1 Proven Way to Prevent Breakage: Respect Your 'Elders'

Okay hear us out! This is not a lesson on how to treat people that are older than you. Here's a lesser known, effective and proven way to prevent breakage. We're focusing on the ends of the hair. The 'elders' as some call them. Why? Because they're the oldest part of the hair and also the most prone to breakage.

The idea is if something is sufficiently hydrated, it's going to be more flexible and less likely to split or chip from dryness. So when you keep the 'elders' of your hair moisturised, you're making them less likely to split and break from dryness. This is one approach to reducing breakage.

When to Do This: At Night Time

Doing this routine before going to bed means that your hair can get a full 6 - 8 hours of being untouched and kept moist under your bonnet or headwrap.

Layering Up

Here's what to do: the LCO method or in some cases the LOC method. LCO stands for Liquid - Cream - Oil whilst LOC stands

for Liquid - Oil - Cream. Choose whatever method works best for you. However, we'll explore why we prefer the LCO method.

The Liquid we're referring to here is, you guessed it, water. Hydration is key and is impossible without water. When placed on the hair, water can evaporate, causing less elasticity and increased dryness so we need a way to keep this from happening or at the very least, to slow this down as much as possible.

This is the reason for the next layer - the Cream. This can also evaporate, however dependent on its water content, it can take longer to do so. When looking for your your next cream purchase, look for a true moisturiser. A true moisturiser will have water or 'aqua' as the one of the first 2 ingredients so look out for this in the ingredients list.

To slow down the evaporation process even further, we need the next level = Oil. This is the last level of layering. With each layer, be sure to 'scrunch up' the liquid and cream into the hair. Gently press or rub each layer into the strands. Try to make a real effort to ensure your hair tangibly becomes moist during the process. Look & feel the texture - has it changed? Do the ends feel softer? If not, you'll need to be a bit more generous with your liquid and cream application. If you see and feel changes, it's likely you've done enough to moisturise before adding the last layer of oil.

Braid, Twist & Tuck Away...

After laying, then what? You either braid your hair, twist or wrap your hair to tuck the ends away. Keeping them away from harsh cotton surfaces like a cotton pillow or a cotton head wrap will greatly reduce breakage. Remember, the ends of your hair are the 'elders' so you need to take extra care of them. A favourite in our team is to do bantu knots, carefully wrapping the ends around the base of the knot to produce a soft curly ending when you take them down. Another idea is to braid or twist your hair and tuck the ends into itself at the ends. This will help to keeping the very ends of the hair rubbing against any harsh materials you may be wearing or laying your head on.

The Take Down

Taking down your tucked away hair for the day takes a little care. Don't do it in a rush. Going slower is the key. Style and enjoy the feel and the look of your moisturised & hydrated tresses.

Respect Your Ends Challenge

Do this fun challenge and show us your results! Do this regime daily or nightly for 6 weeks. Pick a small section of hair and take before pics, progress pics and after pics to track your growth.

Comment below on how well this has worked for you.