Many Florida A&M University women find it harder to manage their hair in this late summer season when Tallahassee experiences what is considered the most hot and humid weather. The summer often brings rain, and August’s average temperature was 92 degrees, according to www.weather.com.
“You really can’t manage your hair in this weather,” said Jennifer Blue, 22, a senior health information management student from Orlando.
Bianca Mullings, a third-year business administration student from Nassau, Bahamas, said that the only way she could keep her hair from frizzing is by keeping it in a ponytail during the summer months.
“If I keep my hair in a ponytail in this weather, it would stay straight. My hair would frizz up if I wore my hair down,” Mullings said.
An article on www.ivillage.com, a woman’s Internet source for health and beauty tips, informs black women about taming frizzy hair. The site said humidity is often the cause of frizz. But Mullings also said the way hair behaves in the weather depends on its texture.
Trenice Seniors, owner of and stylist at Celebrities Hair Design on Palmer Avenue, agreed with Mullings. However, Seniors did not focus on the texture of the hair. She referred to the condition of the hair.
“It’s not the weather that is creating problems with their hair, it is because of the fact that the hair is unhealthy,” Seniors said.
Seniors explained that women have to first analyze the type of hair they are dealing with, whether they have healthy or unhealthy hair.
If the hair has split ends, breakage or dryness, the hair is considered unhealthy and is more absorbent to the humidity.
“Everything good that happens to the hair has to begin in the wet stage. The hair is more vulnerable when it is wet,” Seniors said.
Seniors said to avoid cheap products such as heavy creams that are supposed to moisturize the hair but instead contain fat-back cholesterol, which does not condition the hair properly.
“The key is to moisturize the hair while it is still wet because you build shine and moisture from within,” Seniors said.
She also said women should know the type of ingredients they put in their hair and look for products that contain carotene because it treats the hair with protein.
Seniors described how it is important to use a whole product line and to not mix and match products because the different products may not balance out the hair.
Seniors recommended black hair care products such as Kera Care, which carries a home maintenance line of products.
Seniors will offer free health care classes during the middle of October and November, before the holidays. She said in order for women to overcome their hair problems, they need to get educated on their hair.
“Over half the girls that come into Celebrities have unhealthy hair and they don’t know why. It is because they are not educated. Know what you’re putting on your hair,” Seniors said.