A woman’s hair is usually referred to as the crown of her beauty. Whether it is long or short, curly or straight, black or grey; every woman takes pride in her hair. This is why it is important to keep a healthy head of hair at all times. There are steps we all must take to ensure that we have strong and well nourished hair. The major steps are the hair-care routine and nutrition. Hair, just like skin benefits both from topical treatment and diet treatment. I have a hair care routine which has shown me (and a few other ladies) results in the past few months and I would like to share it with you.
How do you clean your hair?
Every woman knows what shampoo is; it’s what we use to wash our hair. The ingredients of the shampoo are important because you have to ensure that the product nourishes your hair and doesn’t dry it out. Find a shampoo that contains essential oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, shea oil or jojoba oil. Find a product that is free of sulphates and parabens; these are drying agents and they rid your hair of moisture. Also, how exactly do you wash your hair? Do you just pour on the shampoo? Do you scratch your hair like it’s an itch?
Before you wash your hair, there is a pre-shampoo process. This involves protecting the hair follicles and cuticle from the damage caused by mechanical handling during washing. I recommend using coconut oil the night before wash day; or if you like to wash at night, apply the oil to your hair in the morning to let it seep into the hair for protection. Now for the washing – put the shampoo in your hands and massage onto your scalp. This is where all the residue and product build-up rests. Use warm water to rinse out the shampoo lather; doing this washes away any dirt on the hair itself. Dry off with a cotton towel. Any other kind is too harsh for the hair and will result in breakage.
Conditioning – To Do or Not To Do?
This is an important step in your hair care routine. The conditioning process restores any lost moisture to the hair, and repairs damaged strands and edges. Conditioners are found in two kinds; moisture replenishing and protein replenishing. Protein is useful because, it is actually a major component of the hair. Keratin which is found in the hair and in the nails is a protein. Some conditioners, like Organics ORS, combine these two functions. Since conditioners perform a replenishing function, it is important that they are allowed to penetrate the hair follicles. This is where the process of deep conditioning becomes necessary. After shampooing, smooth on generous amounts of your deep conditioner ( ensure that it actually is a deep-conditioner). Coat every part of your hair, especially the ends and comb through. Cover your hair with a plastic cap (shower cap) and sit in a hooded dryer for 20 minutes. Now, I don’t like sitting under the heat; so I let the conditioner sit for at least 1 hour. The body heat acts to let the conditioner penetrate. There’s one new step I just learnt – sealing. When your hair has cooled down, pour on a regular everyday conditioner (like Hair Fruits) and leave on for 2 minutes. Now rinse everything off with cold water, as cold as you can handle. The cooler the better.
Moisturising.
Now to the real business. The moisturising process starts on wash day; this is when your hair is fresh and clean, you’re starting on a fresh slate. I can only tell you what has worked for me, here goes. Start with damp hair, some like it to be soaking wet, I prefer just damp. Apply a leave-in conditioner, focusing on the ends and making sure to coat the strands completely. Then, use a moisturising lotion. Some essential oils can be used as moisturisers, but I’ll recommend a mixture until you find what works for you. I usually heat up my mix in a bowl of hot water (not in the microwave, please) to allow it penetrate the hair. After moisturising, seal in the moisture using an oil or butter; I recommend shea butter.
Now you can style your hair as you desire. Here are a few extra care tips, because I’m nice like that.
1. Minimise hair manipulation as much as possible if you wish to retain length. In simpler words, stop fiddling with your hair.
2. Keep your hair in protective styles such as twists, braids, buns and updos. This helps minimise breakage and protects the ends of the hair.
3. Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise! No matter what style you’re wearing always moisturise your hair to keep it from drying out. Properly moisturised hair is healthy hair.
Try out this routine, and let me know how it works out for you. How do you care for your hair? Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments section.