Natural, relaxed, blown out, or with extensions, hairstylist Ursula Stephen—who owns a salon in Brooklyn and counts Rihanna and Mary J. Blige as clients—has seen and created just about every look. But one detail is the same: “There’s always breakage,” she says. We asked her the most common styling mistakes that women make with their textured hair—and how to avoid them....MORE......
1. Avoid too much heat. “When you’re African-American, your hair is already naturally dry,” says Stephen, “so if you’re going to the salon for a blowout and straightening, spread it out to once every two or three weeks.” She recommends stretching the time between visits by taking cool showers, “so you don’t have to kill your hair with the flatiron,” and wrapping under a silk scarf it at night. “Did you see Rihanna’s doobie for the VMAs? That helps preserve the straightness of the hair,” Stephen says.
2. Don't misuse relaxers. Just like bleach or highlights, relaxers are chemical treatments that can destroy hair if they’re not applied properly. “It should be done by a professional every four to eight weeks, depending on your hair growth,” says Stephen. “And when you go back for a retouch, it should be applied only to the new growth. Some people pull it through the whole strand,” she says, which leads to overprocessing, dryness, and eventually, breakage.
3. Remove glue-in extensions properly. “Glue can be damaging, but it doesn’t have to be,” she says. “You can’t just rip them out.” To avoid pulling out real hair from the root along with your extensions (which can eventually cause permanent damage to the follicle), Stephen recommends using a hair-bond remover to gently dissolve the adhesive. And avoid conditioning-oil spray: “It’s so much messier, and it doesn’t remove all the glue,” she says.
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