Why Is Her Hair Longer Than Mine? We Went Natural At The Same Time!!

I don't know how many times I've heard or saw this question.  I would definitely have my MacBook Pro if I was given $5 for every time I heard it!  LoL.  Have you asked this question, whether to yourself or out loud?  What was your answer?

That's Knot A Good Bobby Pin To Use!

Snag!  Yup, that's what some bobby pins do to your hair.  Just because you have them laying around, doesn't mean you need to use them.  I do a search and 'throw out' of my bobby pins when I am either using them to create a hairstyle, when I see them laying around somewhere in the house and/or when I'm going through my stash of products and tools.

Well I don't know which ones to throw away Kinky!  Have no fear, Kinky is here!! (cue superhero music while Kinky stands with her hands on her hips, cape blowing in the wind). Hehehe.

I'm going to label 'A' as a silent offender.  Some Kinkies may think that it is okay to use silent offenders but trust me, if you have ANY bobby pins with one or more of the ball tips missing, I suggest you throw them out!!  Not only can using these contribute to you getting split or frayed ends, it can also cause you to scratch and possibly damage your scalp, depending on how you're putting them in your hair.  These pins are silent but deadly!

'B' is alright with me!!  'B' has both ball tips and is smooth all the way around.  'B' has no ridges when you slide your finger along the coating that keeps the ball tips in place.  These are the bobby pins that you SHOULD keep.  Sporadically, you should inspect them after multiple uses, to ensure they are still smooth all around and not turning into a silent offender or 'C' bobby pin.  I have found that even new bobby pins, namely some of the ones from the dollar store/Dollar Tree, can be brand 'new' yet need to be thrown out as they are not of good quality and/or have those ridged surfaces I mentioned before.

The 'C' bobby pin is the blatant offender.  If you use these in your hair then you are asking for trouble in the split and snagged ends area.  Depending on how you put the bobby pin in your hair, you also run the risk of snagging other parts of your hair.  I have personally run into this and I had to carefully and strategically remove them from my hair.  No, I didn't purposely use a damaged bobby pin - either I did not know it was snagged when I put it in (lack of inspection) or somehow, some way, it became snagged while in my hair.  Nonetheless, I ensured that once removed it made it's way to the garbage, where it served it's life sentence.

Well, I hope this helps some Kinkies.  As with some of the hair products we use, we also need to be careful when using some styling tools.  Thanks for reading and be sure to check me out on Facebook, Kinky Kinetik.  As always, Keep It Kinky!!

Long Hair, Don't Care?!? Uh, Well You Should!

So, thanks to Lil' Wayne, men and women alike are going around shouting 'long hair, don't care.' Contrary to belief, you SHOULD care!!

Some women may be obsessed with long hair.  I can admit, that I DO want my hair to be long... just as it was when I had a perm.  However, I do also want it to be healthy.  The thing some fail to realize is that just because your hair is long, it doesn't mean that it is healthy!  At what LENGTH will you go to, just to say you have LONG hair? (pun intended) Your LONG hair can be dull, dry, lifeless and have SPLIT ENDS!!

What causes split ends Kinky?  How can I prevent them?  Some causes of split ends can be:

~Brushing and/or back-teasing you hair,
~Combing hair while it is dry (especially AA hair),
~Not conditioning (and moisturizing) your hair,
~Chemicals (perms, dyes, etc.),
~Not trimming when needed,
~Your clothes (yep, your hair can snag on shirts, sweaters, hats and scarves), 
~Excessive use of heat, and
~Trimming with inferior scissors (household or kitchen scissors that are dull).

What can I do to prevent split ends Kinky?  You can search AND destroy!!

Besides doing the opposite of what is listed above, you can do a search in destroy.  A S & D is when you take portions of your hair at a time and trim off fairy knots and split ends.  Some may elect to do this as opposed to actually trimming their hair entire head.

Well I ain't trimming my hair!!  How will it GROW if I keep cutting it?!?  To be honest, you really SHOULD cut those fairy knots and trim those split ends.  Why you ask?  Because they are making matters worst for your hair.  And yes, your hair may still grow with the split ends; however, you also risk the 'split' traveling up the shaft of your hair. You risk your beautiful tresses breaking.  You risk those split ends affected the other strands on your naturally, beautiful hair.

So kinkies... I say go for it, trim those ends, do a dusting, search and destroy!!  It seems that that's the only way to get rid of split ends.  Some products out there, such as Nexxus ProMend, allege that they repair split ends as follows:

My only thing is, I have to see it to believe it... I don't know of any PROVEN product, or protein treatment, that repairs hair as above.

If not interested in dusting and you're not sure of how to go about trimming your hair, try using the picture below as a model.  I've actually watched YouTube videos and know of people that use the method below.  A few nights ago when I twisted my hair, I cut the ends based on the same principle.

Here is a picture of some types of split ends:

I hope that the information above has helped you in some way.  Feel free to comment as well as let me know if I missed anything.