Photo by Ronise Da Luz on Unsplash

7 Best Deep Conditioners for Black Hair

By Jacqueline Samaroo

Deep conditioning could be considered one of the most sacred acts in the natural hair movement. It has proven benefits for helping black hair thrive regardless of its length or texture.

Common Deep Conditioner Questions

Before we take a look at the best deep conditioners for black hair, here are some fast answers to four of those burning questions we tend to have about deep conditioners.

How often should I deep condition my hair?

Deep condition your hair weekly (or at least twice a month) to keep it looking healthy, moisturized, and free from tangles.

What ingredients should I look for in a deep conditioner?

As with all your other natural hair products, look for deep conditioners with natural oils and nutrient-rich ingredients. For example, coconut and olive oil can improve elasticity in brittle hair while amino acids help to repair damaged and color-treated hair.

What products should I avoid in a deep conditioner?

Avoid phthalates, parabens, and silicones. Steer clear, too, of ingredients no one could possibly pronounce.

Should I use a protein-free deep conditioner?

Use a protein-free deep conditioner if you are protein sensitive or have low porosity hair. Protein-rich deep conditioners are good for highly porous, color-treated, or damaged hair. Switching between the two helps maintain your hair’s protein-moisture balance for healthier hair. It also promotes natural hair growth.

7 Best Deep Conditioners for Black Hair

The Mane Choice Green Tea & Carrot Deep Strengthening & Restorative Mask

GROWTH AND DEFINITION

Go ahead and let your hair feast on this Green Tea & Carrot concoction from The Mane Choice. Your reward will be hair that has been both renewed and nourished, and curls that are beautifully defined. Along with the green tea and carrot oil for which it is named, this deep conditioner also has biotin to stimulate keratin production and follicle growth.

SheaMoisture Manuka Honey & Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Masque

BANISH DRYNESS AND MELT TANGLES

“Hydrate and Moisturize” could be this deep conditioner’s mantra. Its Manuka honey helps your strands attract moisture then, along with mafura oil, it seals all that lovely moisture into your strands. That’s the kind of intensive conditioning Black hair needs as it is susceptible to dryness and tangling.

As I Am Hydration Elation Intensive Conditioner

LOVE FOR COILY/KINKY HAIR

More than just deep, this As I Am Hydration Elation conditioner is INTENSE! Its rich formula penetrates kinks and coils to soften and strengthen them. The ingredients that help it do this include coconut oil, sugar cane, lemon, Shea butter, and vitamin E. What’s more, you’ll love the lasting shine it gives to your hair.

SheaMoisture Strengthen and Restore Treatment Masque

BEST FOR LOOSE CURLS

Nutrient-rich Jamaican black castor oil shares center stage with organic Shea butter in this treatment that works wonderfully on natural hair. It is also a welcomed treatment for chemically processed or heat-damaged hair. This deep conditioner softens, strengthens, and restores your strands while leaving your scalp with a tingly feeling you’ll simply enjoy!

Sashapure Restorative Conditioning Masque

PROTEIN-RICH TLC FOR DAMAGED HAIR

Sashapure Restorative Conditioning Masque boasts “hand-picked, certified organic, wild-crafted” ingredients. These include its Peruvian Sacha Inchi oil which is rich in vitamins A and E, Omegas 3,6, and 9, as well as amino acids. It leaves hair healthy, hydrated, smooth, and shiny.

Obia Naturals Babassu Deep Conditioner

PROTEIN-FREE CARE FOR PROTEIN-SENSITIVE HAIR

Babassu oil is a powerful moisturizer that helps to reduce breakage. It seals moisture into strands for longer when compared to lots of other moisturizing ingredients. If you have protein-sensitive hair or hair that’s suffering from protein overload, then this protein-free option could be the ideal deep conditioner for you. It’s vegan, too!

Camille Rose Naturals Algae Renew Deep Conditioner Mask

ALL-AROUND GOODNESS

Camille Rose calls its deep conditioner mask a “softening cocktail” and “gourmet treatment” – and we can totally see why. It gets its moisturizing power from unrefined cocoa butter and mango butter. These are combined with a host of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and biotin from blue-green algae. Together they promote natural hair growth as they strengthen strands and repair damage.

Do you have deep conditioning tips to share? Tell us!

                                             Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Black Women at Work: Knowing Your Rights, Using Your Voice

                                      By Veronica Wells-Puoane of NoSugarNoCreamMag.com

In my decade-long tenure at MadameNoire, I’ve witnessed more than a few regime changes. Some people left of their own volition while others were tossed from the door kicking and screaming like Jazzy Jeff.

For the most part, I didn’t concern myself with it. Those problems and that drama was above my pay grade. And more importantly, it never really affected my day-to-day work…until it did.

In 2012, I had been with the company for two years. Already in that short time, I’d seen my fair share of turn over. And that spring, in an attempt to replace someone who’d just walked out of the revolving door, the company hired a woman I’ll call Yvette.

For those who don’t know, MadameNoire is and has always been a Black owned company–even under its previous owner–and all of the women who have served as editors for the site, have been Black women.

So with that foundation, any woman who stepped into any position at MadameNoire had my respect just as a fellow sister.

But what I would learn that Spring, just two years out of college, was that not all Black women extend that courtesy to one another.

Not all Black women extend that courtesy to one another.

In the days before Yvette came to work at the office, we heard a bit about her background. She’d worked for a print outlet. And though the current leadership had some concerns about her lack of experience in digital media, they felt that she would be a good fit for the team.

The idea was that she would learn the ropes as an associate editor, the position I occupied at the time, and then eventually take over as Deputy Editor for the site.

I think it’s appropriate to state that I’ve never had much desire to progress past my current position at MadameNoire. What I know and have always known about myself is that I like to write and generally be left alone. And while promotion does include more money, the problems aren’t far behind. You have to answer to more people and creativity takes a backseat to the administrative and business dealings that need to happen in order to keep the brand afloat.

That’s not for me. And I’m proud to say I had that type of awareness about myself in my twenties.

The positions above mine require increased surveillance, communication skills, conflict management, and organization. And believe you me, the only type of organization to which I’m consistently willing commit, is organizing the thoughts in my head so they can be translated into the written word.

I say all that to say that I was, in no way, shape or form, interested in Yvette’s position or somehow bitter about the fact that she would one day be my boss.

There are two types of new hires. The people who come in, sit back and observe what the hell is going on, quietly noting where they can implement changes for the betterment. And then there are those people who come in dictating and demanding before they learn the lay of the land.

Sadly, for everyone involved, Yvette was the latter.

I was, in no way, shape or form, interested in Yvette’s position

At first, I didn’t think much of it. Sis was new. She didn’t have digital experience and I could see that she was trying to make an impression. With the way media was changing in 2012, with print publications struggling to stay afloat, I could see why she needed to prove herself invaluable.

Unfortunately, instead of attempting to prove herself in the work she did, she sought to exert power she had yet to earn…against me. But it’s hard to do that when you have yet to learn your job.

And the truth of the matter is there were things she just didn’t know. I understood that too. It’s a learning curve. And I thought since I had been there a couple of years, I could help her. But, I would later discover, she took my help as an indication of her inadequacies. It was not welcome.

She’d get huffy when I’d attempt to politely correct her mistakes and explain that we generally do things this way as opposed to another. I could see that she was irritated but the mistakes she made were not little ones. They would either disrupt our workflow, reflect poorly on the brand if they were published or didn’t fit in the nature of our work. So they had to be addressed.

And while I could sympathize with her not wanting her ignorance exposed, what I didn’t want was for someone new to come in and tarnish the brand I’d worked for the past two years to build.

I assumed that Yvette would spend a couple of months feeling salty as she learned the ropes, eventually get the hang of it and chill out.

I was wrong.

She took my help as an indication of her inadequacies.

Instead of devoting her time to figuring out how we did things, she set her sights on punishing me.

There were cutting glances, curt answers and outright challenges that I can no longer remember, eight years later.

What I do recall is that it all came to a head when Yvette decided to reject the pitches one of my freelancers submitted, without consulting the rest of the team.

After reading the pitches, Yvette wrote to myself and the other two editors:

“Did anyone respond to Adrienne?

If not, I’ll contact her and suggest she submit other ideas. Passing on these.”

I typically received Adrienne’s pitches and edited her copy. Her ideas were often a little abstract in the pitch process but they came together once submitted. And they performed well for the site. Not to mention, I liked that she didn’t think like your average Black girl. Black women need to be represented in all of our facets.

I read over Adrienne’s pitches. Yvette was right, most of them wouldn’t work but a couple of them did. Typically, our practice was to discuss the ideas with each other before any of us made a decision to veto all of them.

Perhaps knowing that Yvette hated to be challenged, I took a beat. And both me and Yvette’s boss, responded first to the thread.

Veronica,

I think you’re working with her, right? Do you want to respond?

It was only right. If all of Adrienne’s ideas were going to be rejected, she should hear it from me and not someone she’d never met and didn’t know.

I replied to the thread.

I’ve been working with Adrienne thus far. If we’re all in agreement that we want to pass on these I can tell her to submit other ideas. I personally like the ‘Black Weakness’ idea.

Let me know what you all think.

Thanks,

Chile, that was it.

Yvette didn’t say anything further on the email thread. But shortly after that, I received an invitation for us to get coffee.

I thought perhaps Yvette had turned over a new leaf and was inviting me to coffee to pick my brain, learn more about the processes here, establish some type of camaraderie with one of the women she would be managing.

Again, I was wrong.

We walked to Starbucks in virtual silence. When we sat down she immediately let me know the true intention of our visit.

“I just want to talk to you about the disrespect I’ve been receiving from you since I got here.”

I was genuinely confused.

“What do you mean by disrespect?”

“You undermining my authority in meetings and email.”

I told her that I was just explaining how we had done things in the past. I told her I didn’t mean any disrespect. But I knew as a new employee, she had a lot to learn. I may have asked her how she expected to do that if people allowed her to keep doing things the wrong way.

She deaded the conversation with this: “All I know is, I’m going to be your boss. And when I’m the boss, when I see disrespect, I get rid of it.”

Any thoughts I had about Yvette eventually learning to play nice went out the window. She’d just effectively threatened my job. Perhaps I should have been intimidated or worried. But the plan was for her to become my boss. She was not that yet. So this declaration about her management style not only struck me as premature but also utterly ridiculous.

Our little coffee date ended shortly after that.

“When I see disrespect, I get rid of it.”

We walked back to the office in silence.

If I had any misconceptions about how conniving Yvette could be, they were squashed just before we entered the door to our open work space, rejoining our coworkers. As her hand was on the knob, she asked me a question. I answered her just as she turned it. And as soon as the words left my mouth, she burst into a fit of exaggerated laughter.

To everyone in the room, it seemed that we’d had a gay ole time and were the best of buddies.

Clever.

I spent the next few hours at my computer, sitting right next to Yvette in our one-room open office plan. Physically there, pantomiming the motions of day to day work. Mentally, I was worlds away wondering how I was going to play this.

At Starbucks, I thought Yvette’s threat of termination was an ego-driven overreaction. But in the hours I spent at my desk, waiting to go home, I realized her words probably violated some type of work protocol as well.

The rest of the day was a blur. My coworkers sensed that perhaps something was off with me but I held it all in until I got home and sat down at my personal computer, having decided on a course of action.

I emailed my boss as well as the owner of the company and told them about Yvette’s little stunt.

Within minutes my suspicions of the off-site coffee date being inappropriate were confirmed. HR had been cc’ed on the conversation. My boss apologized for the fact that I had to endure that. And the owner of the company asked to see any correspondence reflecting the “disrespect” I had shown Yvette.

It felt great to know that my intuition about our meeting was correct. Naturally, no one told me what would happen next. But at least they knew what type of boss Yvette would be to her employees one day.

I was worlds away wondering how I was going to play this.

Two days later, the owner of the company called Yvette and my boss into his office. His office was enclosed in glass. So while I couldn’t hear what the conversation was about, I could tell from my boss’ disappointed face and Yvette’s erect and prideful posture that it was a tense one.

Open floor plan spaces really do rob people of their dignity. After the meeting, my boss left the glass office and sat across from me. I attempted to search her face for answers but she kept her eyes averted. Yvette followed her out of the room and returned to her computer right next to mine. It was my turn to avert my eyes now. Through my periphery I could see her placing a few things in her purse.

I assumed she was going to lunch after she had been reprimanded during the meeting.

Wrong.

Quietly, Yvette made her way over to the one friend she’d made in our office. She was attempting to speak in hushed tones but I heard her say, ‘Well, today’s my last day…’

If Yvette wanted to keep the news on the low, her friend ended all of that by exclaiming “What?!” For the whole room to hear.

My eyebrows shot up. My stomach leapt in anticipation and then immediately, I felt tension I didn’t even know I was carrying leave my body.

The previous owners of MadameNoire made it clear in more ways than one that they were never really invested in the well-being of their employees. So I never thought my emails would end in Yvette being fired. And in reality, they didn’t fire her because of my feelings. Yvette taking employees off-site and then threatening to fire them was a liability for the whole company. But it was more than even that.

Apparently, the mistakes I’d witnessed and attempted to correct, weren’t the only ones she was making.

And while the company might have been willing to allow her to adjust to the learning curve, they couldn’t have her exposing them up to lawsuits and [additional] accusations of a toxic work environment.

She had to go.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t gloat about Yvette’s firing privately to family and friends. There was and still is deep satisfaction in me advocating for myself and protecting my source of income. Yet, there is also disappointment in the fact that throughout my entire career, the biggest threat to my job security came in the form of another Black woman.

In preparation for this article, I googled Yvette to see what she’s been up to in the past eight years. She’s done some freelance work in the digital space. I also saw that she was a professor for some time.

My only hope is that in addition to teaching, she’s taken the time to learn some things as well.

Veronica Wells-Puoane is the creator of the website NoSugarNoCreamMag. She is the author of “Bettah Days” and You’ll Be All Write, a question and answer journal for Black women. She is also the culture editor at MadameNoire.com.

Find more of her articles by Veronica on Curlynikki.com, HERE!

Have you had similar experiences at work? Let us know how it went!

12 Natural Hair Influencers to Follow (According to Hair Type)

Photo by Jessica Felicio on Unsplash

By Jacqueline Samaroo

There are four hair types based on curl pattern.: 1 (straight), 2 (wavy), 3 (curly), and 4 (coily/kinky).

True, there is much more to hair than its type. Porosity, density, and elasticity, for instance, are all important factors in understanding natural hair growth.

But, having an idea of your hair type can help you get the best out of your hair. It can guide you as you seek out natural hair care products that are designed specifically for your hair.

Here is a list of 12 natural hair influencers, by hair type. Their pages can give you an assist as to what might work and what might not for your type of hair.

3a Influencers

@charmsie

Charmaine Daudu loves sharing her extensive knowledge of 3A hair and how best to care for and style it. She was raised in the Caribbean and England and now she is a proud, “creative and quirky” mama, taking on the world with a following of over 86 thousand.

@hif3licia

HiF3Licia has perfectly defined, shiny 3a curls and her almost 300 thousand followers are loving every bounce of it. As a multi-brand brand ambassador and YouTube vlogger, she gets to share her choice of the best curly hair products.

3b Influencers

@bwatuwant

Meet fashion model and Instagram blogger Miss Brit Watkins. She has 3b curls and is encouraging everyone, including her more than 184 thousand followers, to love their curls, too. She shares curly haircare products info with visitors to her page.

@niathelight

Nia Pettitt was FroGirlGinny until she did the big chop. She changed her natural hair style and her Instagram handle, too. Now, she is niathelight and she shares how to care for short 3b hair with her more than 420 thousand followers.

3c Influencers

@curldaze

Her more than 131 thousand followers can turn to Robyn Bowen for all-natural hair styles for thick, shoulder-length 3c hair. She is a mommy, natural hair vlogger, and creator of The Horseshoe Method.

@TACH.J

As a Digital Content Creator, Natacha is all into beauty, lifestyle, and wellness. She tells her almost 80 thousand followers “I’m rooting for you,” as she shares tips on caring for and styling her natural 3c hair.

4a Influencers

@itspaulaalmeida

Paula Almeida has over 60 thousand followers whom she inspires to achieve their natural hair goals. Her curly hair is actually an example of hair that straddles two hair types. Hers mixes types 3 and 4.

@chimeedwards

Chime Edwards is a Mississippi native whose followers exceed 100 thousand. She has 4a kinky-curly natural hair which she loves styling as she shares natural hair care tips. She is also a documentary maker.

4b Influencers

@curlsandcouture

Courtney Danielle Bryant is the twist out pro! Just ask any of her 94 thousand plus followers. Watch her take her 4b natural hair from springy curls to sleek blow out and learn about her favorite natural hair care products.

@junglebarbie1

Meet Jungle Barbie. She’s a loc stylist whom fellow 4b types and others can turn to for pro loc tips. She has almost 20 thousand followers on Instagram and boasts close to 50 thousand subscribers on YouTube.

4c Influencers

@blakejael

Blake Jael has over 81 thousand followers on Instagram and 50 thousand subscribers on YouTube. They join her on her 4c haircare journey, getting natural haircare tips and Black haircare product giveaways along the way.

@Verifiednaturallytemi

Temitope Adesina doesn’t keep her haircare secrets to herself. Uh-uh, this Nigerian beauty and lifestyle influencer shares them with her 230 followers (and counting!). She shows how to get kinky 4c hair into high puffs that are virtual works of art.

Now it’s your turn to let us know. Who do you turn to for natural hair inspiration?

7 Foods to Avoid If You’re Trying to Grow Longer Natural Hair

By Jacqueline Samaroo

It’s pretty safe to assume that any foods that are good for the rest of your body are good for your hair, too. In that case, you might be surprised by a couple of the entries on the list of foods to avoid for the sake of your natural hair.

Here are seven foods that can stand in your way on your journey to healthy, longer hair.

Sugar

You already have plenty of good reasons to avoid excess or added sugar and now you can add hair loss to the list. Why? It’s simple, really: your hair is more than 90% protein and sugar interferes with protein absorption. It does this by increasing your androgen (male hormone) levels. One androgen, called DHT, affects natural hair growth and is a major player in male-pattern baldness.

Refined grains

Over-processed and refined starches are easily converted to sugar in the body. That brings us right back to the sugar problem we just spoke about. Avoid white rice, white flour, white bread, and most cereals. Go for whole-grain options, instead. They are much better at helping you to grow longer natural hair.

Some kinds of fish

Hair loss is among the health issues linked to mercury exposure. Fish, in particular, large fish, is the main way we are exposed to mercury. Swordfish, tuna, king mackerel, and shark are the major culprits and the FDA advises that we should avoid some of these altogether. Others should be limited to just one 4-ounce serving per week. You can check out the FDA’s recommendations here.

Junk Food

Junk food tends to be greasy food that’s chock full of unhealthy fats and oils. Among the many ways in which junk food is bad for your hair is that the grease from these foods can end up as grease on your scalp. All that excess grease clogs up your pores, affecting hair health and natural hair growth.

Soda

The problem with sodas is twofold. In the first instance, they tend to be quite sugary. Since you have read this far into the article, you already know how high sugar intake affects your hair. In the second instance, sodas are acidic and acidic foods can lead to hair that is both dry and brittle. It is next to impossible to grow longer natural hair if you have persistent breakage.

Alcohol

Alcohol isn’t food but if you consume it like it is one, your hair will suffer. Heavy alcohol consumption usually means less real (nutritious) foods are being eaten. This can cause a deficiency in several nutrients, one of which is zinc. Your hair needs zinc for keratin formation. Continued low levels of keratin can cause underdevelopment of hair follicles.

Excess vitamin A and selenium

Your body needs both vitamin A and selenium. Vitamin A is needed for healthy natural hair growth as well as for good eyesight and maintaining the immune system. Selenium is an important micronutrient that is vital for metabolism and thyroid function. Having either one in excess, however, has been proven to cause hair loss.

Growing longer natural hair doesn’t need a radical change in your diet. Each of us already has a good idea of what is good for our bodies and, by extension, good for our, hair. What’s important to remember is that moderation is the key. Enjoy healthy whole foods that are good for your hair in the bulk of your diet. Strive to limit foods that are bad for your hair, like the ones above, as much as you can.

Happy healthy hair journey!

Have you noticed how your natural hair reacts to different foods? Tell us about it!

When Outside Opens Up, I’m Still Gon Be Choosy

By Veronica Wells-Puoane of NoSugarNoCreamMag.com

Black people are truly special. And in the midst of this pandemic, it’s been our humor that has lightened the load of some of this. But levity is not my forte. I have a tendency to take things too seriously and look for the deeper meaning behind the joke.

And since the spread of the coronavirus became something the nation took seriously and people found themselves quarantined in their homes, I’ve seen jokes and memes of people discussing all the things they’ll do when “outside open back up.”

And as much as I can’t wait to get back out into the world, I’m not going to allow my current desperation cause me to say yes to any and every invitation.

To some extent, I’ve already done that. Two weeks after I graduated college, I moved to New York City to start an internship with MSNBC. I was in my early twenties, excited to be in a big city and anxious to be out, often by any means necessary. If there’s one thing I can say about New York City summers, it’s that they’re seductive. The temperature stays warm well into the night, you can walk almost anywhere and there is more than enough to do. And during my first few summers here, I did. I went to networking events, festivals, brunches, concerts. museums, movies, plays, parades, clubs, day parties, reality show reunion tapings, etc.

Now, don’t let me give you the wrong impression. I’m an introvert who keeps mostly to myself. But I will also admit that the pressure to be out, seeing, exploring and doing got to me. And there were more than enough times when I left the house feeling like the world would pass me by if I stayed inside. And instead of returning home pleasantly spent from the day’s happenings, the older I got, the more I realized I didn’t enjoy all these events that I attended.

New York is a city known for its authenticity. But it’s also a place for climbers. And while we should all be striving for better, there is a culture of pretenders here, particularly in media. You’ll know them by the way they converse with you. They’re talking to you but steadily searching the room for a more interesting, more accomplished person to engage. They have jobs but ultimately you’ll learn that they’re more invested in titles, Instagram followers, and knowing the right people than doing any type of work.

There are people who leave the house for the sole purpose of finding a man. And the entire day or evening is a bust if love doesn’t appear to be on the horizon. It’s a lot of pressure to place on an evening and an incredibly boring topic of conversation even when I was single as a dollar bill.

Coming home from those types of events, with those type of people, you realize you might have enjoyed yourself more reading, watching tv at the crib, or being out but not among the wrong crowd.

I learned a long time ago not to invest good time and positive energy into spaces and people that don’t nourish and uplift you. And it’s a lesson and practice that has protected me from a lot of discontentment, burn out, and bad energy over the years. I’m a more peaceful and joyous person because of it.

So, when outside opens up…

I doubt it will be exactly what we once knew. But when it does, I want to go to the movies with my sister, sit outside and have brunch with my college friends, walk through the botanical gardens with my husband before catching some obscure concert, or sun myself on a park bench after a long walk without a face mask.

I hope that when outside opens back up, we remember that it is a luxury, a true gift. And I hope we use that time of connection wisely.

Veronica Wells-Puoane is the creator of the website NoSugarNoCreamMag. She is the author of “Bettah Days” and You’ll Be All Write, a question and answer journal for Black women. She is also the culture editor at MadameNoire.com. Find more of her articles by Veronica on Curlynikki.com, HERE!