How to Maintain Black Afro-Caribbean Hair

Black Hair Afro-Caribbean.

Afro-Caribbean hair is naturally black, very curly and dry, with a tendency to lack shine. Although on appearance this hair type looks like thick, strong, unruly hair, Afro-Caribbean hair is actually very fragile. With the right hair care advice and product regime, you can arm yourself with all the tricks of the trade giving you healthy, strong, shiny hair and a great foundation for your styling products. We would like to offer you the best advice on caring for your hair and we will only recommend the best salon professional products for your home care system.

The reason why the hair is afro is because the hair follicle has lots of hooks on it; the hair then grows in very tight curls. The finer texture of Afro hair mixed with the tight curl means that the scalp remains aerated, allowing the individual hairs free to absorb moisture from the intense heat in the countries it originates from. Now Afro-Caribbean people live all over the world so their hair and scalp requirements, along with on trend and high fashion looks, mean a new hair care regime needs to be adopted.

Maintaining Afro-Caribbean hair is a time consuming and costly affair. Traditionally clients add colour to their hair to increase shine and have chemical straightening or relaxing services to improve styling. Many people with black hair/Afro-Caribbean hair have hair extensions and weaves to add length and volume. In our experience, Afro-Caribbean hair also has a tendency to have a very dry scalp.

Natural oils from the scalp normally travel throughout the hair to keep it moisturised, the longer the hair gets the harder these oils find it to reach the ends, this is one of the reasons the ends of the hair become dry. As for Afro hair; the tight curls means it is even harder for these oils to reach through the hair and with the added stress of over-heating, styling and chemical procedures the hair becomes very dry, damaged and dull. To get Afro-Caribbean hair in premium condition we always encourage our clients to give their scalp a thorough brush to remove any product or skin build up on the scalp, a soft bristle brush is a fantastic aid for this, wide tooth combs or paddle brushes are excellent for removing knots without damaging the hair. You should choose shampoos that will a) remove any product build up from the hair and b) thoroughly cleanse, nourish, moisturise and repair the hair. We would recommend you to invest in two shampoos; the first one being to remove build up with the ingredient zinc pyrithone, which helps remove dandruff and flaky skin, the second with glycerine, beeswax, selenium, argan oil and keratin to hydrate the hair and scalp. Additionally a dual purpose shampoo with give a clean sweep for the hair and scalp, purifying aqua crystals and citramine lifts residue and product build up and includes the ability to deliver a hydro lipidicfilm  leaving the hair and scalp clean, moisturised and protected.

When selecting conditioners, you should be looking for hydrating and smoothing products with ingredients like, zien, avocado oil, vitamin E and keratin to help strengthen the hair and put the moisture back into it. We would always recommend you to use weekly deeply penetrating masks these are essential for Afro-Caribbean hair as these products penetrate the cortex of the hair and are designed to strengthen. Repair and smooth out the hair. Key ingredients to look for are Argan oil, Keratin oil and Vitamin E. Curl control masks to encourage and even bouncy curls, or smoothing masks to leave hair glossy and shiny. We would always suggest leaving these masks on your hair between 5-10 minutes; these should then be thoroughly rinsed off.  Leave in treatment hair oils or leave in conditioners sprayed in the hair; these are a fantastic way to maintain all the hard work your shampoo/conditioner/masks have started, look for ingredients like, grape seed oil, UV protection filters, keratin and argan oils, these will actively work in the hair while it is being styled.

If you have hair extensions that are bonded in, it is imperative you use shampoos and conditioners that have been recommended by the manufacturers, these will have been tested against the hair bonds. Products that have not been tested could weaken the bonds and ultimately leading to premature loss of the hair extensions.

Learn more about maintaining different hair types.