Last week, I wrote about hair care and talked about washing, conditioning and moisturizing. These are the 3 basic steps in taking care of the hair, but they are not the only ones. There are other things that need to be done to keep the hair healthy and to retain length. Let’s talk about these things.
De-tangling.
Once upon a time, I loosened my hair of 22-inch braids. You know how long that takes; I was so tired when I was done, I didn’t have the strength to comb out my hair with all the undergrowth, scab hair, shed hair, dirt bunny clumps and what not. So, I decided to just wash, condition and sort the hair out later. It took me 8 days, 3 combs, a whole lot of olive oil, and 2 migraines to “sort it out”; I had 2 fistfuls of breakage as the result of my laziness. Moral lesson? Always, ALWAYS de-tangle before you wash. The de-tangling usually takes place during the pre-shampoo process when your hair is saturated with oil; please, never de-tangle dry hair. The oil or water, reduces friction and provides enough slip for the knots and tangles to roll out. The process takes a while, so turn on some mood music – put your hair in sections. Start at the ends with your fingers. Loosen out any knots and smooth out the tangles. Then, you can move to using a wide-toothed comb. Do this, til you have untangled every section. Now you can wash your hair.
Trimming.
So this may not sound like a good idea since you’re supposed to be trying to retain length, but trimming split ends is a key step to move from a choppy 6-inch mass to a healthy 14-inch beauty. Split ends are caused by mechanical damage to the hair shaft which causes it to fray, split and eventually break up. This damage is caused by stress due to excessive heat, chemical misuse and constant handling; in other words, if you’re constantly flat ironing, perming or even just twiddling the hair then you are causing the ends to split. I do not know that there is any real remedy to already split ends except to trim them, so pick up your shears and get ready to search and destroy. Use a pair of hair shears, or very sharp scissors; a dull blade can lead to fraying which only exacerbates the situation. Make sure to cut above the split so that the damage does not re-appear. Do this every 6-8 weeks for results. Also, make sure that you are not cutting off perfectly good strands just for the sake of trimming.
Sealing
Sealing is a relatively new concept to me, but so far I’ve seen results. Sealing just refers to the process of keeping the moisture in your hair; like the word shows, it is the process of sealing the moisture in for as long as possible. This usually takes place after conditioning before moisturising, and then as the need arises. Sealing has also been shown to prevent split ends. To seal on wash day, let the water and leave-in sit on your hair for a minimum of 15 minutes. Now apply a moisturiser and smooth all over the hair and finish up with a butter. To re-seal, just apply your butter of choice, focusing on the ends and weak parts of the hair. Tuck your ends away to protect them and keep them from splitting. As always, everything in moderation. Don’t suffocate your hair with oil, it doesn’t do any good; use a moderate amount and keep your hair hydrated.
I hope that we can incorporate these practices into our hair care routines and that they produce favourable results. Nutrition and diet also play a role in growing healthy hair. Folic acid found in vitamin B promote shine and thickness in hair. It has also been shown to darken already greying hair. Foods rich in Omega-3-fatty acids are also great for shiny and healthy hair. These include fish and avocados. Vitamin D is important for hair follicle cycling, so make sure you get a lot of grains, beef liver and fish. Zinc is also important because a deficiency can cause hair loss and dry scalp; so eat vegetables, nuts and eggs. Protein makes up 97% of the hair, so eating protein-rich foods will lead to healthy hair.
Try out all these tips, and make discoveries of your own. Until next time, stay beautiful ladies.