I refuse to go back to square one, so I need abit of advice, hopefully from people who have been through this.

All advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks !

[soblu2]

Hello and welcome to Np

to answer your questions
1- IMO every three day is too short a time to benefit from protective styling... but it depend on what you do to your hair every three day... If you are not over manipulating it you can still see some progress.
2, 3, 4 ( then who made me try to put numbers to your questions? lol)
- I am not sure oil are enough for moisture retention.. They can help but some hair would prefer a water based or even plain water to do that.. Then "seal" the moisture in with oil.. here oil are supposed to keep the moisture ( =water or water and glycerin or other humectant) in the hair.

5( continuing lol) - Your ends may be dry for a lot of various reasons... but I have to ask you... when do you apply your oils..? are you only using it or do you use something else?
May be your hair is dry because it's coated and the products just wont work.. clarifying can help.
6 (lol)- to me it's important to put some products on your hair while in protective style.. it's to care for your hair.. it still needs its moisture...
7( ok after that number I'll just stop)- No breakage and sheddings are difficult , if you see the bulb it is normal ( except if braids were put in too tight) that's shedding, but if it's just random pieces.. that's breakage

- look out the condition of your ends to see if you "really" need a trim. even if trimming regularly can protect your ends ( I'm still not sure but...)

-Everytime you want to go back.. please remember why you gave it up!! and come here for support!!!!

Now i'll just give you some advices:
- search the site for articles on haircare you'll have a lot of information
- do a search, may be the issues you're dealing with have been adressed..
- Try to set a simple routine first : wash ( shampoo or no poo) to keep your scalp and hair clean, protect your ends, and really take your time while detangling and do it in section ( it really helped me), put some moisturising products and let your hair be
- If you can try to make your braids last longer...

I hope this can help you..

[east_african_princess]

Hey, thank you for your advice. It was useful. I was once told to avoid water based hair "moisturisers" like the plague. They used to give the illusion of moisture, only to leave my hair dryer than it was to begin with. I usually just wash my hair with little bit of shampoo once a week. But before I do that I put some avocado and olive oil on my hair, cover my hair with a plastic cap, and them steam it. Once I've rinsed that all out
, then put some oil in my hair while its still damp, then braid. Any suggestions on what else I could use to moisturise? I ended up trimming my dry ends today. I got abit scissor happy at the back, but thankfully I calmed down lol. I would have loved to go to the hairdresser, but I live in a predominantly white area of the UK. The one black hairdresser I found told my sister that relaxer is good for your hair..... Needless to say I aint seen her since. But, thank you again for your advice. I'm definately gonna start tryna leave my braids in longer. Patience aint my strongest point, but im gonna have to work on that if I'm ever gonna grow my hair out.
I look forward to hearing more. I'm about to start browsing the site now!

[mariajay]

:-))
Hey, thank you for your advice. It was useful. I was once told to avoid water based hair "moisturisers" like the plague. They used to give the illusion of moisture, only to leave my hair dryer than it was to begin with. I usually just wash my hair with little bit of shampoo once a week. But before I do that I put some avocado and olive oil on my hair, cover my hair with a plastic cap, and them steam it. Once I've rinsed that all out
, then put some oil in my hair while its still damp, then braid. Any suggestions on what else I could use to moisturise? I ended up trimming my dry ends today. I got abit scissor happy at the back, but thankfully I calmed down lol. I would have loved to go to the hairdresser, but I live in a predominantly white area of the UK. The one black hairdresser I found told my sister that relaxer is good for your hair..... Needless to say I aint seen her since. But, thank you again for your advice. I'm definately gonna start tryna leave my braids in longer. Patience aint my strongest point, but im gonna have to work on that if I'm ever gonna grow my hair out.
I look forward to hearing more. I'm about to start browsing the site now!

Are you living in London, if so which part? If you're looking for a natural hairdresser then i can recommend Adornment in Brixton. I've been there myself and had the works and even though i forked out money for the treatment i was very pleased with the results. You can go there initially for a free consultation and then decide from there what you would like to do.
just a few questions to ask you
are you conditioning the hair after shampooing?
what is the shampoo you use?

I swear by shea butter (and water of course) and a leave in conditioner called shea moisture which i discovered last year. All natural. You'll be inundated with the wealth of info on the site i'm sure much of it will be of use to you. Good luck.