Dr. Susan Taylor's Brown Skin Review

In case you haven't heard of Susan Taylor, you better educate yourself. She's one of the leading black dermatologists in the country.

I met her some time last year with my mother and she suggested we use her product line (it worked for my mom, but did nothing for me). She also suggested I see Dr. Blackburn, my current dermo (whom my mom has been seeing for years. He's good at everything except he made my mom's skin problem worse... he couldn't help her, but eventually my mother helped herself! :D). And she suggested I get laser hair removal.



So, in my quest to get my mom to follow MY hair regime ideas for MY head, I am reading Dr. Taylor's book. There are a few things in the book that I want to tell my mother.

A) If you're gonna do chemicals, texturiser is a better option
B) Use chemicals 4 to 5 times a year to reduce damage
C) Weekly hot oil, then wash, then deep conditionings (will make new growth manage-able). "You must wash your hair"
D) Loose braids less than shoulder length and re-do braids every ten weeks. Re-tighten weave every six to eight weeks and the weave can last for 4 months. Wash your hair, even in these styles.

I'm reading a section that is quite relevant to me right now. Hyperpigmentation. The "case study" in the book has a problem exactly similar to mine. Bumps and ingrown hairs on her chin. Apparently, the patient got hair removal (like me) which made the bumps stop coming. Now, she has to get rid of the dark marks. She used "lustra cream" day and night and the marks faded after 3 months. Hmm... It contains hydroquinone which made my mom's spots DARKER. Since I am her daughter, I do not want to go anywhere NEAR that. However, Dr. Taylor says if you use it for more than 6 months, then your skin will turn dark and there is no cure for the darkening (however, my mom found one!). She also suggests glycolic acid which is an AHA (too lazy to spell out that acid for you). She suggests a chemical peel (which I do plan on getting after laser treatment if my spots do not fade) which is an AHA or salicylic acid peel. She mentions retinols (which can be drying so be careful), Topical steroids for severe cases, and sunscreen.

Final Verdict:
Okay, wow... I'm not going to completely read this book. This book is a manual. I suggested this for those who are not nerdy enough to research this themselves. No, I suggest it as a beauty bible for any woman with darker skin tone. It has information from alopecia to pregnancy to acne to plastic surgery. I want to buy this book for m mother! If you are suffering problems that you do not know the solution to, I recommend you look up this book in your library or buy it for your own reference whenever problems occur because this book gives you a good STARTING POINT to figuring out how to fix your specific problems. The down size is you need to kind of skim the whole book because good information for your problem (which may be a combination of problems) is scattered all over the book. Its all good information and a good place to start educating about how to keep yourself beautiful. A good reference book. I think I will buy this, actually, on ebay.

Another interesting thing Dr. Taylor says is that our hair has less bonds connecting the hair to the scalp, so they shed easier! Wow, boy am I glad I bought GARLIC pills today.

No Lye and BlackFolk's Hair review

Finished two more books today!

"BlackFolk's Hair" by Kamau and Janice Kenyatta. This book is more like a history book. It will scare you out of using a relaxer, especially if you are an AMERICAN black. This book kind of touched me because it was sad to see the history of American blacks, but the history didn't much apply to me. However, I do recommend this book for American blacks who don't know why they are relaxing their hair. If you want to get one of your black friends to stop relaxing their hair, this is a good
book.



"No Lye" by Tulani Kinard is a good book, again, for those going natural or are very big into braiding. I AM into braiding, but since I don't do it that much and I go to a hair braider to do it, I'm not keep this book. But this book is great for braiders and those who want to get locs. Also, it has great information about relaxers.

Good Hair & Healthy Hair Care Tips... review

I read another book by Lonnice Brittenum Bonner called Good Hair.



It was more like a personal story of her own hair journey. Uhm... nothing in this book that I didn't know except the end. She has some good tips about styling hair in roller sets, twist sets, etc.

I read a book called Healthy Hair Care Tips For Today's Black Woman by Cheryl Talley Moss.


Apparently, she's in my area (Dallas, TX, y'all! ;D). Uhm, this book didn't really resonate with me because I knew a lot of what she was saying and she kept stressing how you need to go to a hair professional and y'all know how I feel about "hair professionals". But, this books is very good for the Average ignorant black woman who is wondering why her hair doesn't seem to grow or keeps breaking or has bald spots, etc, etc.

So of the two books I read today, I don't recommend either of them unless you are just starting out and you relax your hair. Go with Moss. Bonner is more for people who want to stop relaxing their hair.

What did I personally take away from the books? From Bonner's book, the twisting advice. From Moss's book, the roller setting advice. I also liked how she related to the average black woman (product junkies, finding a stylists, at home relaxers, etc.). She also doesn't believe in putting grease on your scalp.

Just an Update

Hey, guys.

I just wanted to give an update. First of all, I just checked out A BUNCH of more books at the library. I think after this batch of books, I'm done. I need to pimp out my blog and advertise it so somebody will read it and I can share my knowledge a little bit.


I'll put some photos of my skin later, but I have photos of my hair progress. One month using Hairfinity, Sulfur 8 + peppermint oil. That's all I did. I didn't even wash my hair for the 7 weeks it was in weave. Keep in mind that the lower left image was stretched to appear longer and my mom trimmed my hair a little in the top photos.

From Let's Talk Hair

I am finally finishing up Let's Talk Hair by Pamela Ferrell. I'm writing down some informations so I won't forget. I might even write a google knol when I'm done. If the information I am writing is the kind of thing you want to read in a book, please get the book. I'm not writing details and leaving out A LOT of information.

And now that I finished reading this book, I highly recommend it to those getting natural hair and need information, advise and hairstyles.

Parts of the Hair
Follicle - pocket within skin that holds the hair root. Its shape determines shape of the hair.
Oil Glands - keep hair soft
Papilla - at the very bottom of the hair follicle. Blood vessels. Provides blood supply.
Hair Bulb - covers papilla

Ingredients

- Common Natural Ingredients
cocamide ,shea butter, jojoba, citric acid, aloe vera, royal jelly, vit. E, vegetable glycerin, fatty acids, flower or seed extracts and oils, lecithin, sea plants and minerals

- Shampoo
Potassium Cocoate (for lathering), Lauramide DEA (softner or foaming agent), Cocamidoproply Betaine (coconut oil), Glycol Stearate (glycerin and alcohol), Methyparaben (preservative, can cause allergic reaction), Sodium Chloride (table salt. Used as astringent), Disodiumlauryl Sulfosuccinate (wetting agent when mildness is needed), Lauryl Sulfate (foaming), Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (surfactant, may cause curly hair to be dry), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (less drying than Ammonium, wetting and cleansing agent).

- Dandruff Shampoo (put on scalp, only and in moderation unless all-natural)
Zinc Pyrithione (can damage nerves), Sulfur, Tars, Salicylic Acid, Resorcinol (preservative that is anti itch and fungal)

- Conditioner
Lanolin (from sheep oil glands, helps absorb and hold water), Mineral Oil (liquid petroleum, remains on surface rather than being absorbed into skin), Spermaceti (emollient to improve gloss, from the head of a sperm whale), Monostearate (fatty acid, gives pearly colour), Alcohol (a fat solvent that can cause dryness), Sterols (alcohol from animals and plants)

Safe, Natural Hair Colour (I spell colour with a 'u' by habit. Sorry. :P)
- Vegetable Colour - a powder of dried herbs mixed with water. Gives intense, long lasting colour.
- Colour Rinses - a tea and remains until you shampoo it out.
- Colour Shampoos - enhances faded or dull hair colour
- Stick Colour - for new growth
(Why didn't she mention henna?)
Avoid Phenylenediamine. For dark hair use Purple sage, black walnut shell, and indigo elderberries. For red hair, use saffron, sassafras root, red clover.

Braids
- When applied correctly, they will not pull the hair or hurt.
-Synthetic hair may cause itching because it lacks porosity and moisture. But it is durable.

Let's Talk Hair Review

Now, I'm reading a book by Pamela Ferrell. Unlike the Akbari book that was easy to skim and find information quickly, this book is quite wordy. Its full of history and information that I'm excited to read later when I have more time. There are a lot of photos in this book which I quite like. The picture of the woman with over processed hair is striking because that is quite exactly what MY hair looks like. It is the reason I told my mother I "HATE, absolutely HATE, relaxing my hair". Because I thought if you relax MY hair, that is the result you get (when it could just be that I've been doing it totally wrong for all these years... which is another story).

Anyway, a LOT of information here. I will update this post when I finish, but right now, I am skimming at the pictures and diagrams. Also, this book is pressing that you need to have NATURAL hair while Akbari's book pressed that no matter what you decide, you need to learn how to take care of your hair. Ferrell hates relaxers (she describes multiple types of perms) and claims you cannot do it more than three times a year.

Wow! This book is SO detailed. Explaining exactly the chemicals, structure of hair, etc, etc.

This book looks excellent for anyone who is transitioning, natural, or a geek like me who wants to know EXACTLY what is going on with her hair.

Black Woman's Guide to Beautiful Hair Review

I'm reading this book by Lisa Akbari. I'll be updating this post as I read along. So far, I am impressed by her. She even has a youtube channel and apparently, has become a doctor. I am impressed with her experience (conducting studies, her salon, her clients, etc) and her detail of why you should do such and such method. Sorry if my notes aren't clear. This is mainly for me to remember what I read.

Her first suggestion is to get a hair kit. With everything you need for your hair (after evaluating the effectiveness of the products you own).

Shampooing
- detangle
- pre-rinse to remove dirt. 1 to 3 minutes.
- shampoo in the shower for better results.
- Shampoo with PH 5.5 is not drying.

Conditioning
- towel dry first
- don't comb through hair. Let it sit
- When deep conditioning, heat for 15 minutes, re apply, 10 minutes, re apply

Styling. Rollersetting is the safest style and from now on, I am personally going to roller set my hair any time my hair is not in braids or weave. Last time, I made the mistake of telling them to style my hair with heat... A chi flat iron that allowed me to see how much my hair was breaking and a hot comb that was very painful. God, how I abuse my hair!

Rule for heat. Air dry hair for 5 minutes before blow drying. Don't use heat on hair that has not been washed. Never go over 150 degrees.

The second part of the book is about hair mentality. Stop thinking negative thoughts and an explanation of negative habits. I'm kind of skimming this section. I like this quote though... "stop the insanity". Its also a Susan Powter quote, one of my favourite fitness gurus. Stop the insanity. Stop doing things out of habit that are NOT working and THINK. I really want to read this section because unlike some other books, Lisa really takes time to describe and explain things and how to reconstruct your thinking, but this is a library book and I just want to get through some good information.

However, I am considering BUYING this book for keeps.

She has a section on the scalp. Which I am also kind of skimming for time's sake. But something caught my eye.
- Greases like Sulfur 8 or Glover's Mane seem to work to help with itchy scalp, but then they make the problem worse. They tend to clog the surface of the scalp (I know Sulfur 8 is made with Petroleum, but I've been using it any how) which keeps in bacteria (maybe I need to start using apple cider vinegar rinse every other day to prevent the mal-effects of the Petro?). Oils assist in healing. Grease does not.

Next section is about your hair (the first section was just an intro starter kit). Again, skimming this section.
Good information and insight about chemically treated hair. Among her advices, she says
- we should never go more than 7 days without washing our hair.
- We cannot ever scratch our scalp (she talks about scalp damage a lot and how its even worse if we use chemicals on a damaged scalp).
- sit under a cold dryer to close pores before putting chemicals
- PH is very important. Chemicals have a PH of 11 to 13. Rinse with water, and it goes down to 7. Your hair is 5.5, so you need a shampoo of PH 5.5.
- Pretreatment is necessary because of inevitable overlap of chemicals. This can be done 48 hours prior to chemicals.

She later talks about new growth management. Which is basically the same things you should be doing, but you act like you are doing them twice. Once specifically to your new growth and then to the rest of your hair.

Phew! I've reached the Conclusion of the book. This was a very good book. I want to spend more time with it. I might go out and buy my own copy, but I'll wait until I read more of these type of books. I've only read 3, and this is by far the best one for me. Let's see how the other will measure up.

Plaited Glory Review

I'm reading Plaited GLory by Lonnice Bonner.

So far, its nothing I've never seen before, but I wanted to document her advice for how to prepare your hair for braids.

1. Shampoo
2. Hot Oil treatment - to make the hair supple
3. Conditioner

Shedding and Breaking are different. Shedding is when the hair completed its growth cycle and falls out. Breaking is when damaged hair breaks off from the shaft.

This book talks about salons, extensions, and braiding styles. Good if you are starting up on braiding your own hair.