How To Choose The Perfect Hair Care Routine

How To Choose The Perfect Hair Care Routine

When it comes to your hair, having the right routine for yourself is important. Your hair care routine will be different from that of others because everyone's hair is different. Not only will the products be different, but your hair care routine may also vary as the seasons change. When choosing the perfect hair care routine for you, it is important that you understand what your hair needs. Today I will be discussing how to choose the perfect hair care routine.

the perfect hair care routine

Dry Hair- First we will customize a hair care routine for those of you that have dry hair. If your hair is dry, that means that it is lacking moisture. The first thing to determine is if the moisture you are lacking is internal, meaning does your entire body lack moisture (water), and as a result your hair is suffering? Water is the number one hydrator as over 75% of our bodies are water. If you are not drinking enough water on a daily basis you will notice that not only your hair but your skin as well is also dry. One way to tell that your body is lacking water is if you are constantly putting moisturizers and grease on your hair and your hair seems to suck it all up yet still look dry. That is a clear indicator that your body is not getting enough water. I know that most of you will say that water is all you drink, I have heard that plenty of times, especially from my clients. What I am talking about is drinking at least a gallon of water or more DAILY. Yes, every.single.day! If you are not drinking a minimum of one gallon of water per day, this is where you need to start. Do this immediately and I guarantee that after one week, you will be able to notice a difference in your entire body, including your hair. I have done this myself, so I know for a fact that it works.

If you drink enough water on a daily basis but you still feel like your hair is dry,

Why Getting A Wig Made May Be An Excellent Option For You

Why Getting A Wig Made May Be An Excellent Option For You

As the demand for hair extensions grows, and with more and more people discontinuing using hair glue to apply them, wigs are becoming more in demand.. When some people hear the word "wig", they automatically think "old lady, or old fashioned". But let me be the first to tell you that wigs are not just for your grandma anymore!  I personally make custom made wigs, specifically made according to the individual's head size.  When you get a wig made specifically for your head instead of buying from a "one size fits all" wig store, you can definitely tell a difference. Even the hair on the hand sewn wigs custom are of much better quality (see the hair I use here). From full wigs, to half wigs, to lace fronts, and now to the newest item on the scene, lace frontals, wigs these days can easily be mistaken for your real hair. Don't be afraid to try a wig thinking it will look "wiggy". If you get the right one, you will fall in love! It is however, very important to still take care of your real hair under the wig.  I have seen a lot of women wear their wigs so much and get used to that convenience of not having to do anything but slide it on and slide it back off that they often forget about their own natural tresses.  Don't let that become one of your bad habits.  Your hair always needs to be taken care of to remain healthy so that the wigs remain an option and not a necessity.  

Here are some of the different types of wigs.

Follow These 7 Tips & Get The Best Silk Press Results On Your Own Hair

My appointment book has been over-flooding with appointments from natural women who want their hair straightened, or silk pressed.  However, everyone that wants a silk press does not have the luxury of coming to the salon. There are other times where you just may not have time to make an appointment but something has to be done to your hair right now! Believe me, I get it and completely understand.  That is why I am here, to help!  Here is your basic guide for straightening your hair by yourself. If you follow these seven tips, you can get the best silk press results on your very own hair! Before we get started, just remember that with these tips it may not look exactly like it was professionally done, and that is OK! We professionals do this all day every day so it is like a second nature to us. However, I do believe that with these tips your silk press will definitely look better than you have ever done it in the past yourself. Now, let's get started.

How To Do The Perfect Silk Press Like A Professional

Many of my natural clients have told me that they have tried to do their own silk press at home and it looks nothing like how I do it in the salon. Well, if it did, I would probably be out of a job! Plus, I do silk presses pretty much all day every day so it comes natural to me. However, today I am going to take you through my entire silk press process from start to finish so you can see exactly what the process entails. If you have no idea what I am talking about and want to know what is a silk press, click here for a thorough explanation. Before I show you the video, I want to give those of you who want to try to do your own silk press a few tips.

Could You Be The Cause Of Your Thinning Hair?

Could you be the reason your hair is thinning?

Today I am going to answer a question that was emailed to me by someone whose hair was thinning. She is wanting to know if she could possibly be the reason her hair is thinning due to weave. Let's jump right in.

Hair thinning is also called alopecia

Question: Hi LaToya, I would like to know your recommendations for thinning hair, not necessarily from chemicals, but possibly from too much exposure to hair weaves. Is there a chance for regrowth?

My Response: 

Let me start by saying that adding weave/extensions to your hair is not a bad thing to do. The method of installation chosen is what takes a lot of women's hair out.  Most methods that do not involve glue are harmless to your hair (if done correctly), so I'm going to lean towards the idea that you are using a method involving glue.  I am a firm believer that glue and hair DO NOT mix.  Constantly gluing tracks onto your hair, no matter what method is used (i.e fusion, bonding directly to the hair, quick weaves, etc), leads to alopecia.  If you are using any of the mentioned methods of weaving your hair, stop immediately!  This is the first step to recovering your hair.  The longer you continue to use glue on your hair, the worse it becomes, shortening your chances of regrowth.  My first suggestion would be to leave the weave alone for a while to allow your hair to be correctly treated.  If your hair is so thin that it makes you uncomfortable to wear your own hair right now, opt for a wig, custom made if possible.  This will allow you to treat your hair and also allow it to breathe when you take the wig off.

One shampoo (other than Silk Hydration) that I know does help with thinning hair is Nioxin. (Advanced Hair Loss Shampoo- 121% Growth and 47% Less Thinning in Clinical Trials - Natural Biotin Treatment for Faster Regrowth in Men & Women- Proven Product for Alopecia Restoration- 2+ Month Supply). It is formulated specifically to help women with thinning hair or with alopecia to help regrow the hair. Another thing that promotes hair growth is good blood flow circulation.  Whenever you shampoo your hair (I recommend once per week with Silk Hydration products), instead of just scratching your scalp, massage it.  This stimulates your scalp, which helps the blood circulate better. The more blood circulation you have in your scalp, the faster your hair will begin to grow!  The faster you start to treat this problem, the more likely it will be that you will be able to save your hair.  I hope this information has been helpful to you.  Until next time...

The One Thing You Can Do At Home To Keep Your Relaxed Hair Healthy

The One Thing You Can Do At Home To Keep Your Relaxed Hair Healthy

As a stylist, I get most of my clients through referrals.  So, in essence, I consider my clients to be my walking advertisements.  Therefore, it is important to not only have the hair looking good on 
the initial visit, but to also educate them on how to maintain the style until the next visit. Maintaining your style consists of you doing some work at home until you can get back to your stylist (unless you plan on sleeping cute every night!).

Freshly relaxed, healthy hair

Wrapping your hair is, in my opinion, part of hair basics 101.  Aside from using great hair products, it is one of the easiest, yet most important things you can do for your hair.  It not only helps your styles last in between your salon visits, it also helps protect your ends so that they don’t split as fast.  In addition to that, it also helps your relaxers last longer as well as your straightened styles (natural girls).

Wrapping your hair is basically using your head as a giant roller for your hair.  As far as which direction to wrap, there is not necessarily a right or wrong direction but I normally tell people that if you wear your part on the left side, wrap going to the right (clockwise).  If you wear your part on the right side of the face wrap to the left (counterclockwise).  What I normally do is part my hair from ear to ear.  I then comb the hair from my ears forward straight to the front.  Since I wear my part on the left, I start brushing that hair to the right.  I get that hair as smooth as possible, then start taking small sections of the hair in the back and smoothing it around to the front.  I continue brushing until I have the hair as smooth as possible.  Getting all of the hair smooth ensures that  your wrap won’t be frizzy when you unwrap it.  Then I take my mesh wrap cap (cap with holes in it that has velcro fastening and leaves the head open in the top) and put that on as tight as possible.  Then I take my satin wrap cap (same as mesh, only satin with no holes) and wrap that around on top of the mesh cap. I then take my satin scarf (covers the entire head) and tie that around the previous two.  Now I can sleep comfortably all night and not worry about waking up in the morning and the scarf is hanging off my head.

If you are a more visual person and would like to see exactly how I do this, check out the video below on ToyaJTV.

Remember, get in the habit of wrapping your hair EVERY night! Your hair will thank you for it! 

How To Properly Take Care Of Your Hair After Taking Braids/Sew-Ins Down (video)

Have you ever taken your braids down or taken a sew-in down and looked at your hair that was shedding and just knew you were going bald because there was so much hair on the floor and in your comb? We have all been there, and when I say we, yes I am including myself! Most of us are not used to seeing that much hair come out at once. Well you can rest assured that this is perfectly normal! I explain it all in the video posted below. This post will also answer your questions about whether or not you should detangle your hair before or after you shampoo it. I'll give you a hint, you should always detangle before you shampoo.

10 Ways To Always Have Healthy Hair

10 Ways To Always Have Healthy Hair

10 ways to always have healthy hair

I often get asked what I do to my hair to keep it healthy.  Having healthy hair does require a little effort, but nothing you can't handle! To be honest, my hair care regimen is so simple that absolutely anyone can follow these steps.  Here are 10 ways to always have healthy hair...

This client chose to have color over having a relaxer. Pick one chemical!

Healthy Hair

• Trim your ends regularly-  This is a must. It is inevitable that the ends of the hair will start to split.  Not clipping them will only lead to them continuing to split up the hair shaft.  And there is no product out there that will "repair" split ends.  The only thing that will repair them is a pair of cutting shears.  Trimming your hair on a regular basis of every 6-8 weeks will prevent you from having to get so much cut off, and will keep your hair looking healthy.

• Use shampoo and conditioner that is customized for your hair type- Everyone's hair is different.  And for this reason there is no "one size fits all " shampoo and conditioner combo.  Make sure you are using the correct combo for your type of hair.  If you have dry hair, your combo should include moisturizing and hydrating shampoo and deep conditioners.  For oily hair, you should be using a clarifying shampoo and daily conditioner.  If you experience dandruff, you should be using an anti-dandruff shampoo. Silk Hydration by L. Jones products are an excellent place to start your hair care search.

• "Treat" your hair- Give your hair some good old TLC.  Especially if your hair has a chemical in it like relaxers and/or color, it is very important that you are getting protein and deep conditioning treatments in order to keep your hair strong and healthy.  This should be done 1-2 times per month, depending on the state of the hair.

• Don't mix relaxers with other permanent straighteners-  There are several methods of ways to straighten the hair, from keratin treatments to relaxers.  Pick one method and stick with it.  Going back and forth will lead to breakage.

• Shampoo weekly-  This is only a general guideline.  Shampoo weekly or whenever you notice excessive product build-up on your hair.  A clean scalp helps aid in hair growth, so you always want to keep your hair and scalp free from excessive oil, dirt, and product build-up.

Healthy hair does not need a lot of oil, it will make its own.

• Minimize oil usage- Your hair creates it own oils (sebum) naturally.  For this reason you want to use any oil or serum very sparingly.  Using too much will cause your hair to look too greasy and weigh it down.

• Ditch the grease- Greasing your scalp should be a thing of your past.  It is a common myth that greasing your scalp helps your hair grow.  Grease is very thick and applying it to your scalp causes your pores to get clogged, which slows down your growth. 

Yes! your hair can be this long AND healthy if you take care of it!

• Wrap your hair- This is one of the easiest yet most effective things you can do for  your hair.  Wrapping nightly helps protect your ends, makes your style last longer, and can help your relaxer last longer.  Wrap every night with a satin scarf, or if that is not possible, use a satin pillowcase.

• Use minimal heat- You should never use a professional heating tool for your own personal use.  I say this because if used incorrectly, it could lead to severe breakage and hair loss.  When choosing a styling tool, always make sure it has a temperature gauge so that you can control how hot it gets.  A safe temp for normal to medium hair is 350 degrees.

Moms, let a professional keep your daughter's hair healthy for you.

• Go to a professional for chemical services- I strongly recommend seeing your stylist for all chemical services.  If you mess up, it will cost you far more than the money you were trying to save by doing it yourself.  

If Your Baby's Products Contains Any Of These Ingredients, Throw Them Away!

Our babies mean the world to us. From the moment we hear the first heartbeat all we want to do is protect them. When my first child was born I had no clue what products were best to use. I simply chose my products based on what was popular and what was a common household name. I never read labels on products and just to be perfectly honest, even if I were to read the labels I had no idea which ingredients were good and which were bad. Once I became a professional hairstylist I began to become more aware of ingredients in products. Then after I created my own product line I really became more aware of different ingredients and which ones were safe. That is also when I began to get in the habit of reading the labels on products before purchasing. And after Johnson and Johnson was ordered to pay $72 MILLION to a family for having a cancer causing ingredient in their product which actually led to the death of a woman, and seeing other ingredients that I know for a fact should not be in baby products, I was compelled to start a division in Silk Hydration by L. Jones that caters to babies.

Before that, I did not even think that I would have a product line that was specifically dedicated to babies. I knew that if I manufactured the product myself that I could be sure that it would be a product I could trust. Today I would like to share with you three things that should never be in your baby's products. This is not a comprehensive list, but the things listed below are the worst things that can be in baby products and should be completely avoided.