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Why Is Kinky Hair So Fragile?

If you have kinky hair, also referred to as type 4 hair, you probably have wondered why you may experience hair breakage, excessive dryness and find it more difficult to create certain hairstyles.  This article will help to simplify your understanding of this complex hair type.  

What is kinky hair?
When we refer to kinky hair, we are referring to hair that is tightly coiled and that feels coarse to the touch.  Without going too far into the anatomy of hair, in general, the manner of which your hair grows out of your scalp will determine whether your hair is straight, curly, wavy, etc.  The shape of your hair follicle underneath your scalp plays a major role in this determination.  Kinky hair is formed from flat oval shaped follicles, in comparison to straight hair which grows from round follicles.
 
What makes kinky hair so darn fragile?

Straight hair strands are able to be evenly coated with the natural oils produced, however, coily hair is not able to have its’ strands coated with oil at every twist and turn, making the hair strand feel coarse and requiring additional moisture to be added from hair products.  Since kinky hair tends to be very coily, combing and brushing this hair type is challenging and is why “finger” detangling processes undertaken before attempting to comb or bush  tends to help avoid “ripping” your hair out which is sometimes incorrectly considered to be hair breakage.

Mitigating Breakage of this delicate hair type

In addition to having a gentle detangling hair process, kinky hair needs help in adding moisture to its hair strands to greatly minimize hair breakage and improving its’ manageability.  There are a host of natural ingredients you can use to add moisture to your kinky hair:

  • Coconut Oil
  • Shea Butter
  • Honey
  • Jojoba Oil
  • Aloe Vera

Now that you know why you have kinky hair and what’s causing it to be brittle or weak, you can get busy creating a hair care regime that focuses on adding moisture.

If you enjoyed this article and found it helpful, feel free to check out the articles below to learn more about caring for your hair:

10 Signs of Unhealthy Hair and How to Restore It

Caring for Your Son’s Natural Hair

5 Beliefs About Kinky Hair That Should Be Eliminated

Love You're kinky hair!

Has struggles with kinky hair turned you into a product junkie?

We created a hair product guide, we call our “Product Translator” you can use to create a hair care regimen for your kinky hair that does not involve overpaying for an abundance of hair products that don’t work on your hair, only the investment in one product line that has all you need! 

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