The Afro Hair & Beauty Bible

The Afro Hair & Beauty Bible  is a comprehensive guide on how to manage and maintain beautiful, healthy afro hair and skin. On the hair front, the book gives vital information on how to maintain healthy afro hair, which products work best with your afro hair type (relaxed or natural) how to prevent breakage and what terms like co-washing and dusting mean. There’s a whole new hair vocab out there!

Written by Alison Husbands who, after years of suffering from dryness and breakage like many other women with relaxed hair, took matters into her own hands and looked for solutions to common problems black and mixed race women have when it comes to our beauty routines.

She compiled her extensive research into The Afro Hair & Beauty Bible to share her knowledge with women who are looking for answers to their hair and skin care questions.

Alison Husbands

The Afro Hair & Beauty Bible is an easy to read, glossy resource, packed full of information and stunning images. Available now at Amazon for £9.49.

Solutions to Common Problems with Black Hair

Purely through trial and error, we’ve tried a lot of products on our hair over the years. Some good, others not so much. What we’re listing here are things we’ve tried that are too good to keep to ourselves, and others that, while not especially for our hair type, work well on hair that comes with any kind of curl.

Dry Hair

Organic Hair Systems Aqua Boost Shampoo and Conditioner
They say: Contains certified organic extracts and oils, vitamin 5 and wheat protein to nourish and protect dry hair.
We say: Works very well on natural afro hair and certainly left it feeling soft and nourished.

£9.95

Aveda Dry Remedy Shampoo
They say: Drenches even the driest, most brittle hair with moisture, leaving it soft, supple, and touchable.
We say: Yes, it lives up to the hype. Natural, relaxed and mixed race hair all felt tons better after using this shampoo.

£18

Damaged Hair

Most of us have been here! A little over eager with the blow dryer and irons or simply frazzled from the sun, these products will have your hair back to normal in no time.

Aveda Damage Remedy Intensive Restructuring Treatment
They say: Use weekly to help repair, seal and smooth even the most damaged hair
We say: We don’t always wash our hair every week (!) but we used this a couple of times in a month and, after abusing our hair with sun and GHD’s, putting this on certainly made a difference.

£21

Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise (who knew you could get this in Boots now?!)
They say: The original treatment for damaged hair enriched with olive oil, egg protein, herbs and a boost of wheat germ oil.
We say: Slather this on generously, put a shower cap on and leave for 20 - 45 mins. Your hair will love you afterwards.

£6.03

Dry Scalp

The jury is out on whether you should put oil on your scalp – trichologists say it’s a no no – but we all know someone who (if it’s secretly not us) still does.

Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Aloe Shampoo
They say: Removes calcium build-up and restores moisture to hair whilst it gently cleans and neutralizes
We say: After continued use, we noticed our scalp was much less flaky. But use it every time you wash your hair as the one time we strayed, the dry patches returned.

£3.47

Mizani Supreme Oil
They say: Hydrates the scalp and relieves dryness
We say: Yes, yes, yes! Read our in depth review here.

£17.99

Defining Curly Hair

For days when you want to work with what is just growing out of your head.

Mixed Chicks
They say: Non-sticky, alcohol free and lightweight products really define your curls and lock in moisture at the same time.
We say: All the products from the range are great and work perfectly.

Shampoo £13.09. Conditioner £17.50

Aveda Be Curly Curl Enhancer
They say: Intensifies curls, tames frizz and heightens shine.
We say: Shampoo and condition your hair, follow the instructions on the packaging and you’ll have defined and bouncy curls. We were surprised at how good this is!

£17

Straightening Curly Hair

Whether your hair is natural or relaxed, sometimes you want to wear it straight. If you don’t want the permanence of a relaxer, these products will help you on your way.

Aveda Smooth Infusion Glossing Straighter
They say: Use with the Smooth Infusion full range for all day straightness and shine.
We say: We like to mix and match our products so didn’t use the whole range but the glossing straighter is amazing. Towel dry your hair, divide into very small sections and apply to each section before blow-drying. Works like a charm and smells great.

£18.50

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum
They say: Lightweight silicones smooth, condition and seal hair with added shine.
We say: Use very sparingly, a little goes a long way, but your hair will swish like that girl in the Pantene ads.

£16.75

Cloud Nine Wide Straightening Irons
They say: Ceramic plates add amazing shine and reduce static, allowing you to glide through the hair with ease and speed.
We say: They have temperature controls so you can adjust the heat according to your hair type. Keep the temp low if your hair is relaxed or fine and turn it up for use on extra thick, coarse hair or hair with a tight natural curl.

£129.95

Don’t get your hair looking all fabulous then ruin it by sleeping on a cotton pillow. Either wrap your hair or sleep on a silk pillowcase. We reviewed one earlier here.

That’s our list of what we think works well and we know we haven’t included everything. We’re sure you know of other things that are great for curly, relaxed or natural hair, so please share!

The Good Black Hair Salon Guide

We’ve all been there – your appointment at the salon was 12:00, it’s now 13:30 and no one has so much as offered you a cup of water! We’re not sure what the problem is with a lot of local black hairdressers but in the past, we’ve had to mentally set aside a whole afternoon if we decided to get our hair done as who knew what time we'd actually be seen!

Waitng...we've all been there!

It frustrates us as we want to support local black owned business but their tardiness is costing them clients and money. Enough is enough! We went on a quest to find good hair salons that can work with afro, relaxed, natural and mixed race hair. All the salons listed here have been visited by us so our comments come purely from personal experience.

As we’re based in London, all of these salons are local (ish) to us but if you have had good experiences at salons we’ve not visited, please leave a message in the comments section. Here goes:

Errol Douglas Salon

Errol Douglas Limited
18 Motcomb Street
Knightsbridge
London SW1X 8LB
Tel: 020 7235 0110
www.erroldouglas.com

Very experienced in European, Afro (relaxed or natural), mixed race and synthetic hair and can do pretty much whatever treatment or style you want. They are Knightsbridge based and priced accordingly! They see you on time, are professional and polite and the juniors give the best scalp massages known to man. The only thing we don’t like is that, unless you see Errol himself (and a cut and blow dry with him is £200) all work on Afro hair is done downstairs in the basement. As nice as it is, we’d quite like to sit upstairs sometimes. That said, various team members have won accolades including Afro Hair Dresser of the Year and Celebrity Hair Dresser of the Year.

Price Guide: Relaxer, cut and blow dry from £90

Junior Green Hair & Beauty
39 Knightsbridge
London
SW1X 7NL
Tel: 020 7752 0620
www.junior-green.com

Ex Errol Douglas, you get a much more informal and friendly experience at Junior Green. Very professional, we were seen on time and given time to think about what we wanted to do with our hair (1 mixed race curly, 1 natural afro). They specialise in mixed race hair and cut your hair with straight and curly days in mind. They are also very good with natural hair and offer specialist braiding services which includes work with locks, cornrows, twists and weaves/extensions.

Price guide: Relaxer, cut and blow dry from £85

Kosit Hair Designs
113 Peckham High Street
London
SE15 5SE
Tel: 020 7732 5946
www.kosithair.com

Not in the most salubrious of areas, highlighted by the fact that you have to be buzzed in, the staff in this salon are quick to say the least - you almost feel like you are on a conveyor belt! You are seen as soon as you get in and you are out the door almost just as fast. That said, they are professional, not very chatty (but then we weren’t there to make new friends) and are good at cutting. We deduct points for them not accepting credit/debit cards – cash only and that they charge based on the length of your hair. If you have long, flowing tresses, fair enough, but it felt steep to charge us £80 to cut our hair from mid back to shoulder. The team are experienced though and among them have won various afro/weave/avant garde styling awards. Best for relaxed and mixed race hair.

Price guide: Not available on website

Hype Coiffure (salons in Balham, Brixton and Battersea)
We visited: 186 Lavender Hill
London
SW11 5TQ
Tel: 020 7223 3800
www.hypecoiffure.com

Home to Afro Hair Dresser of the Year 2010 Kim Johnson and Michelle Sultan, the staff here can’t do enough to help you feel comfortable and relaxed (we saw them let a new mother go into the downstairs office to feed her baby) and take their time to discuss your hair needs and concerns before they get the scissors out. They work on all kinds of hair - natural, relaxed, mixed race, weaves, braids and locks and even treat some scalp conditions. Whatever your hair type or condition, they probably work on it. They also stock and sell Mizani products.

Price guide: Not available on website

Toni & Guy (salons around the UK).
We visited: Unit 2 Cowcross Street
London
EC1M 6DH
Tel: 020 7251 0990
www.toniandguy.com

You may be wondering what Toni & Guy is doing on a guide to afro/mixed race hair but bear with us! While they probably aren’t the first place that come to mind when you’re thinking of a new ‘do – they will cut your hair like no one else will. They aren’t afraid to attack your hair with scissors and gave us probably the best hair cut we’ve ever had. They pay no attention to your scalp or the actual condition of your hair but we didn’t want or expect them to. We were there simply for an edgy haircut. It’s best for relaxed or mixed race hair – we don’t think they would know what to do with natural afro hair. They are very quick (washed, cut and blow-dried within the hour) and at one point we had three people working on our hair, we felt like quite the celebrity. If you’re going to visit another T&G salon, always call in advance to see if they work on your hair type and if possible, go in for a consultation first – for them to see what they’re working with and for you to make sure you are comfortable. We saw Greg at the Farringdon branch and he was very knowledgeable re how to cut naturally curly hair. We’ve also been to the Crouch End and Bluewater branches, but again, call to see if they can work on your hair before booking an appointment.

Price guide: Wash, cut and blow dry - £55 (senior stylist)

As we said earlier, this list is not exhaustive – the article is about salons we’ve personally visited and as we live in London, they are all based here. If you know of others that are just as good, please let us know via the comments section!

Tried and Tested: Wen® by Chaz Dean Hair Treatment

Wen® is a range of hair products from Hollywood hairdresser Chaz Dean (he’s worked on stars at the Oscars and MTV Music Awards) that are free of SLS and nasty chemicals.

We tried the Re-Moist Intensive Hair Treatment which was designed for use before and after any chemical treatments (i.e. relaxers) to add moisture, body and shine and to restore your hair and give it a bit of strength.

They are so sure you will be pleased with the results they offer a 60 day money back guarantee – even if the containers are empty!

Our tester is mixed race with dry, unruly and thick relaxed hair (her words not ours!). Here is what she had to say:

Feel: The product feels substantial and has the qualities you'd expect of an intensive hair treatment; heavy, creamy and rich.

Smell: A sweet coconut aroma which is relaxing and smells 'clean' without the greasy oiliness that coconut products often have.

Texture: A thick, rich, soothing texture which immediately made me feel like I was using something substantial on my thick, dry hair.

The conditioning treatment was very easy to use with a simple application after shampoo, on wet hair. The hair treatment definitely helped smooth my hair whilst blow drying, which makes me believe it worked in nourishing my hair. The scent was sweet and the texture of the product was very relaxing and felt nourishing.

The only thing I would change about it is perhaps the packaging as it wasn't entirely aesthetically pleasing and probably isn't something that I'd take off the shelf in a shop. Aside from that, I would give it 4 out of 5 and don't doubt that continued use would be beneficial in soothing dry, coarse hair like mine!

WEN® by Chaz Dean Re-Moist Intensive Hair Treatment - Cucumber Aloe. £18.95

www.wenhaircare.co.uk