HARMATTAN HAIR CARE!

HARMATTAN!  HARMATTAN! HARMATTAN!

Seen many ladies asking for how to care for their hair during harmattan. Seriously harmattan is clearly no fun, it's really no fun for our natural hair, it's one of those crucial periods of a naturalista,  if you don't up your game, you might just loose all that hair your have been nurturing all this while. This season runs from ending of November right up to march of the following year, this could be a nightmare really, but that can only be if you let it.

Firstly let's understand what harmattan really is, it's a season of cold dry and dusty wind blowing over the west  Africa subcontinent,  this wind blows from the Sahara dessert to the gulf of guinea. Usually the northern areas are the real casualties of this harsh weather.

     Now a brief science of natural hair. Natural hair is very curly, it's pattern makes it impossible for the natural oil(sebum) secreted by the scalp to travel right up to the tip. Due to this our strands are left thirsty, and if neglected,  breakage will be the only outcome of such brittleness. 

Ok, now we know harmattan is dryness, and we also understand the true dry nature of natural hair, so figure out what will happen to hair that is naturally dry and prone to breakage when it is being exposed to such dry and dusty weather? Yea your guess is as good as mine, BREAKAGE,  will be the result of such exposure.

Well as naturalistas,  we do owe our hair some duty of care, especially during this period, it's the only way we can survive this harsh weather.

HARMATTAN HAIR CARE.

- First thing we need to keep far away from our hair is grease. In fact harmattan or no harmattan grease should not be anywhere near our hair, am bringing this up, because some naturalistas argue that they apply stuffs like blue magic on their hair and like it, well if you are one of those naturalistas,  then this is the time you don't want it near your hair. Sorry to say, but grease does not help in natural hair care, this is petroleum,  and just like any other petroleum based product is bad for hair. What happens is, it acts like a barrier to moisture when applied on hair, no moisture can penetrate your strands when grease is applied. Ever tried applying vaseline on your body then just put a few drops of water in the area? What happens is exactly what happens on your hair, the water just stays there or slides away, it does not penetrative the skin. Also aside preventing moisture from penetrating your hair, grease will act like a magnet to the dust carried along by harmattan. Ever noticed your hair changing colour during harmattan? (If your a grease fan)

- MOISTURE is the key of survival.you want to survive harmattan by experiencing no breakage? Then the only code you need is MOISTURE. Think and practice moisture throughout. When moisturising,  you pay more attention on the ends. The ends are  dry and fragile, therefore needs care, mishandling the ends will only be a disaster, because it will end up being brittle and will fall at every touch, trust me you don't want that for your hair. So when moisturising, be it through the LOC or LCO method, be sure to seal your ends.

          I have come with time to believe that we need more than the daily spritz on the mornings of this  weather condition. We need a way to let the hair absorb more moisture, and the best way to do this, is by just letting water run through your hair every morning. Instead of just applying your spritz and  dash out, just let water run through your hair for a couple of minutes,  then do not dry, just use an old t-shirt to wipe off excess dripping water, then let your hair absorb that water for as long as it can, just by letting it air dry, do the LOC/LCO method before it dries out completely. Applying oil and cream when hair is completely dry does not help with moisture. Let your hair moisturiser be water based. Carry your spritz around, get one in a small bottle that can enter your bag, when out, try to take a couple of min and just spritz. Also remember that what you take also help, this is the time to keep yourself Constantly hydrated by drinking a lot of water. 

- Protective styling could be a really great idea during this period, but also remember to care for your hair while on protective styling.

- Are you one of those naturalistas that had abandoned the good old hot oil treatment? If you are, then time to reinstate that in your regiment. Hot oil treatments and oil rinses could be a moisturiser booster during this period. If possible  keep your hot oil treatment all through the night. Also this is the perfect timing for GHE (green house effect) actually this will be a great time for placing yourself on the GHE challenge.

- Washing with shampoo should be minimised, say once in 3 weeks,  and Co wash as often as you can. This is a perfect time of just adding some oil in your conditioner, before cowashing. 

Lastly, DEEP CONDITIONING, this is Just a "no miss" during harmattan. Some naturalistas could be really lazy when it comes to weekly deep conditioning, but I can assure you this is the time to deep Condition religiously.  A weekly deep conditioning will do the trick.

If your a DIY naturalista,  then your Ingredients should be moisturising, items like palm oil,   ghee, lard, banana, bone marrow, shea butter etc should be primo in your ingredients. 

Also, we will be sealing in our deep conditioner, with shea butter, to maximise moisturising effect. This will mean applying shea butter on your hair just after applying your deep conditioner before covering with a plastic bag.

We know harmattan could be draining, but hey!  you have no reasons to be worried, for we got your back here we are with you all the way. 

Bless you.