FOR STRETCHERS!!!

Dealing with your demarcation line can be difficult. The new growth you have is stronger than your relaxed ends and this makes handling it nightmarish at times, because it has a tendancy to break at the point where new growth and relaxer meet. However if you read the tips below they could just save you a lot of hair breakage and heart breakage.

1 WORK WITH YOUR CURL

Rather than fighting your natural kink, go with it. Use two strand twists/braid outs to style your hair.

2 DEEP CONDITION

If you are not deep conditioning already start now! You will find that over time as you deep condition the new growth will become softer and more manageable. For ways it increase the effectiveness of your deep conditioning visit Increase your Africurlology opposite and Boosting your Conditioners

3 HANDLE GENTLY/LOW MANLIPULATION

Use a wide tooth comb or better still finger comb. The less you handle your hair, the less chance there is of it breaking. Choose the hair style you wear carefully, be mindful that if it requires a lot of combing to achieve it, you are stressing out your hair with each stroke of the brush or comb.

4 BRAIDS/CORNROWS

Wearing braids/cornrows is an excellent way to minimise damage to your demarcation line. As the demarcation line is enclosed there is little chance of it being damaged.

5 NATURAL HAIR SOFTENERS

Consider using a home made natural hair softener to soften up your new growth, they contain ingredients such as Black strap Mollases and Coconut cream . When applied you will find your new growth softens up quickly making it easier to handle. For recipes and photos visit Natural Hair Softeners

6 HAIR DRYING METHODS

Applying leave-in conditioner, hair lotion and/or natural oil to damp hair after washing, and then letting your hair air dry will go a long way towards reducing the amount of poofiness at the root of your hair. Also using method such as the No! method of drying your hair may reduce poofiness at the root. Essentially you apply your "leave ins" and then shake your head from side to side as if your saying no. Afterwards you allow the hair to air dry. The key is not to use a towel to dry your hair, due to the fact it will frizz the hair and disturb the wet curl pattern. Visit Growing Natural hair "drying" section for a full explaintion of the and No! method.

7 ALOE VERA

Using pure Aloe vera gel on your new growth when it is soaking wet after washing and conditioning can be a way of minimising the texture difference from new growth to relaxed ends. Ideally air dry afterwards. As with any product used on your hair results can vary.

8 OCCASIONAL HEAT

If you really need to wear your hair straight , roller set , dry and then flat iron your roots. Do no use the flat iron again during the week. To maintain your hair wrap it at night, use a silky scarf, moisturise and seal your hair daily. There are pitfalls with this method as you may be tempted to use hair straightners daily, which will simply lead to more hair breakage. Generally speaking this method should be reserved for hair that has good elastisity and is in good condition. If your hair currenly breaks at the slightest touch do not use this method instead visit How to stop Black Hair breakage

9 Anti-frizz Serum

Apply anti frizz serum to soaking wet hair which has been previously deep condition. This can help to retain the softeness achieved by the deep conditioning