*UPDATED*
I wrote the original review for this book 10 years ago- wow! I've changed the rating from 2 to 4 stars, for a few reasons:
1. Not sure I conveyed this in the first review, but the 1st edition was a magical book. The idea of good care for black hair had never occurred to me, and it was an awakening. This was the first book of it's kind on the market, and started a revolution. I'm incredibly grateful to the author for that.
2. It's hard to rank this book. At the time the first edition came out, it was easily a 5. Didn't like the current edition as much (as stated below). The first just had this more fun vibe and I enjoyed reading it over and over again, and included a recipe for conditioner. Years later, there is a lot of amazing info out there - black hair care forums about growing long hair, youtube channels with black women with long hair sharing their tips, black long hair blogs, etc. I might put the 1st edition at a 3-4 today - a good read, worth a purchase, but not a complete resource (which is fine- you'll probably want to read/see lots of things to learn your own hair).
3. What is good about this book, and why you should consider purchasing it: it lays out some basic, simple rules for black hair growth. Growing long hair for black women is preventing damage, keeping the hair moisturized, and avoiding cutting too much.
With this book, I was able to grow my hair to past collarbone length (which was a big improvement). I'm happy to report that after I discovered black long hair care forums, my hair is now touching WAISTLENTH and still growing! My hair is the longest, healthiest, and thickest it has ever been! The keys for me were:
* stopping using relaxers (advocated in the book- it's very possible to grow long hair w/ relaxers, but they just damaged my hair and it looks so much better natural. Get lots of info online if you relax- there's much more not covered in the book.)
* stopping using heat (advocated in the book, although I've seen many w/ long hair use direct heat sparingly and then airdry, rollerset, or do any number of curly sets most of the time.
* Many, many other things I learned from online forums that's not covered - protective styling, different regimen (I don't use her conditioner recipe anymore!), gentle combing & detangling techniques, and much more.
Basically- this is a good book to incorporate as part of your learning about growing long, healthy, beautiful hair. No one book should be taken as the be-all and end-all, so make sure to do lots of research online.
Happy hair growing!
Here's the original review:
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I read the first edition of Ms. Howse's book when I was a young teenager, probably about 10 years ago. This was the first book I had ever read about Black hair care, and the length and health of my hair improved when I followed her guidelines. There were not many books about caring for our hair on the market at that time, and as a hair care beginner, this book helped me tremendously. The book was riddled with spelling errors and editing problems, but this was not a big deal to me, as I was reading the book to gain information and not for entertainment.
I saw the newest edition of the book in a bookstore, and decided to reread it. The spelling and editing have been improved, yet are still far from perfect, as many other reviewers have noted. There are two major differences in the two books, both of which disappointed me tremendously:
1. Much of the second edition is dedicated to ranting about her personal disagreements with hair care professionals. This is irrelavant to the purpose of the book, which is to learn to care for and grow your hair.
2. Secondly, and most disturbingly, she now uses the book as a platform for selling her haircare products. Many reviewers have been bothered by this, and so was I. In the first edition, Ms. Howse tells you the formula for making conditioner. This was written before she went into the business of making hair care products. I cannot speak about her products that she sells, as I have never tried them. But, I will tell you that the recipe that she gives in the first edition is the best product I have ever used on my hair, and I have tried everything! So, here is the recipe for conditioner that she reccommends in her first book (please note that this is a variation, as I have long ago lost the book and have been making the recipe for years, so the amounts may not be the same as in the original book):
Mix these ingredients together:
1 32 oz. bottle of protein conditioner (I use Mane & Tail)
6 oz coconut oil (you must liquify this in the microwave)
3 oz olive oil
.5-1 oz (personal preference) peppermint oil (must be real essential oil)
In my opinion, this was the most valuable information in the book, and it wasn't even in this edition.
