BEAUTY
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By Charlotte Smith
SPECIAL TO THE SUN
How do you overcome dryness for natural hair and locs?
For those of you that wear press and curls, before you cleanse your hair, use olive oil, sunflower
seed oil or carrot oil as an hot oil treatment.
Heat the oil in hot water, not the microwave oven. Using the microwave oven tends to change the
nutritional properties of the oil. Place oil on the scalp, and spread it though out the hair shaft. Keep
sectioning and parting the hair, until you complete your entire head. Place a plastic cap on for 20
minutes.
When the time expires, shampoo the oil treatment out of your hair. Shampoo until your hair feels
squeaky clean. Condition your hair with a moisturizer. Then style as usual. Try this method at least
twice a month. As you continue on with this method, your hair should look naturally glossy and have
body. The texture and color should look much healthier.
Those with locs can use the same method up to the moisturizer stage. The moisturizer stage. For
locs, the moisturizer should be clear. For this reason, cream moisturizer tend to leave a deposit and
not rinse totally out of the locs. Once the crème enters into the locs, it becomes almost impossible
to get out.
Remember, rinsing is very important to do. The shine from your natural hair and locs will have
people giving you a second look.
Charlotte Smith is a license cosmetologist of 25 years and the owner of Chavar’s Salon. Email her at
tuffymohair@aol.com or call 313.864.1300.
Ask Black Beauty
Dear Black Beauty:
Is it true that you shouldn’t use soap on your skin? Does shaving cause the hair to grow back
thicker?
Dear Wooly Woo Woo:
Beauty myths are often no more than old adages that are handed down to each generation. Some of
these misconceptions are centuries old and just plain silly. While logic doesn't seem to play a big
factor in beauty myths, they're still abundant. These common beauty myths are pure fiction and
deserve to take their place in the "beauty myth hall of shame."
Soap is bad for your skin is just a myth. Older formulas contained animal fats and vegetable oils.
Newer soaps are formulated to be milder and some contain moisturizers that don't dry out your
skin. Clean skin is better than dirty skin.
Shaving your legs will not make your hair grow in thicker. You have as many hairs as is genetically
determined, regardless of whether you shave them. However, shaving can make hairs appear "stubbier"
and perhaps thicker.
Other myths are that drinking a lot of water leads to beautiful skin. While drinking water is
necessary for our bodies, too much will only result in bloating and too many trips to the bathroom.
Some people believe that split ends can be repaired. The only way to rid of split ends is to cut
them off and prevent them in the future with good hair care.
Dry skin does not causes wrinkles. Not true. Most wrinkles are caused from the sun.
You can’t wash acne and pimples away. Scrubbing too vigorously will increase oil production and
only aggravate the condition.
The sun clears up blemishes is another tall tale. While the sun will temporarily dry out pimples, it
interferes with healthy skin cells. This can cause a worse breakout a couple days after sun exposure.
Stick to one brand and line of products. This beauty myth was probably put out by cosmetic
manufacturers who want to keep customers loyal to their brand.
You don't need to use sunscreen on a cloudy day. The sun's UV rays penetrate clouds and can
still damage your skin.
Natural ingredients are non-allergenic is wrong. Whether it's a natural or chemical ingredient, if
your allergic to it, you'll see a reaction.
Chocolate and greasy foods cause acne. No one food has been proven to cause breakouts. If
you find a correlation, quit eating that particular food.
You can shrink the pores on your face. Your pore size is genetically determined. Pores may appear
larger by bacteria and dead skin cells. Retin-A and alpa hydroxys are designed to break up these
materials and bring the pores back to their original appearance.
Do you have a beauty question? Email me at Admin@detroitnativesun.com or visit me online at www.
detroitnativesun.com.
How to go from
Spongebob to a Badunkadunk
Is the junk in your trunk weighing you down? Or, do you sit so long that your rear end looks like
Sponge Bob Squarepants?
Well, here’s a few exercises that you can do while sitting down to help tighten up your buttocks and
put you on the road to gaining a model figure.
Start by sitting up straight in your chair. Hold on to the chair arms or the seat of your chair. With feet
gently resting flat on the floor, begin by squeezing buttocks to tighten muscles. Hold the position for
about three seconds. Rest, take a deep breath and repeat several times. Practice deep breathing
during all exercise.
Relax in your chair and breathe. Exercise buttocks while sitting with hip lifts. Sit toward the edge of
your chair next with your back straight. Hang on to chair arms or seat. Lean your shoulders or upper
torso toward the chair back. (It's okay to lean shoulders against the chair a bit.) Spread knees apart
slightly with both feet flat resting on the floor. Lift hips up and hold for about three seconds. Rest,
take a deep breath and repeat several times. Stop and breathe.
Practice chair squats to exercise buttocks while sitting. Sit straight up in your chair. Hang on to chair
arms or seat to start with. Place feet flat and securely on the floor. Push yourself up to an almost
standing position. Inhale. Hold for about three seconds; then sit back down slowly and exhale. Lift up
again to almost standing but this time don't sit. Squat slowly several times before sitting to relax.
Inhale while pushing up; exhale while squatting.
Tighten buttocks during chair push ups. Use the arms of your chair to lift your body upward and
squeeze buttocks together tightly. Hold for approximately three seconds and release to sitting. Keep
back straight while performing chair push ups and avoid tightening shoulders or the neck. Breathe
throughout the exercise and rest when finished.
Practice alternating leg lifts. Sit up straight and toward the edge of your chair. Extend your legs
straight out in front of you with both heels resting on the floor. Hang on the chair arms or seat.
Lift the right leg and buttock by leaning over to the left a bit. Tighten the right buttock and continue
to lift about six times. Lift the left leg and buttock leaning over to the right; tighten the left buttock
while lifting. Inhale and exhale between lifts. Alternate sides and lifts next. Rest and breathe.
Exercise buttocks while sitting with butterfly exercises. Sit straight in your chair again toward the
edge. Hold on to the chair arms or seat. Lean back slightly. Hold knees together with both feet of the
floor in front of you.
Spread your knees apart as wide as you can without moving your upper body. Allow your heels to lift
from the floor as you move your knees outward. Inhale and exhale as you open and close your knees.
By doing these exercises daily, you’ll begin to notice changes within a month. Then, when you hear,
“Hey Sponge Bob” you can be sure that they’re not talking about you!
