Hello, my name is Bradley. I’m 16 years old and I am almost fully natural. I went natural twice. The first time was when I was a freshmen I did it for all the wrong reasons and when school started back up I decided to get a relaxer but now here I am junior year natural again. I’ve been 9 months natural I believe now and I am experiencing horrible times with my hair & I’m hoping you can assist me.

I started off doing all transitioning hair styles like braid-outs and twist-outs but sometimes I’d get impatient and just straighten it which is why I believe I now suffer from heat damage. I recently allowed my best friend to put a dark and lovely dye in my hair, probably the worst thing I could have ever done once I did that my hair has been extremely brittle & dry.

Maybe a month later I got most of my permed ends cut off by a hair stylist she also blow dried and straightened my hair twice!

Ever since then I’ve been just doing twist out’s in my hair but it is still very dry and shedding like crazy. The ends of my hair are also very thin but I think it just might be more permed ends.

My mother is also trying to influence me to get a keratin treatment and I really am unsure of what to do. Please if you can help me, You’d be a real life saver. Thank you and have a blessed day.

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Hello Bradely,

Thank you for your visit and your question. I really hope I can help but the work is truly up to you. I wonder what the wrong reasons were to go natural and it would be interesting to know why you decided to go natural again.

Having said that, the first thing I would suggest is staying away from heat but from your message, I think you already got that. Straightening and blow drying can also irreversibly damage your strands if you do it too often or if the appliances are too hot.

I am not sure if you suffered from heat damage but as you mentioned dying your hair was not a very good move. Dying can also damage your hair. The ingredients are dry out the strands excessively and if you don’t take care for your hair properly your hair will feel dry and brittle as you described. A Keratin treatment at this point would be a serious disaster.

Deep Treatment

Since I can’t see the extend of the damage and I get the feeling that you want to keep your hair rather than go for another cut, I hope the following steps will help your strands to recover.

To revitalize your hair and remove whatever toxins or product residue I would begin with the complete Detox Treatment. Both the Olive Soap and the Rhassoul Clay are very gentle, yet they intensely clean hair and scalp. Your hair will finally feel soft again as it should.

I would also recommend you buy a Tangle Teezer. This brush was invented to gently detangle color treated hair to prevent damage. The teeth pull less and help you detangle your hair easily. Never use the Tangle Teezer on dry hair though because your hair is dry and brittle. Using any tool on damaged hair will only make it worse. So make sure you always use it in combination with a moisturizer. In your case I would recommend the Silky Shea Hair Butter. It is very rich and will deeply moisturize your strands.

Here is a tip: add some Silky Shea on the needles of the brush then brush your hair. Not only will the brush easily glide through your hair, your strands will also feel soft and supple immediately.

I hope this helps. Good luck and please keep us posted if you will.