Titi's Prescriptions for January's Winning Bloggers

January Winner: True2Self, see blog
Prescription: College stress can have a huge impact on how hair grows and behaves . It may influence whether your hair is in a healthy state or not. You may steer clear of this problem by getting a great conditioner that provides nourishment on a weekly basis. You mentioned Rapid Recovery. This deep conditioner not only nourishes the hair with moisture but also promotes strength with impacting ingredients such as Shea Butter and Almond Oil, so when those stressful days come along it is protected with nutrients that the deep conditioner provides, no more brittle ends. Curly Pudding will assist you with length, shine and hold, what we all desire. Curly Pudding does not feel like gel, it gives your hair a natural look and natural hold, it will not feel crunchy. I suggest also to start using a non sulfate shampoo such as Crème de la Curl that helps the hair be softer. If you need suds use Super Slip Sudsy Shampoo once a month for a deep cleanse. As your hair continues to grow nourish it with Curly or Baby Buttercreme which are daily moisturizers. These magnificent emulsions will add moisture to the hair and is a quick solution on those dry or cold days. Good Luck with school!

January Winner: prettybrwnangel, see blog
Prescription: Congratulations for going all-natural. I am glad the video “how to” helped you in this matter. I see that you are a great fan of the Rapid Recovery. Conditioners help the hair become smooth and soft so when you do your two strand twist, you can minimize frizz and your hair will look and feel soft. You mentioned that your biggest problem was dryness. Try this for one month and see if any changes happen, on a daily or once a week basis use Crème de la Curl as a cleansing crème, our non - sulfate shampoo, if you need to use a shampoo with suds use Super Slip Sudsy Shampoo for a deeper cleansing.

Continue to condition with Crème de la Crème then Rapid Recovery. These two powerful conditioners will soften the hair giving it shine softness and most important strength. Very important always comb and detangle hair with conditioner when it is wet. Never comb hair when its dry, again this will prevent brittle ends and will prevent it from having dryness further. To style, I suggest using Baby Buttercreme or Curly Buttercreme for two strand twist since your hair is on a constant dry state, this is going to nourish your hair and retain moisture. As for shrinkage can I suggest you do your two strand twist on hair that is dry and blown out? This will give your hair more length. Good luck with your transitioning and hope you get well soon!

January Winner: CrescentCityQT, see blog
Prescription: Thank you for sharing your experience about your hair of the past 12 years. Transitioning is not easy; one must know what they are getting into before doing so, especially when it comes to natural hair. Now that you are ready to transition to natural hair this is what you need to do to have a healthy new growth.

Start with a daily routine, this routine should include Baby Buttercreme or Curly Buttercreme, these will prevent the new growth from becoming brittle and will deliver moisture which curly kinky and wavy hair lack. Next, start your weekly routine, this will be “maintenance” that means using Crème de la Curl , which is a cleansing crème with no sulfates or detergent, this will help with the dryness that you have been experiencing for a long time, this cleansing crème will not strip the moisture. If you need suds use Super Slip Sudsy Shampoo once a month or twice. After rinsing off the Crème de la Curl or Super Slip Sudsy Shampoo , use Rapid Recovery treatment this will amplify moisture and potency, this will also prevent split ends, which you have been experiencing a lot in the past years.

Finally to style you hair I suggest that you stick to for the first 6 month to the daily moisturizers because the need of moisture and repair of hair follicles, it seems this has been one of your challenges. Once the hair reaches a good length then you may be able to use Curly Pudding to Shingle or Two-Strand Twist( you may do this also with Baby or Curly Buttercreme). Good luck with the Big Chop and remember you have been through worse situations, so this will be a breeze.

January Winner: MrsBates, see blog
Prescription: One of the biggest challenges for us Curlies is keeping hair moisturized, manageable and healthy. Getting information regarding curly hair used to be hard but we are here to change that. You mentioned that your hair has various textures. This may be is due to flat ironing on high temperature settings. Straight styling is always a catch-22 because you never know when that one time ( and it only takes one) you stright styled your hair whether your hair may end up limp and straight as if it's relaxed. This will leave your scratching your head because you just spent 4 months growing in natural textured hair only to have to cut out the straight hair all over again because it has been thermally damaged by heat. It sounds like your challenged by geting all of your textures to look consistent. You should do this with a textured style. A twist out is fine and if the ends are straight then you need to put a rod on the end. Or you can do a spiral rod set. These are your options unless you are prepared to cut off all your hair to the texture that is consistent. 4 months into transitioning means you will be left with about 2" of hair. You have to be ready for this. It doesn't sound like you are ready . So you have to do what you're doing and take it one step at a time. The longer you go without relaxing your hair, the longer your natural hair will be. Perhaps then you will have the courage to cut off those relaxed ends.

In the meantime you want to keep your hair as healthy as possible. I would suggest Crème de la Curl and Rapid Recovery every week in the shower without skipping. Although it will not make your straight hair sections curly again, it will nourish the new growth providing them with moisture. To style your hair I suggest you use a light product such as Quick Curls, do a twist out or a spiral set. This crème has minimal hold but it will keep the various hair textures organized, until you cut off the straight areas. If dealing with your transitioning texture becomes overwhelming braiding the hair has become a savior to most transitioners. The braiding process will keep hair you from focusing on how disparate the textures are and will keep your hands out of your hair! If you venture into braids continue to use the Crème de la Curl when you wash your braids. Use Curly Buttercreme as a daily moisturizer which stimulates the scalp and cools it at the same time while delivering moisture to the roots and delivering suppleness. The process does become easier once you have more natural length. Keep your eye focused on the goal of the 1 yr mark when you can look forward to 6 " of natural length. Maybe then you will be ready to go all natural once you have the length and cut off the relaxed ends. Your hair will certainly be a lot easier to style once you have one texture. Stay strong and good luck.