Aveda hair specialist Renée Gadar, global artistic director for texture, has broken down the five most essential ways to treat afro hair textures, whether you’re at home or at the salon. The useful advice comes after our recent collaboration with Aveda on our annual Black Beauty Unlocked event.
Marking the second instalment of the series, the event was hosted across two nights at London's AllBright Mayfair on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 September, with the latter date focusing on all things Black hair and skin. Guests were invited to listen to a panel discussion led by Winnie Awa, founder and CEO of Carra, a platform which provides personalised recommendations based on your hair type and texture. There was an amazing line-up of specialists including hair architect and Aveda advocate Subrina Kidd, hair-loss awareness activist Gina Knight and Fulham Scalp & Hair Clinic consultant trichologist Eleanore Richardson, all of whom chaired The Big Hair Conversation, covering everything from care and maintenance to protective styling and how to *actually* grow your hair.
While there were plenty of takeaways from the night, which also brought together a group of like-minded beauty enthusiasts who sipped on bubbly as they bonded over shared hair hassle, Renée has narrowed down her top five tips for achieving great-looking hair – day in, day out.
Here’s what she had to say…
A flaking scalp can be due to a number of things, most commonly dandruff or a dry scalp. Usually, the indication of a dry scalp is that the flakes are white and thinner, while dandruff flakes are thicker and sometimes yellowish in colour. Both of these things can be environmental or hormonal, which is why you should visit a dermatologist at times when you feel you have heavy flaking.
Another reason for a flaking scalp could be that the good and bad bacteria on your scalp are out of balance. The best things to help with that are naturally derived products, as they work to rebalance the bacteria. When you’re looking for naturally derived products on the market, Aveda is a great place to start as the products are entirely vegan and high in naturally derived ingredients.
As you may know, hair follicles get blocked by the overuse of products. This happens because we tend to add several different products to our hair without washing it in between, which naturally causes a build-up, thus creating the block.
Blocked hair follicles prevent things like hair growth and can even make the small amount of hair that does manage to grow a lot weaker. That's why it's essential to make sure your follicles are clear and clean, giving them room to breathe.
If you're worried about regularly washing your hair with high-frequency products, use scalp rinses and micellar water, as they can help cleanse the scalp without damaging your hair.
When creating your protective styles, always ensure you aren’t creating increased tension by making the style too tight. A protective style should be low tension, low manipulation and low maintenance. When styling your baby hairs, you should also avoid high tension. Edge controls are great styling products, but not all edge controls are made equally. Typically, the ingredients needed to tame hair aren’t great for general hair health; therefore, you need to pick your products carefully. Ensure your edge controls (and any other styling products) are a good fit for your hair health, as well as your styling needs. We all love laid edges, so let’s make sure we can keep them.
Some shampoos on the market can cause your hair to be very dry, especially if you use them often. In some cases, it may be a good idea to replace one of your shampoo days with a co-wash. You can co-wash by using just a conditioner in place of your usual shampoo, or you can get a specific co-washing product. This will help keep your hair clean and moisturised between wash days, without the stripping feeling of over-shampooing.
The healthiest hair is hair that isn’t experiencing relaxers, perms, high tension or colour. That's not to say you should stick to the same style for the rest of your life. Instead, you can get the same look and experience of bone-straight hair and colourful tresses through the use of a wig. Wigs can be a great medium to live out your greatest hair fantasies while keeping your own hair healthy underneath.
However, if you do opt for wigs, it's important that you pick ones that can come off easily. Why? Because you still need to have access to your scalp so you can take care of it on a regular basis. Also, when you remove your wig, your edges should not go with it! The installation of a wig does not have to include heavy-duty glues or bonding products – a headband wig or one that uses an elasticated band is just as good and is better for your hair health. I personally prefer wigs to sew-ins, because sew-ins can sometimes tie your hair up in the back, which means you don’t have access to your scalp. Ultimately, if you’re not able to protect your scalp while it's in a protective style, then it's not a protective style.
Ready to stock up on haircare products? Check out Aveda's afro and textured hair treatments, showcasing the brand’s high-performance, naturally derived product lines.
