Getting Started with Hair Care (Patreon)

There is nothing more different from person to person than their hair. It can make or break your look and nothing is worse than a bad hair day. Hair care is a really big topic which will need multiple parts to cover, so today we’ll start with the very basics.

Let’s start with hair shapes. The shape of your hair follicle will determine the type of hair that you have or your “curl pattern.” The more oblong the shape of the follicle, the curlier your hair is going to be. There are 4 types of hair and their subcategories (based on the tightness or looseness of the curls) that we’ll get into. You can have a combination of types of hair as well, like straight at the root and wavy at the tips or maybe 4C on the top of your head and 4A at your temples. The point of these categories is really to figure out how best to keep your hair looking it’s best.

Type 1 - Straight Hair
This hair type will have a follicle shape resembling an “O,” at the scalp the follicle is straight. No subcategories. This is Type 1 hair that has no natural curls and strands fall without waving from root to tip. This type of hair structure has a tendency to become oily, so be careful not to over wash. Using dry shampoo in between washes and staying away from hair oils, serums and balms will help Type 1 hair types keep a healthy scalp. When it comes to styling, textured hairsprays are going to be the best to bring volume and hold.

Type 2 - Wavy Hair
Wavy hair has a follicle shape resembling a “0” that comes out of the scalp angled, creating waves. This is Type 2 hair with subcategories A through C, A being the loosest waves becoming gradually tighter until C that can look like finger waves. For example, if you have natural loose waves, your hair would be a 2A. Use mousse or gels to style without flattening the shape of the waves. Achieving a beachy look is super easy with a little mousse and a tousle.

Type 3 - Curly Hair
Follicles of curly hair look like a “()” and grow from the scalp at a sharper angle than the waves. That causes the structure of the waves to form loops. Avoid brushing this type of hair, as it can lead to a frizzy mess. The best thing to keep the corkscrew curls is to use your hands to “finger comb” any knots out, using leave in conditioner to help keep knots to a minimum and curls to a maximum. When applying conditioner, start from the tips of your hair and don’t put much up (or any at all) near your scalp to avoid oily hair.

Type 4 - Coily Hair
Type 4 hair has follicles that are very oblong and flat-ish in shape, resembling “||.” Type 4 hair is generally more fragile and prone to dryness than the other types. As always subcategories range from A to C, A being loose and C being tight. This curl pattern is best taken care of by skipping the shampoo and rinsing the hair with conditioner. Finger combing and allowing the hair to air-dry is going to be much better for your scalp.

No matter what the shape of hair you have or brush that you use, always start brushing at the ends of your hair, working your way up to the root. It can be tempting to dig that brush into your scalp and pull straight down, but that will only tighten the knots in your hair which could eventually lead to breakage. Start at the tips working your way up in small sections to loosen knots gradually and prevent hair damage.

Now that we’ve determined the shape of your hair, let’s get into the type you have. Like on our face, our hair has the same sort of categories. The best way to determine what kind you have, is to dab a tissue on your scalp on the second day after you wash it. If there’s an oil blot, you have normal hair, if there’s nothing, you have dry hair and if your hair strands at the root are stuck together, you have oily hair. If your scalp is oily, but the roots of your hair are dry, you have combination hair. Because I’ve bleached my hair, I have a combination of normal and dry hair. The density of the follicles makes a huge difference as well, you can have thin hair which might look greasy but is actually normal hair. You may have very thick hair that looks dry but is actually oily. So be sure to test out some different products to get the right balance. Washing too much may strip your hair and cause it to feel like straw, as well as give you a dry scalp prone to dandruff, but washing too little can lead to scalp pimples. Let’s go over how best to take care of those luscious locks.

• Normal
  The good thing about normal hair is that you can skip a wash and skip a condition every once in a while without much happening to your hair. A quick condition in the shower will be just fine for this type of hair.
• Dry
  If your hair is dry, it’s best to skip a wash every so often to replenish the natural oils in your hair. Use a leave in conditioner to keep tangles at bay
• Oily
  Those with oily hair have a tendency to over wash their hair, stripping the scalp of natural oils. While it’s tempting to shampoo every day, use a dry shampoo every other day to keep hair healthy without the greasy clumps.
• Combination
  The most common combination is going to be dry ends and oily roots. Be sure to condition the tips and use a gentle soap at the scalp.

For those of you who want long hair, my only advice is to be patient as it only grows at about ½ an inch every month. And just because you’re trying to get long mermaid locks, doesn’t mean you can skip out on the salon. It’s still necessary to get a trim every 2 months or so to avoid split ends that can thin out your hair, prolonging the process of growing your hair out.

“Mistress Librarian, I’ve just started growing it out from a boy cut and it’s at that stage where it just sticks out every which way. What do?!” You may be asking. Fear not, for there are options! I get sometimes you just can’t wait to grow it out or are in a position where you still need a boy hair style. This list is sorted by easiest to most difficult.

Wigs
The easiest thing to do is buy a really nice wig that you can just throw on and take off whenever you need to. The higher end ones will be made from hand knitted human hair, but there are also varying levels of synthetics and animal hairs, hand knit or machine knit, all kinds in every price range. If you plan on being in a wig a lot and have a sensitive scalp, it can be helpful to also have a wig cap that you put on before the wig. Clips and tape are going to be your best friend.

Weaves/Extensions
Sewing in a weave or extensions can be time consuming but well worth it for a long lasting bold style. The biggest problem with these is that they put a lot of stress on your follicles and over time can thin your hair significantly. They can also be restrictive when it comes to moisturizing the scalp. If you intend to use weaves and extensions often, give your scalp a break between style changes, overuse of weaves can lead to hair line recession and baldness.

Styling Products
This is the “most difficult” just because you need to spend more time on this option with more tools at home. But if you’re growing out your hair, it’ll be helpful to just use mousse and gel to comb your hairs into place. It can be time consuming and tedious to learn, but worth it for a more natural look as you wait for your locks to grow in.

Because this post is already so long, I’ll finish up here with just the very basic introduction of these options. If you’re a Discord user, you’ve seen the Hair Dye Challenge in the #slut-chat channel where I briefly went over hair coloring options. My next Hair Care article will cover that in depth and more, so keep a lookout for the next installment of “Getting Started on Hair Care."

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xoxo,
thelibrarian