Is It Safe To Permanently Color Natural Hair?

I always advise women who have relaxers to avoid getting permanent color.  This is because having two chemicals at once can be detrimental to the hair and almost always results in damage.  It is very hard to keep the hair healthy when you have two chemicals.  My advice is to pick which one you want more, the color or the relaxer.  If you have natural hair and are looking to get permanent color, it is very safe to do so.  You only have one chemical in the hair so as long as you take care of your hair by keeping it moisturized you will be fine.  This is what the client I had today did. 

She does not have a relaxer but wanted to change her hair color.  I gave her some hi-lites mostly in the top of her head to give the effect that the color was all over.  Then I began my silk press process and made sure to give her a moisture treatment using Silk Hydration by L. Jones products.  After, I began styling to give her the results you see below.

I also trimmed her hair which was already cut in layers (by me) on a previous visit.  She really liked her hair and could not stop swinging it when she got out of my chair.

To take care of this, all she needs to do is wrap it every night.  Since she is relaxer free, she will need to make sure she stays away from rain or any humidity or her hair will revert back to its curly state. So, to answer our main question, the answer is yes it is safe to permanently color natural hair!  As long as you only go 2-3 shades lighter than your natural color you are in good shape.  If you are wanting to go from black to platinum blonde that is another story.  To make a long story short, do not do that!!  This client had dark brown hair, almost off black so this shade is perfectly fine for her but I would not go any lighter.  Remember, you always want your hair to be healthy.  If you want something that is not 100% healthy for your hair, I would recommend using extensions (which can be purchased at www.ljoneshaircollection.com) to help you get the look you want so that you are not damaging your own hair.

Need a reminder on how to wrap your hair? See the video below:

How To Stretch Your Relaxer Series (week 9)

I am so happy to hear that all of you who are keeping up with this series are enjoying it!  Anything I can do to help you ladies get healthy hair is always a plus for me.  This week I decided to play with a little weave.  I did not do this for the first two months because my priority is to help you get your natural hair healthy first. Weave should always be an option, not a requirement.  But weave does help if you simply think your hair is unruly but are still not ready for a relaxer just yet.  And it is extremely convenient.  I put on "Stacey" this week, which is the name of this wig, or removable sew in. I made her myself with hair from my collection (www.ljoneshaircollection.com) Below is how I braided my hair up first and put her on.  I started, of course, by prepping the hair with Silk Hydration by L. Jones Extreme Clean shampoo.  I used this twice before using the Silk Hydration by L. Jones Daily Conditioner.  After rinsing and towel drying my hair I then sprayed Silk Hydration by L. Jones Leave-In Conditioner in it and let it air dry overnight.  I tied it down while it was wet so that my edges and roots would be very flat and not require much heat at all to get straight.  I then braided my hair up, sewed my wig on, and voila!

Silk Hydration by L. Jones Products

As some of you may know, I have my very own product line!  By that I mean I have formulas to each of my products which I take ingredients and make all of the products from scratch.  I do not use any "bases" and simply add a few more items to it.  No, I buy all of the ingredients, cook each item on my stove, mix it together, and everything else.  I purchase bottles for the items to be shipped in and created my own labels to go on each product.  I then box it up myself and ship it to you!  Before, you could go to the website where I list all of my hair services and also buy products but now it has it's own website (www.silkhydrationbyljones.com).  Here is a list and description of all of the products that are now in the line.

Relaxer Stretching For Healthy Hair

This young lady has been relaxer stretching for quite some time.  It has been approximately six months since she had her last relaxer.  At this time she has about 3-4 inches of new growth!  The goal in relaxer stretching is to go past six weeks and actually let your hair grow out so that you have enough new growth to relax without the risk of over-lapping the relaxer onto hair that has already been relaxed.  Any time you get relaxer on hair that has already been relaxed, your hair becomes damaged due to over-processing.

How To Stretch Your Relaxer Past 6 Weeks (week 8)

This week officially marks two months since my last relaxer.  If you have made it this far, congratulations!!!! You are one week closer to healthier hair.  By week 8 you should have approximately one inch of new growth.  Remember, I said before that healthy hair grows at a rate of approximately half of an inch per month.  So in two months, or 8 weeks, you should have one full inch or close to it.  I recommend stretching your relaxer until you get two inches of new growth to ensure that you will not have any damage from your relaxer due to over-lapping.  Take a look at my hair right after I shampooed it today.  I let it air dry and this is the picture right before I blow dried it.

I am right on track as far as my growth.  I had an inch of new growth last week in the week 7 video.

See the after in the video below:

Enjoy!

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How To Stretch Your Relaxer (week 7)

If you have made it past six weeks, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You rock! Now you have to admit that it was not that bad right???  You are probably right at your half way mark to getting your next relaxer.  Remember, your goal is to get at least two inches of new growth before you get a touch up.  You should have about one inch of new growth by now.  See how this week went with me by watching the video below.

Keep up the good work!  You can do it!

How To Stretch Your Relaxer For Six Months

This is the series I started on how to stretch your relaxers.  It contains each week individually. New videos will be added as they become available.  Enjoy!

Month 1

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Month 2
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8

Month 3
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12

Month 4
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16

Month 5
Week 17
Week 18
Week 19
Week 20

Month 6
Week 21
Week 22
Week 23
Week 24
Week 25
Week 26

How To Grow Your REAL, Relaxed Hair

This is one client that I really wish I got a picture of the first time she came to me.  Her hair used to be very short, I'm talking shaved on the sides and in the back with a little hair on the top to style.  It was also much thinner.  She said that after her second child, who is now in middle school, was born her hair got noticeably thinner.  Before then it was very thick, but never seemed to be the same again after child number two.  She was going to a professional hairstylist but said that her hair would never grow.  She never got it cut and it still never grew.  She told me that she had just made herself accept the fact that she would always have short hair.  She wanted it to grow but had no idea what to do. 

She began coming to me a little over one year ago and I immediately began giving her hair some t.l.c.  I gave it a good shampoo and deep conditioning treatment with Silk Hydration by L. Jones products.  She also bought some Silk Hydration products for her own personal home usage.    I also encouraged her to start stretching her relaxers out.  Just like many other women, she was getting a relaxer every 6 weeks.  We began doubling that to twelve weeks and are now working our way up to sixteen.

                                         (2014)                                                         (2013)

My goal in getting her to stretch her relaxers out was to give her hair time to have plenty of new growth to relax without any overlapping, or relaxing hair that has already been relaxed.  This allows it to grow much faster and to be healthier.  Any time your hair has damage done to it, it grows at a much slower pace.  Our hair already only grows at a rate of half an inch per month which seems like forever and that is on healthy hair so imagine it growing even slower than that because your hair is damaged!  You would not notice much growth at all.  Take a look at the pics above.  The one on the left was taken just this past week.  You can see a big difference in the picture that was taken last year.  The more recent picture shows that her hair is thicker and longer than the year before.  In the picture taken last year, it had grown a lot because her hair was above her ears and you could see the shaved part a lot more, so she had considerable growth in only a few months.  What a difference a healthy hair hairstylist and quality products makes!  If you are not seeing any results with the hairstylist you are with, it is time to find another one!  Your hair should always be growing and looking healthy unless you are purposely keeping it cut in a certain style.  You are paying your hard earned money to a licensed professional for a reason!  That stylist, including myself, needs to work for your money and you should see what you are paying for...

In between relaxers I used Silk Hydration by L. Jones Clarifying Shampoo on her hair first.  Then I followed up with Silk Hydration by L. Jones Moisturizing Shampoo (which was the old formula and still produced great results, it is now new, improved, and even better!).  Next I would use Silk Hydration by L. Jones Intense Moisturizing Treatment on it to soften it up and give it that silky feel.  After rinsing that out, I sprayed Silk Hydration by L. Jones Leave-In Conditioner on it to give it an extra layer of moisture and also a layer of heat protectant.  Then I would mold her hair down with foam wrap and put her under the hair dryer.

After her hair was completely dry I would then flat iron it and style.  For the finishing touch I sprayed Silk Hydration Miracle Potion no.9 to give it shine and protect from humidity.  She said even her co-workers have noticed a difference in her hair.  One of them even asked her was she now going to a different hairstylist because she noticed how thick, healthy, and long her hair has gotten!  She can now actually wrap her hair around her head which she says is the easiest way to manage her hair now.  She wraps it then unwraps it the next morning and does not put any more heat in it until she is ready to shampoo it again.  

Now her hair is past ears and approaching covering the back of her neck.  Her goal is to get it about neck length so she can have a bob.  And at the rate her hair is growing she will have that in no time..  This client is proof that your hair can and will grow.  You only have to be willing to do your part in helping it.  And finding a great hairstylist would not hurt either, that way you can simply maintain what the stylist did instead of having to tackle your hair all on your own.  Keep the heat to a maximum of once per week or less.  Shampoo every week.  Keep your ends trimmed every 10-12 weeks.  And most importantly, wrap your hair every night!!  Do these simple things and watch how fast your hair starts growing.

To shop for your very own Silk Hydration by L. Jones products click here!

Series: How To Stretch Your Relaxer Past 6 Weeks (week 6)

You finally made it!  It has officially been six weeks and you have decided to stretch your relaxer.  If you have decided to take the health of your hair seriously and are dedicated to having the healthiest hair possible, congratulations to you!  I guarantee most of you who swear your hair is soooo nappy don't even have an inch of new growth yet. Trust me, it is not as bad as you think.  For some of you, the real work is starting now.  For others, like myself, you are just getting started!  By that, I mean that my hair is still straight as if I just got my relaxer yesterday.  I do know that people have different hair textures and that is perfectly ok.  Whether your hair is just wavy or extra kinky, you still can reap the benefits of relaxer stretching.  I am not suggesting that you torture yourself, but I am suggesting that you get at least a minimum of 2 inches of new growth before you relax your hair again.

How To Avoid Damage To Your Hair From Over-Processing

Ladies, ladies, ladies... I know I have said this one million times already but I feel the need to say it one more time... Stop relaxing your own hair!  Stop letting your friend, sister, mother, cousin, and anybody else that is NOT a professional put a relaxer in your hair.  Today I had a client who I saw clearly had damage due to relaxing at home.  Her mother relaxes her hair and once I shampooed it today, I could see very visible signs of damage and breakage already happening.  Prevention is the key!  Sure that $5 box relaxer is much cheaper than the $70 your hairstylist charges, but when that same hairstylist has to now treat and nurse that hair back to health it is going to cost you much more.  Yes, there are a few people out there that seem to be relaxing their own hair with no problems, but 99% of women who get their hair relaxed unprofessionally will have damage to their hair.  It may not happen the first time you do it, but trust me, over time you will see very noticeable changes in your hair.  I did not take pictures of the client's hair because to the untrained eye, it is harder to see.  I can explain it a lot better.  While styling the hair I noticed that the hair was much thicker at the root, not nappy thick, but just the actual hair strand was thick.  This is because it was the new growth, the hair that had never had any relaxer on it.  As I continued down the hair shaft, I noticed the hair began to frizz, and breakage was starting to occur at about two inches from the root. The rest of the hair down to the ends was thin.

This person has two inches of new growth and is ready for a touch up relaxer.

Now let me explain why all of this was happening.  When you are getting relaxers, the main goal is to ONLY relax the new growth.  All of the other hair has already been relaxed and since we know that a relaxer is permanent there is no need to relax already relaxed hair again.  Healthy hair grows at approximately a rate of half of an inch per month.  If you get your hair relaxed every six weeks that is only about every month and a half.  At six weeks, your hair is maybe three fourths of an inch, if that.  Typically, when you relax your hair, you comb down to about two inches from the root.  This means that you are relaxing all three fourths of the new growth plus another 1.25 inches of hair that has already been relaxed.  Then, when another six weeks passes by and you see a tiny wave of new growth you relax the hair again.  Well, again, you may have another three fourths inches of new growth.  If you add the three fourths of new growth you have this time with the previous three fourths from your last relaxer, that means you had a total of 1.5 inches of new growth in a total of twelve weeks.  However, if you are like the average person and process the hair two inches past the root, you are relaxing all three fourths of your new growth this time, plus ALL of the three fourths of the new growth you already relaxed from the previous six weeks, PLUS half an inch of the hair from the relaxer before that.  So basically every time you relax your hair, you are not only relaxing your new growth but also hair from your previous TWO relaxers.  This is called over-processing.

As your hair continues to get over-processed, it gets weaker and weaker, becoming thinner and thinner, and eventually breaking. Especially at the line of demarcation, or the line where the relaxed hair meets the natural hair, becomes the hair's weakest point and this is the point where the hair starts shedding and breaking.  This is why right around six weeks, it seems like the hair starts breaking.  Many women think this means that they need another relaxer. No, no no!!! This means that your hair is weak and is beginning to break from constantly being relaxed over and over.  Women whose hair becomes over-processed often feel like their hair grows to a certain length before it stops.  There is no such thing as stunted hair growth.  The hair is constantly growing and shedding, but due to over-processing it begins to shed more than it grows which results in feeling like it is no longer growing.  When you allow your hair to grow out a minimum of two inches before relaxing, it stops you from having over-processed hair.  Instead, all of the hair you process is hair that has never had relaxer on it before.  Are you noticing since getting relaxers that your hair is way thinner than before?  Now you know why.  And if your professional hairstylist is giving you a relaxer every time you request one, that is a problem and another blog post altogether.

Over-processing is why relaxers get a bad reputation.  People say they no longer want relaxers because they want healthier hair, but I have plenty of clients that have relaxed and healthy hair that is long and thick.  Anytime you use something, especially a chemical incorrectly, it will give you bad results.  So it is not necessarily the relaxer that is damaging your hair, but improper usage.  A professional doing your relaxer means you have someone that is trained to do your relaxer and they can clearly see where they need to stop when processing your relaxer.  From this day forward, strive to stretch those relaxers out to 12-16 weeks or when you see at least two inches of new growth.  Then you will notice your hair becoming healthier and healthier!

How To Stretch Your Relaxer (week 5)

This week is getting closer and closer to week six!!  You are almost to the point where you can say you made it past six weeks.  For me, it feels like I just got my relaxer yesterday.  But I know how it is to be used to getting your touch ups every six weeks so I do understand how some of you are feeling right now.  Just hang in there for the sake of the health of your hair.  This week's video shows me doing a pin curl set on myself to mimic a roller set.  Take a look and enjoy!

Update: Afterwards I wrapped my hair up for two days (wore a wig and my hair was wrapped underneath) and once I took it down, I loved the look.  It wasn't bone straight but it wasn't extremely curly either.  And I got a TON of compliments.  I guess I may be doing this a bit more often...

Can I Get A Silk Press Safely Right After Taking Braids Down?

Can I Get A Silk Press Safely Right After Taking Braids Down

Many women who are natural often switch from getting protective styles such as braids and sew ins to getting a silk press. Sometimes they like the freedom of not having to do anything to their hair, which I completely understand because I LOVE not having to do anything to my hair! Other times they want to see exactly how long it is. I totally can relate to this even though I myself am not natural. We women like options! One question that I get asked quite frequently is can I get a silk press right after taking down braids. Yes you absolutely can get a silk press right after taking your hair down from braids.  It will not harm your hair or cause any damage to it.  The secret to getting a silk press safely right after taking braids down is simple and can be done in two steps. 

First you must be gentle with the hair and detangle it completely (see here on how to detangle correctly). Next you must use some great hair products (like these) to effectively cleanse and moisturize your hair.

Can I get a silk press safely right after taking braids down?
natural hair before getting a silk press with by l. jones hair products

This is the client's hair right after she took her braids down.  She is transitioning from relaxed hair to natural hair and only has about 3-4 inches of new growth left on her ends.  She is only twelve years old and this was her first appointment with me.  Her mother told me that she has been searching for someone who could take care of her daughter's hair.

after results of silk press on natural hair using by l. jones hair products

What makes my silk presses different from others is the fact that I do no flat iron the same piece of hair over and over again.  I only go through the hair with my flat iron one time.  My whole silk press system is a technique designed to not damage the hair or alter the natural curl pattern (see how you can do this on your own hair here). Using the right hair products (like these) and the right flat iron (like this one) is very critical in not causing any damage to the hair and the curl pattern.

silk press on natural hair using by l. jones hair products

When I first started doing silk presses (see what a silk press is here) I thought that you had to flat iron the hair practically to death (several passes) for it to become silky straight.  In actuality, all I was doing as destroying the client's curl pattern which is why many women notice their hair never curls back again after they have gotten a silk press or dominican blow out.  Heat can be your friend (see how to avoid heat damage here), but it can also be your enemy.  The secret is to learn how to use it correctly.  Now, my clients can be assured that as soon as they shampoo their hair again, their original curl pattern will be restored (see why you can't heat train your hair here).

Can I get a silk press safely right after taking braids down

I used by L. Jones products on this client's hair to help it become extra bouncy and soft. The exact products I used were the following:

• Extreme Clean Shampoo- This shampoo removes all of the dirt, oil, and product residue off of the hair. It lets you start with a clean slate.
• Extreme Moisture Shampoo- This shampoo adds the good moisture back in the hair. It includes liquid silk which aids in softening the hair. All of the shampoos are sulfate and paraben free.
• Replenishing Conditioner- This aids in softening the hair even more and also helps detangle the hair as well as moisturize the hair.
• Leave In Conditioner- This adds moisture, detangles, and acts as a heat protectant.
• Miracle Potion no9- This adds shine, controls frizz, and leaves your hair smelling amazing.

The only thing she needs to do to maintain this would be to wrap it every single night (see how to wrap your hair here) with a satin scarf.  It will last approximately 1-2 weeks or until she gets it wet again as long as you do not do any of these three things (click here). If you would like to learn how to do your own silk press like a professional, check out my class (click here) and learn all of my tips and tricks.

Can I get a silk press right after taking braids down?

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The secret to getting a silk press right after taking braids down