Will Trimming My Ends Make My Hair Grow?

The answer to this question is “no.” The idea that trimming the ends of our hair will help it to grow is a long-held misconception. I cover this topic in more detail in my book, Ultra Black Hair Growth II. Trimming the hair is a maintenance step for appearance purposes only. Trimming can even out split ends, making your hair look neater, but it has nothing to do with making it grow faster or longer. As I state in my book, however, there are other steps that you can take to minimize or even eliminate split ends such as avoiding brushing, excessive heat and over-processing.

Along these lines you may have probably also heard that trimming helps avoid the ends from splitting all the way up to your scalp. Hair that is badly damaged by split ends is more likely to break off long before splitting all the way back to the hair shaft on the scalp. In this situation, trimming the ends will be of little help anyway. Moreover, I must say that in my many years of research in black hair, I have never seen a hair that was split from one end to the other.

Hair grows from the scalp, not from the ends. When we trim the ends of our hair, it has absolutely no affect on the hair that grows out of our scalp. Remember too that once the hair pushes through the scalp, it is dead. Common sense tells us that there is no way that cutting the ends can send a signal through the hair to the scalp to grow more hair. So I suggest that you not be so quick to cut off the ends of your hair. After all when you cut off the ends, you are simply exposing a new end, only shorter. Without the proper maintenance and care, these new ends will become frizzy and split like the old ones. I suggest that instead of frequent trimming of your ends, you learn to properly maintain them so that they can add to the length and beauty of your hair instead of distracting from it.

Is your shampoo causing you to lose your hair?

It is possible. Many people are not able to tolerate the sulfates contained in some shampoos. The internet is buzzing with discussions about products containing sulfates versus those that are sulfate-free. Sulfates are basically detergents or soaps and they are in just about everything that lathers because they offer “cheap suds.” The most common surfactants in shampoos are sodium lauryl sulfate or ammonium lauryl sulfate.

Surfactants (or soaps) do the main work of cleansing the hair by removing sebum from the hair shaft. Sebum is the natural oily coating on our hair shaft that can collect dirt, hair flakes, styling products, etc. Without getting too technical here, the type and the amount of surfactants present in your shampoo determines how gently or how harshly it cleanses. The amount of lather produced is primarily determined by the type and concentration of surfactants used in the product formulation. (I was shocked to learn that the toothpaste I was using contained the sulfate, sodium laurel sulfate! I quickly changed to a new brand.) In some instances, shampoos heavy with sulfates have been found to contribute to thinning, balding, and stripping the hair of oils and hair coloring.

Remember that sulfates are just one type of cleansing agent. There are other types of cleansing products or soaps that can be used in shampoo without creating some of the negative risks to your hair that exist with sulfates. These risks are more prevalent with afro hair. Since afro hair is naturally coily, oils produced in the scalp can’t travel as easily down the hair shaft, which causes our hair to be more prone to dryness. If the hair becomes too dry, the greater the chance for breakage. So, it’s important to choose a shampoo that is gentle enough to remove dirt and excess oils left by maintenance products while not completely stripping the hair of needed oils.

Let me reiterate here that the presence of soap in your shampoo, in and of itself is not the enemy. In fact, you need to have soap to cleanse your hair. Many hair forums discuss co-washing as an alternative to using shampoo. This method is basically using conditioner to wash your hair instead of shampoo. Although some people swear by this method as a way to “clean” the hair without shampoo, I personally consider it an outrage. When I take a shower, I don’t rub lotion all over my body in the shower and say I am clean! So using anything other than a product containing soap to wash my hair is really not an option.

So, yes your shampoo could indeed be causing you to lose your hair. Excessive lather is one of the causes of hair dryness which results in breakage. The best choice in a good shampoo for afro hair should be one that is sulfate-free. This will provide the gentle cleansing your hair needs without stripping all the oils to prevent dryness and breakage.

Why Did Cathy Howse Change Her Products?

In 1992 UBH introduced our first hair product. In January 2011, we decided to reformulate. Although many who purchased UBH products for years were satisfied with them, some of our clients wanted to know why we would change them. The simple answer is -- to make them better.

Lotion creme is now Satin Creme

• Replaced olive oil with almond oil (which has a longer shelf life)
• Made the formula a lighter consistency
• Removed the parabens (parabens are an old preservative system)

Dew Spray is now Silky Spray

• Blended better to prevent separating
• Better consistency so it stays where you spray
• Removed the parabens
• Removed the artificial color
• Removed ALL fragrance