Black hair products affiliate program / small business opportunity

I’m thinking about starting an affiliate program for our black hair product line, Northwest Scents™. An affiilate program is where you get a small commission for referring buyers to a product.  If they buy the product through your link, you get paid.  If you have a blog, website, or ezine that caters to people who may be interested in Northwest Scents™, and you would be interested in our affiliate program, please let me know. You can contact me by responding to this post. Be sure to put the link to your blog, website, or ezine in your comment (the comment will not be posted on the blog) so that we can take a look at it, and we will get back to you if we think that you would be a good match for our affiliate program.

Website With Tips for Pressing Hair

If you would like more information about pressing hair, visit my site at pressing-hair.info. This site contains some more tips, and a few pictures.

Question about hot combing (pressing) hair

Question: I was wondering if hot combing would work for me so I tried it, however, the hot combing style doesn’t last on my hair for more than two days, my ends are also very resistant. Is it because it was done incorrectly or it needs to be done more frequently?. My hair is typical african american hair however much more kinkier/dry than normal and relaxers easily damages it after many usages. Thanks a lot.

Answer:. Hi. My goal in writing about hot combing is not to convice all black women that they need to wear their hair straight, it is simply to show another method of taking care of our hair without chemicals or synthethic hair. What I have found with hair straightening is that the products you use on your hair and the tools you use to press your hair really make a difference. Here are some tips that have worked for me:

1. The products that you use make a difference. I have gotten the best hair growth after I started using Northwest Scents products, because these are designed to be very moisturizing and gentle. My hair doesn’t press “bone” straight, but it is much softer and easier to detangle than it was before.

2. The tools that you use make a difference. If you choose to straighten your hair I recommend an electric pressing comb or a flat iron at a temperature that will gently straighten your hair, but not cause it to burn or to become permanently straight. For me that is setting 14 on my comb with 20 settings. Lately I have been experimenting with a flat iron. The brand I am using is Solia. The flat iron will get your hair much straighter than the pressing comb, but you have to be really really really careful with it because it gets much hotter than the pressing comb, and I think it has a greater potential to do irrepairable damage to the hair if it is used improperly. If you decide to experiment with a flat iron, please keep the temperature low.

3. The condition of your hair makes a difference. If you are trying to press hair that is in a weakened state from chemical relaxers or something else, you will not get the best results. You should first focus on nuturing your hair back to health, without chemicals, and then if you still want to press your hair, try it. I do not have any chemical treatments in my hair.

I hope I have answered your questions. If pressing doesn’t work out for you, don’t despair. Healthy black hair is beautiful both with its natural texture and straight. If you visit http://www.natural-black-hair-care.info and click on the link titled “Natural Hair Styling Ideas” you will see what I’m talking about. The two pictures at the top are my mom and sister wearing their hair naturally. They have dry, kinky type hair too (my sister’s is softer than my hair or my mom’s).

Update on the Solia

After using the Solia for a while I can say that I’ve been pleased with the quality of the Solia. It heats up quickly, it is easy to clean, and it has true ceramic plates that don’t chip like others that I have seen. However, it is still a flat iron, and I believe that if you use any heated tool you need to exercise great caution with it so that you don’t damage your hair from excessive heat or overuse. I still have to use a pressing comb for detangling at the roots (because flat irons don’t detangle). And it leaves my hair with a flat look unlike the pressing comb which seems to leave waves in my hair. However, I feel that the flat iron does really work the oils into my hair. I use it at about 300 degrees.

Detangling Black Hair

I believe that one of the keys to growing black hair is detangling it effectively. My favorite way to begin the detangling process is to use a generous amount of Northwest Scents™ hair conditioner (made with coconut oil and lots of moisturizers) on my hair when I am washing it, and to comb it out in individual sections, beginning at the ends, and working my way down to the roots. I talk more about detangling in the book Twelve Steps For Growing Black Hair.

Using Bottle Warmers For Hot Oil Treatments

Do you have an old baby bottle warmer laying around that you are not using any more? If so, try this tip posted at multicultural-cuisine.blogspot.com for an easy way to do your hot oil treatments.

Pressing Hair - is it good for the hair and does it help hair growth?

The short answer to this question is:
It depends on how you press your hair.

The long answer to this question is:
The word pressing can mean different things if you ask different people. To me pressing means taking a heated hair appliance like a flat iron or a pressing comb and running it through the hair to straighten the hair. There are many factors involved in this process which will determine whether or not pressing is good for your hair.

Pressing Can Benefit Your Hair and Help It To Grow If:

You don’t press your hair at the highest temperature on your flat iron or pressing comb. High heat can permanently alter the protein bonds in your hair and cause it to lose it’s naturally curly texture when you wash it. When pressing your hair, you should use enough heat to straighten it until you wash it again, but not to the point of permanently changing the natural texture of your hair. If you are using that much heat, you are damaging your hair.

You don’t press your hair every day. Again, applying that much heat to your hair will in most cases cause permanent damage to your hair.

You don’t press relaxed hair. Hair that has been relaxed has already been weakened by the strong chemicals used on it. Adding heat to the mixture will cause the hair to weaken further.

You detangle your hair before you press it. If you detangle your hair before you press it, it will make the pressing comb go through your hair much easier and with much less damage than if you try to use the pressing comb to detangle your hair. I talk about how to detangle hair before pressing in my book Twelve Steps For Growing Black Hair.

You use moisturizing hair care products to wash your hair and a thermal protectant, like Northwest Scents™ hair oil, while you are pressing your hair. I have found that one of the differences between hair that presses nicely, and hair that is brittle and breaks while being pressed, is the type of product used on the hair. If you use moisturizing products on your hair, then your hair will be smoother and softer after you press it. My experience is that when using natural products, like Northwest Scents™, the heat of the pressing comb causes the natural oils to penetrate the hair shaft which in turn causes the hair to be softer and more flexible. If you use harsh hair care products, like harsh shampoos which dry out your hair, or products made with lots of synthetic oils, these products will dry out your hair and contribute to breakage while you are pressing your hair.

You were your hair so as not to pull it out. If you press your hair and then wear it tightly braided or pulled into a tight bun or ponytail, you will most likely cause hair breakage.

You use an electric tool. It is best to use an electric appliance for pressing your hair (an electric pressing comb or electric flat iron) so you can regulate the temperature. Remember, you want to use enough heat to straighten your hair until the next wash, but not so much that you damage the protein structure.

You don’t get that burnt hair smell. If you smell your hair burning, you are using too much heat and you need to turn the temperature down.

Hair Photo From December 2006

This photo of my hair was taken in December 2006. This is the longest I let it get before I started trimming it. (in this picture I have flat ironed the hair). After taking this photo I started trimming it regularly. I think that the new hair that is growing in since I started my new routine (as described in Twelve Steps For Growing Black Hair) is healthier than the old hair that was maintained under my old routines, and that is why I try to trim my hair regularly.

My Solia - A New Flat Iron To Try

Even though I’ve never been fond of flat irons, I’ve decided to give them one last chance. After watching a relative burn up a whole head of hair using a flat iron (she used it every day), and after trying a flat iron which wasn’t high quality myself (it didn’t hurt my hair, but it didn’t really straighten it either), I had given up on flat irons. But then I got to thinking, and I realized that it wasn’t the flat iron that was the problem, it was the user of the flat iron. In my relative’s case, she turned up the flat iron as high as it would go, and used it every day. In my case, I was expecting too much from a cheap flat iron. So I have invested in a higher quality flat iron, a Solia, and I will see what kind of results I can get out of it. I will not use it at the temperature the manufacturer suggests. I don’t know why they think that black hair can stand a higher temperature than other types of hair. Maybe that is why so many people have problems with flat irons. I plan on using it somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees F.

Natural Black Hair Care Tip - Dealing With Knots

This is a photo of my natural hair right before I press it. It tends to knot at the ends and it takes work to deal with the knots. But working out the knots helps to preserve hair length, so it is something I’ve decided to take the time to do. I’ve decided that there are three ways to deal with knots: 1) Decide it if is a knot in the first place. Sometimes the kinks feel like knots, but actually aren’t. 2) If it is a knot, try to work it out using hair oil or a thin needle. When I encounter a knot I try to gently unloosen it. When my hair is moisturized it is easy to remove knots that aren’t too tight. Sometimes I take a thin pin and put it in the center of the knot and gently unloosen it. 3) If the knot is unworkable, remove as many hairs as possible from the knot, and then cut the knot out. I try to work the knot down to one or two hairs and then if it is joining two hairs together, I cut it off. I hate this last option, but sometimes it has to be done.