Hello 2011! If you haven’t been serious about your haircare in the past, stop feeling guilty. It’s a new year and a new you.
It’s time for me to show you MY HAIR FILE.
So as of November 2010, this is my hair and I still can’t believe it.
I needed to know if the our last hair time with Canadian model Shiya Zhao was a fluke. I needed to know that she could give us another incredible hair photo. Why? Just because. Wouldn’t you know it, Flare Magazine (Canada) used her again? Thank you Flare. You decide if it’s a hair crush, hair lust or hair inspiration.
Beautiful. Your own hair doesn’t have to look exactly like someone else’s hair in order for you to be inspired but it wouldn’t hurt to have this hair.
IT’S CALLED EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HAIR LUST.
What I’ve tested: Mane ‘n Tail Conditioner
Ingredients:
Water, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine Lactate, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Glycerine, Isostearamidopropylmorpholine Lactate, Vegetable Oil, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Fragrance, Coconut Oil, Wheat Protein, Tocopherol, Panthenol, FD&C Blue No. 1, FD&C Yellow No. 5, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone.
WHAT IT PROMISES:
Promises a lustrous, silky mane! Originally created to promote fuller, stronger, flowing manes on show horses, people continue to discover this long hair solution for themselves.
An exclusive original, highly concentrated formula with a unique action that helps to maintain and achieve a longer, healthier-looking mane and tail. Keeps hair renewed and healthy while achieving longer, stronger, fuller looking and feeling hair. The Original Mane ‘n Tail Conditioner can be used as a leave-in or rinse-out based on hair type and desired look. Results can be seen after one application.
Works 5 Ways:
[1]Conditions and fortifies hair and skin for a renewed, lustrous, healthy look.
[2]Helps prevent hair breakage and split ends.
[3]Natural oils nourish and condition scalp to protect against unsightly flaking and scaling.
[4]Essential moisturizing corrects the drying effect caused by sun, wind and use of bleach and peroxide lighteners.
[5]Keeps hair tangle free, soft and manageable for grooming and braiding.
HOW TO USE: For best results begin with deep moisturizing shampoo. After rinsing remove excess water. The amount of product to use will vary with hair volume and length. Massage Mane ‘n Tail Deep Moisturizing Conditioner into scalp and hair, leave on for 1 to 2 minutes and then rinse thoroughly. Style as usual.
VERDICT:
This is a keeper. This protein conditioner is a great product, a great buy and it’s especially beneficial for thin hair. You may find your hair feels softer and looks shinier. PURCHASE THIS!
What I’ve tested: Mane ‘n Tail Shampoo
Ingredients:
Water, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine Cocamide DEA, Glycol Distearate, Sodium Chloride, Propylene Glycol, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Citric Acid, Methylchloroisothiazolinone/Methylisothiazolinone, Butylphenyl Methylpropional
WHAT IT PROMISES:
Cleanses hair thoroughly, yet will not strip natural oils
Rich, fragrant lather provides body, shine and manageability
Safe for color-treated and permed hair
Ideal for all hair types
HOW TO USE:
For Human Use: Wet hair and apply The Original Mane ‘n Tail Shampoo.The amount used will vary depending on the volume and length of hair.Work through hair with fingertips rinse thoroughly and follow with an application of The Original Mane ‘n Tail Conditioner. For Animal Use: Pre-wet the coat with clear water to remove excessive, loose dirt. Add a liberal amount of Mane ‘n Tail Shampoo into a bucket of water. Apply shampoo solution with a sponge and massage until a rich lather appears. Allow lather to remain on the hair for several minutes. Rinse until water runs clear. Towel dry. For best results: After shampooing, an application of conditioner is recommended.
VERDICT: 
This shampoo is GREAT FOR THIN HAIR. It doesn’t weigh it down and hair feels more voluminous. It does cleanse well, maybe a little too well as it can leave your hair feeling stripped. It is a protein shampoo, so the “stripped” feeling doesn’t surprise me. The key is to NOT move your hair around or to move it as little as possible when this product is in your hair. Let the water you use to rinse your hair of the shampoo do all of the work for you.
You’d expect this product to have a heavy scent but quite the contrary. It has a light scent. No need to use large amounts of it because it lathers extremely well. It’s definitely for all hair types. Whether you purchase the travel size, the 8 ounce bottle or the 32 ounce bottle, it’s affordable.
This product lasts a long time. Always remember to follow up with a moisturizing conditioner or you could end up with some serious tangles. Overall, your hair will feel stronger and look shiner.
My hair was growing but it wasn’t evident to me because it was the same length it had always been. I had no clue why my hair wasn’t long so I attributed it to “the curse” that most Black and most African women believe about coily and tightly curled hair.
We are condemened to have short, unruly and unmanageable hair.
When I finally convinced myself that long hair was possible for me, I thought about the women I looked up to when I was little and this woman immediately popped into my head. Every time I saw her on the screen, I had to stop what I was doing just to stare at her.
To me, she was a GODDESS. She was everything a woman should be: strong, beautiful, compassionate, determined. She was Wonder Woman and her hair was amazing.
No other woman on television, even though I was watching re-runs, looked like this woman. She was flawless.
And she even hung out with the puppets!
So yes, Wonder Woman, the beautiful Lynda Carter was my Hair Inspiration. If my hair was going to be longer then I wanted it to look like her hair.
Hmmm…judging from the frustration I see in your face I’m guessing you’re having hair issues? Ah I see. So, you want to grow your hair.
One of the most difficult steps in growing your hair is the first step, making a firm commitment. Difficult? I realize this sounds ridiculous but it’s true. Too many of us have started taking care of our hair only to give up a month or two later.
There’s always some excuse that seems fitting at the time: the hair products don’t work, the hair pills are duds, the vitamins aren’t working fast enough, etc. As much as we’d like to grow 6 inches of hair within a month’s time it’s just not realistic (though a beautiful fantasy indeed). If we don’t see evidence of hair growth within a short period, we give up and lay the blame elsewhere.
Seriously – stop pulling your hair out and continue reading.
Here’s the elephant in the room that everyone is blind to until they’re told to look for it. Ready? Your hair is growing right now. It was growing yesterday. It was growing two months ago and it will be growing tomorrow. Ok. Can you see the elephant now? Sort of? Now look down to the next paragraph.
Ok there you are – hello again. Since your hair is growing (yes, right now) the trick is not necessarily HOW DO I MAKE MY HAIR GROW, the trick is HOW DO I KEEP THE HAIR I’M GROWING ATTACHED TO MY HEAD? Ok, can you see it now?
Aha! It’s the elephant! Unh huh, right there. Yes, huge. Yes, I know. How could you NOT see it before – I knoooooow.
In order to answer the question HOW DO I GROW MY HAIR, you have to ask and answer the question How do I keep the hair I’m gowing ON MY HEAD?
With HAIR THERAPY? Yes, but not in the way you’re probably thinking right now. Remember my first post? Well I go back to that anyway. Here’s a snippet: Simply, the problem with your hair (most likely) isn’t the products you’re using, it’s you. In order to make improvements you need to rehabilitate your mind, the way you think about hair and the way you care for your hair. How you handle your hair determines how your hair turns out. That’s hair therapy.
You determine whether or not you (or anyone else for that matter) can see a definite progression in your hair growth. I’m so happy we’re clear about this now.
Have you ever looked through the hair aisle or hair section of a store? Let’s use CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart, Walgreens and supermarkets, in general, as examples. What have you noticed about the isle or section devoted to hair care? Anything?
What I notice is the blaring separation of everything BLACK (as in Black people and their hair) and OTHER (everything hair-related not pertaining to Black people and their “special” hair).
Why create and maintain this separation? There’s a wall up; an us versus them. So, who gets to be labeled “us” and who wears the Scarlet Letter we label as “them”?
Is the hair belonging to a Black or African person so very different from the hair belonging to an Indian, Asian or Caucasian person (and all the other groups I’ve failed to mention)?
The answer is no. Just because hair appears to be different doesn’t mean it is. Hair (in mammals) is composed primarily of keratin and we know from research that keratin is protein. Hair also contains carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, amino acids and a high amount of sulfur along with trace amounts of iron, arsenic, chromium, magnesium and other minerals. So, in other words, my hair is made up of the same things that any Asian, Indian or Caucasian person’s hair is made of. The same things that make an Asian person’s hair grow make an Indian person’s hair grow. Hair is hair.
The misconception that it’s all different prevents us from learning the proper ways to care for hair and I mean all hair. This is why many Black men and women don’t venture out of the Black hair section and why many Caucasian men and women don’t venture into the Black hair care section. Isn’t cheap shampoo cheap just shampoo? If a product sucks it usually means it will suck for everyone. I look at the product and not the color of the model on the bottle.
To separate hair care products according to skin color or cultural background is just as preposterous as separating them into these two categories:
SKINNY HUMANS versus NON-SKINNY HUMANS.
A well-formulated bottle of conditioner works well on hair whether the hair belongs to an Eskimo, a child from Pakistan, a man from Sudan or a long-haired Native American woman. Why? Because all four of these people have hair composed of the same ingredients.
Whether or not someone else’s hair appears to be different from yours, don’t assume it is. “Hair care” should be just that; care for hair in general. Not black hair care products. Not white hair care products. Not “us” on one side and “them” on the other side.
I used “black hair care” products for most of my life. I was told they were best for my hair but the truth is they weren’t. Walking to the “black hair care section” became instinctual. It never even crossed my mind to look in the “white hair care section” (which was the rest of the hair care isle), not even for shampoo. I was brainwashed into believing they were the only products I could use in my hair because my hair was radically different from everyone else’s hair. Funny,when I started choosing hair products based on their ingredients, I finally got what I wanted whereas the “black”products never felt like they were worth my hard-earned an hard-saved money.
It’s a jungle out there and for some of us, it’s hair war. Either way we’re in it together, one shampoo and one conditioner at a time.
If your goal is: 1) to improve the condition of your hair and/or 2) to grow your hair and you have
——–> Naturally straight thin hair
——–> Relaxed hair
Here’s the first crazy thing you need to do – THROW OUT YOUR HAIR BRUSH.
You read that correctly. Why?
Because brushing your hair is like
getting a mini-haircut every time
you use it on your hair.
Yes, throw it out and don’t look back.
Yes, those hair brushes too. No, you don’t have to throw out your heirloom hairbrushes your grandmother gave you. Gosh, I’m not heartless; put them in storage. Don’t go back into your trash to dig for it and don’t hide one or two of them around the house just in case. Let it go. It’s easier than it sounds but it’s not so difficult to live without a hair brush. You won’t end up hurling yourself out of a window because of it. As time goes by you’ll realize “It’s not that serious. I don’t need it to survive.”
Didn’t I just say NO hair brushes?
If your goal is: 1) to improve the condition of your hair and/or 2) to grow your hair and you have
——–> Naturally coily hair
——–> Naturally straight medium to thick hair
You can use a hairbrush but limit how often you use it. The best one to use is a Denman brush with nylon pins.
If only I were paid to say this. A Denman will be less damaging than other hair brushes and always remember to be gentle. Just because this type of brush is less damaging to your hair, compared to other brushes, it doesn’t give you carte blanche to go crazy. Never brush your hair mindlessly. Always have a purpose.
So you’ve always wanted to grow your hair. Wishes, prayers, sacrifices and maybe even a little voodoo or witchcraft still haven’t gotten you what you want. Growing your hair should not be an odyssey…a long, wandering, arduous, very eventful journey. It is, however, more like an expedition – a journey organized for a particular purpose. Now I realize the word expedition conjures up images of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones or maybe Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft leaping from trees and cliffs, running through the jungle to escape capture from a tribe of cannibals or digging through tunnels to find long-lost treasure. Although Indiana Jones and Lara Croft accomplished what they set out to do, not all thrill seekers get the job done. Hearts can and will be broken; legs for that matter can and will be broken. Needless to say, there is no quick fix. If you feel like this is what you’ve been “growing” through (wink) when it comes to your hair, I apologize in advance. Growing your hair should never be that difficult.Chances are, it’s HAIR LUST, a HAIR CRUSH or your HAIR INSPIRATION.
I love the hair in these photos of Somalian model Fatima Siad in the June 2010 Issue of Marie Claire (US). The look was created with use of extensions but who cares. Fake it ’til you make it right? This is definitely an inspirational look that we all can aspire to.
IT’S CALLED EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HAIR LUST.
thehairfiles.com 
