Okay, before anyone gets their undies in a bunch because I am promoting something in relation to relaxed hair care, let’s stop and face the fact that:
1. Not every woman is going to give up her relaxer
2. Most women who choose to relax their hair need to learn better hair care habits so that they can KEEP their hair on their head and grow it longer
While I’m most definitely an advocate for hair that has NOT been chemically altered, I’m an advocate of HEALTHY hair even more so!
And I’m not totally closed-minded, though perhaps a bit biased, to the idea of relaxing one’s hair, I can respect any woman’s decision and right to straighten her hair.
My only desire is that she, along with that decision, learn and implement healthy hair practices.
And more than likely, this will entail doing things differently than what you’ve done up to this point because let’s face it…
If doing what MOST people currently do worked, then every Black woman with relaxed hair would have hair down her back and would NOT be searching on Google for, “Why can’t Black women grow long hair?“
Let me tell you about a sister I met back in the early 2000’s.
Her name is Brenda Slicker, a beautiful sistah (both outwardly and inwardly) who, when I met her, was an Airline Pilot and Businesswoman.
Brenda has walked her talk and not only grew her broken, damaged, never-seeming-to-grow hair longer than it’s ever been; but after having lost all of her long, beautiful hair to chemotherapy treatments, she grew it all right back from basically scalp-length!
Black Women Rejoice… maybe
In 1997, Brenda wrote (what she called) a ‘report’ titled, “Black Women Rejoice“.
She shared tips that most black women did not want to hear during that time, seeing as plastered down, gelled down hairstyles were prevalent in the 90’s.
For example…
She is not a fan of using grease and other products designed to make the hair heavy and weighed down.
Instead, her focus was healthy hair that blows in the wind and moves & flows when you turn your head, as opposed to stiff hair that doesn’t move, even if you shake your head.
Another thing she mentioned was using relaxers to get your hair just straight enough, but not completely bone straight and (as she called it) see through. And I agree because, over-processing and overlapping are most definitely two of the biggest culprits in unhealthy, seemingly non-growing relaxed hair.
But that’s exactly what we wanted, right? It had to be STRAIGHT with no little crimps. So, needless to say, her suggestions didn’t go over too well with a lot of women who purchased her material.
Many women fought and argued against her advice – some without ever having even tried it – because of the sheer simplicity of her tips. I’ll admit, the information will definitely require shifting your mindset from what you may be accustomed to and what you’ve been told by the hair care industry.
But if you want your relaxed hair to be HEALTHY and grow long, I suggest at least checking it out and just DO what she advises for at least 90 days and see what kind of results you yield!
I mean really, what have you got to lose? Her information is definitely not going to cause you to lose anymore hair, that’s for damn sure!
Herein lies the caveat…
Brenda used to sell Black Women Rejoice on her website, which no longer exists; but the report (ebook) is currently being sold on Amazon. There are only two reviews and neither are good.
I got my copy back in the early 2000’s and therefore, haven’t seen the Amazon book version to know if it’s been revamped or improved from the original.
What I do know is that, while the information was good, the presentation wasn’t the best. It was kinda jumbled and could really use a good editing.
And in full disclosure, I’m going to state who probably should NOT buy this ebook.
Don’t buy this ebook if you’re:
- a stickler for grammar and it peeves you heavily when less-than-good grammar is used
- not willing to purchase new styling tools and get rid of some old ones is something you’re not willing to do
- not ready to release the aesthetic of slicked down, shiny (oily) hair
- looking for the science behind it all
However… if you can get past any grammatical errors there may be and you’re open to doing some things differently than you’ve been doing to care for your relaxed hair – I encourage you to purchase her ebook, read, and implement her tips.
Even if you don’t fancy her styling tips, at least follow the guidance about washing, relaxing, trimming, and combing your hair. If my hair wasn’t in Bradelocz, I know I sure would!
Click here to get the Amazon Kindle version for about $10
NOTE: You do NOT need to own a Kindle.
Just get the FREE Kindle App for phone or computer.