Regrowing African-American Hair Naturally

African-American women and men have various reasons for wanting to regrow their hair naturally. Some do it because a perm has destroyed their hair. Others do it to rid themselves of the fixation that straight and flowing hair is the only answer to beauty. Then there are those who just think dreadlocks, naturals, twists and braids are nice hairstyles. Regardless of the reasons, here are a few tips on regrowing your hair using natural products.

Things You'll Need

• Silk or satin head wrap Olive oil, cocoa butter or aloe vera Shampoo Conditioner Rubberbands Lock oil

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Instructions

• 1

  Cut or shave off brittle or weak hair. Some may not be ready for the bald look or want to have their hair cut short, but in order to get rid of all of the chemicals, the natural hair must start from scratch. Although there are some people who choose instead to just sweat their perm out or wait for hair to thicken, this might not be the ideal solution if the hair is already breaking off.

• 2

  Wrap hair in silk or satin head wraps to avoid the hair being pulled out. Whether hair is permed or not, cotton and linen tend to thin hair out and pull it out. With dreadlocks, using cotton wrap scarfs can leave lint in the hair. Satin and silk scarves have also been proven by several studies to help grow hair.

• 3

  Use natural products like olive oil, cocoa butter or aloe vera to oil your scalp. Whereas other hair textures need to be washed out almost daily to get rid of extra oils in hair, African-American hair takes days longer to get those excess oils. Oiling the scalp eliminates dandruff, itching and head sores. There are lots of other hair oil products, like Luster Pink Lotion and Parnevu, but read the label to make sure the chemicals included are OK.

• 4

  Twist African-American hair if you're not looking for the afro or braided look. Depending on how much hair you have, this can be a short or a long process. It requires parting a small section of hair, lightly separating the chunk into two pieces with oil on all of the hair, and then twisting it around in the form of a rope. If you want big twists, part larger lumps of hair; for smaller twists, use smaller lumps of hair.

• 5

  Wash hair as needed. Weekly or bi-weekly washing is generally recommended for African-American hair, but if there's dandruff or excessive itchiness, wash more often. Going back to Step 2, consider patting hair dry instead of rubbing it to avoid hair being pulled out while it's wet.

• 6

  Lock African-American hair by following Step 4. However, some people prefer to use rubberbands on both ends, towards the scalp and away from the scalp at the tips, to prevent unraveling while working out, in the shower or when the hair is washed. The point is to lock the hair in on both ends. It's much easier to lock thick, coarse hair than permed or straight hair, which is another reason to consider Step 1--shaving off or cutting the hair and starting from scratch.