Locked Hair Care

Excerpted from
Nice Dreads; Hair Care Basics and Inspiration: for Colored Girls Who've Considered Locking Their Hair
By Lonnice Brittenum Bonner

Massage

A five-minute scalp massage every day will do wonders for the circulation in the scalp and encourage maximum hair growth. Five minutes is manageable for virtually everyone, and for oily hair, massage is far superior to daily brushing with a hundred strokes. In fact, as discussed at length in my book Good Hair: For Colored Girls Who've Considered Weaves When the Chemicals Became Too Ruff, brushing techniques intended for naturally straight hair can encourage oily hair strands to snap.

To massage your scalp, you must position your hands and fingers so that the pads of the fingers, not the nails, make contact with your scalp.

Spread your fingers as shown in the photograph. Work the fingers into the hair so that the pads of the fingers lie on the scalp. Use the pads of the fingers to make circular motions on the skin of the scalp, not the hair itself. The pads of the fingers should make contact with the scalp as if you were bald. You can pinch and lift the skin and gently move the scalp back and forth to loosen it.

When the circulation is stimulated, the nutrients that nourish the roots of the hair are absorbed more efficiently. Think of massage as sowing a fertile scalp that will yield the healthiest locks possible.

Light Oil Treatments: Keeping Locked Hair Supple

Once or twice a week, following your daily five-minute scalp massage, indulge in a light oil treatment to keep locks supple.

Fill your thimble with oil, pour the oil into your palms, and rub your hands together to coat them evenly. Take a small section of locks-maybe ten at a time, depending on their thickness. Stroke your oiled palms gently but firmly down the length of the section of locks. Remember, less is more, and it is better to use oil by the thimbleful and be stingy with it than to saturate the locks with so much oil that it stains your clothing and linens. It may be a good rule not to use your best bed linens the night after any oil treatment, in case your locks have absorbed a lot of oil, the excess of which will end up staining your pillowcase and being ground into your facial skin.

Commercial Conditioning Products

A wide variety of commercial products is designed for locks, braids, and twists. For example, you can use organic botanic oils for deep conditioning and oil moisturizing. You can try oil moisturizing hair lotions to keep your locks supple and botanical treatments for itchy and dry scalp. My recommendation is to key the product(s) you like into your hair care system. Streamline your routine and spend your money on a favorite hair oil rather than trying and rejecting bottles of the latest hair cure-all. Read labels and be selective. My basic recommendation is to avoid products containing beeswax, mineral oil, and petrolatum.

As far as the flakiness was concerned, I discovered that the scarves were not the culprit. I simply began to shampoo and rinse more carefully, massaged and moisturized my scalp, and changed my scarves when they stopped smelling fresh. Bonus: Covering your locks at night also helps minimize lint deposits.

When I sleep, I take care that my hair is arranged in such a way that when I tie my scarf around it, it hangs down my back.

So the moral of this story is to put together a wardrobe of scarves so you can rotate your head rags. After all, would you wear the same clothes day after day? It's perfectly acceptable to slip your scarf under your pillow before you make your love connection. Later, when you're ready to go to sleep, under the cover of darkness, you slip it back on your head and everybody's happy. Put your locks to bed at night so you'll have lush and supple locks to swing over your shoulder tomorrow.