1. Are you tired of wearing weaves and braids that are costing you huge amounts of money every year?

2. Are you stressed out about your hair breaking off around the edges or on the hair shaft?

3. Do you want to have your own hair that is long and full?

4. Do you want fabulous healthy hair all the time?

If your answer is “Yes,” to at least one of these questions, then Girl Get Your Hair Back! will move you into the right direction to get your hair growing healthy, full and long. There are only a few practical hair techniques for great hair. Why waste money, time and effort with false advertisements that don’t deliver what they promise, when having your own beautiful hair is so easy to do?

Like many black women, I got fed up with my hair not growing very healthy and long. After researching about black hair composition, I started wearing my hair without any chemicals. At first it was challenging because I was still trying to style it straight and wear the very trendy hair styles. But it wasn’t until 2002 that I started to find new ways to style my natural hair without all the fuss of straightening it.

To have beautiful hair only requires a few easy steps that you may be surprised about. It is completely natural for you to have beautiful hair and you can have the information today on what it takes to get the hair you want. Girl, it’s time to get your hair back!

Although Fantasia has been known to have some real exotic hair styles, she has definitely had some head turners. I love this curly bob look. I think it fits her face perfectly, giving her a soft look with a little bit of edge.

As many of you know, Fantasia Barrino won the third season of American Idol at just 19 and her life has never been the same. Her first album went platinum; her autobiographical book made the New York Times bestseller list and lifetime made a movie about her based on her book. She was even fortunate to land the lead role in Oprah Winfrey’s Broadway production of The Color Purple. Whew! She was busy.

But then things started to turn for the worse in her professional career and personal life. Her second album didn’t sell so well and she had to support a family of six. So VH1 has created a new reality show “Fantasia for Real,” premiering Monday (January 11) at 10/9c following Fantasia as she takes care of her family while building her career.

After you watch the show, post your comments.

It’s summertime and for some people in certain parts of the world, that means hot, humid days. And for the most part hair and humidity don’t usually work together. There are many products that do try to fight humidity, but at the end of the day, your hair can only take so much of hair care products and styling tools before it gets damaged. I always recommend wearing your hair curly in humid days. I also think that natural curls go really well in the summertime. No matter how hot it can get, genetics and environment always win and a natural curl is the best way to go. For more info on curls visit www.curlista.com. They are a great website for “chasing the perfect curl.”Now I know not everybody is going to wear their hair curly, so if straight is still what you want, try these steps to fight humidity:

1. Shampoo and condition your hair like you usually do.
2. After you towel dry your hair, apply a silicone serum to your hair. Look at my past blog to see which silicone serums are the best for our hair.
3. Apply a styling lotion or spray gel. Not too much, some products cause flaking.
4. Blow-dry your hair and then go over it with a flat iron.
5. Smooth over the ends with a pomade. This will help keep the ends intact.
6. Finish with a very light application of medium hold hair spray, preferably aerosol.

Your hair should be looking fab after this!

The best way to get rid of split ends, formally called trichoptilosis, is to avoid getting them in the first place. I say that because if you have them, the only way to get rid of them is to cut them off. The primary cause of split ends is due to physical stress to hair from heat or styling. Split ends are more likely to form on a hair that has been snapped or broken from yanking a comb through tangled hairs of from excessive use of chemicals, such as relaxers. Dying hair may also strip protective layers off the outside of the hair shaft and thereby weaken the hair. I know it is irritating when you see them and you can’t make them totally go away. So I wrote a list to of things you can do to minimize split ends.

1.     The number one suggestion I would give is use plenty of conditioner when washing your hair.

2.     It’s very important for to be moisturized.  Make sure to moisturize the ends, liberally.

3.     Try your best to keep heat styling to a minimum.  That means cutting down the use of hot combs, flat and curling irons and blow dryers

4.     Use a wide tooth comb as you gently comb the ends when hair is tangled.  This will not pull at the ends of your hair to make it break off.

5.    There is no hair repair product that will repair the hair, but it will minimize the stray hair look you hate to see.

It use to be unheard of for African American women to dye their hair any color other than their natural dark tresses. However, due to high profile celebrities such as Mary J Blige, Tyra Banks and Mary Mary, who sport colors anywhere from platinum blonde to hot, fiery red, dark colors have been a thing of the past. Often times when celebrities are seen wearing new, cute hair styles, the mainstream wants to follow.

All of this is fine, but whenever you have dark colored hair and you want to dye your hair from dark to light, you run the risk of seriously damaging your hair. To get the blonde, brown, and red colors, the dyes have to penetrate the cortex of the hair.* Additionally, if you have dyed hair that is relaxed or that you straighten with blow dryers, curling or flat irons, this almost guarantees damaged hair, even to the point of breakage. Of course it is advertised that changing your hair color is a simple process that will soften, condition and moisturize your hair. However, the potential exist for hair to become extremely damaged.

How do I dye my hair without damaging it?

To avoid less damage to your hair try these three options:

1. If having dyed hair is preferred, dying it in its natural hair color will be less damaging.

2. If your hair is dyed, make sure to moisturize everyday. Dye dries out the hair and adding moisturizers will help to keep it moist and soft. Girl, Get Your Hair Back! explains what moisturizers are most appropriate for your hair.

3. Lastly, when shopping for hair color, be aware of the different types of hair coloring products. Compare and decide what dye would be best for you.

A. Temporary hair dye is great for first timers who want to try new colors. Temporary dye can be the least damaging because it has no penetrating dyes that physically alter the internal hair structure. It only coats the outside of the hair shaft.
B. Semi-permanent dye has the least amount of ingredients that can affect the internal composition of your hair. This dye is not as stable as permanent dye and is washed out after a few shampoos.

C. If you want to make subtle changes in your hair color or to cover some gray, demi-hair dye is the way to go. It does contain ingredients identical to permanent hair color but with much lower concentrations.
D. If covering large amounts of gray is your goal and you don’t mind getting touched up as fading and grow-out will occur, then permanent dyes is what you want to use. It makes a considerable permanent change in hair color. This dye has the highest amounts of ingredients that can affect the internal composition of your hair. If you ever want to get rid of this color in the future, it will be necessary to either dye it a color that matches your natural hair color or have it cut out.
E. If you are concerned about grow-out and fading, then progressive hair color is great. This dye gradually accumulates on the outside of the hair shaft or just under the outside altering the hair shade with a blanket color. As you discontinue using this type of dye, it begins to fade gradually.

*How Stuff Works http://science.howstuffworks.com/hair-coloring3.htm