If you are like many women, your hair is on a very basic Regimen. (Healthy or unhealthy you do have a regimen.) For most, it encompasses the basic Shampoo, Condition,(maybe a chemical process) style, and repeat. Most are not paying attention to preservation needs of their hair, it's completely cosmetic. Also, many are not aware that the regimen they have could be causing a lot of their hair woes such as dryness, thinning, breakage, lack of growth, and even hair loss!
As creatures of habit, we simply do what we've always done when it comes to hair care, until severe damage occurs. This will push us into a frantic hair repair mode. When moving to repair hair care issues, it could be a long hard road back to possessing a full head of healthy hair. But, by proactively placing yourself on a Healthy Hair Care regimen, it will significantly protect you against major hair issues. It will also help you to maintain and grow out healthy hair with little to no setbacks!
Deep condition at 5 mos natural
Deep Condition @19 mos
Herbal Conditioning treatment @ 21 mos
Below is a very general 8 step guide/process in a healthy hair care regimen. (If you'd like specific regimen suggestions for your hair and or lifestyle, please contact me via email at healthyhpyhair@gmail.com)
Diet: Health starts inside and then manifests itself outwardly. Do not neglect your bodies. What we eat and drink, will immediately show up on our skin, nails, and our hair. Maintaining a diet with fruits, vegetables, and plenty of water does a LOT for the health and strength of our hair. You can also add a multivitamin.
On average about once a week:
Cleanse (Shampoo,Co-wash, or ACV rinse) as often as your hair needs it. Some prefer to cleanse every day, some every 3 days, others once a week.
Condition: Deep condition w/ a plastic cap and heat, at least once a week with a moisturizing deep conditioner and or Protein Conditioner (To maintain a protein-moisture balance within the hair fibers)
Leave in Conditioner: Many textured haired ladies benefit greatly from adding a leave in conditioner to the hair. This keeps the hair moisturized and balanced between washes. (If you are relaxed you can also add this step)
Moisturize: Many African American women, or women with naturally textured hair MUST add a water-based moisturizer to the hair, this keeps the hair from drying out. Moisturize atleast once a day. (oil based products are not true moisturizers)
Seal: Use an oil to seal in the moisture immediately following your moisturizer, this will create a barrier and will hold in most of the moisture that you just put in. (Try using natural oils)
Style: How you choose to style your hair can make or totally destroy the health of your hair. Eliminating heat styling with flat irons, blow dryers, and curling irons instantly adds more life expectancy to your strands. (if you must use heat, use no more than 1x per week) Find natural styling techniques that do not require heat, and also steer away from styles and accessories that add stress to the hair. Chemical services also play a large role in damaging the hair so they should be done sparingly, or not at all for optimum health.
Protecting: Frankly, everything that I've listed up to this point aids in protecting the hair from moderate to extreme damage. To further protect the hair keep it off the shoulders as much as possible(buns, updo's, braids, twists etc.) Also protect the hair at night, by adding moisture before bed, and putting on a silk scarf or bonnet.
*These 8 steps are a basic guide to keeping the hair healthy and strong, there are of course many other things that you should do to tailor a specific need, concern, or goal that you have. Assess your hair every week to make sure it is fairing well under your current regimen. Product selection should be based on what your hair actually needs or don't need.
(If you need one on one coaching for "your" Healthy Hair care regimen, product suggestions, and techniques, please contact me at healthyhpyhair@gmail.com
Until next time... Be Happy and Be Blessed!
4 comments:
Hi,
I think we should use aritha & Shikakai to washing hair to make strong,dandruff free & healthy.
It does not have any chemicals or any other side effects. Aritha and Shikakai powder is available at any
General stores .
Hello Hair Piece, those are definitely natural sources for cleansing hair that I've considered for myself. I love all Ayruvedic Herbs! Thanks for commenting!
I live for leave in conditioning. I think its so important to have something on the hair throughout the day to help protect and seal in the moisture, and soften/detangle the hair.
I hear a lot of great things about Rhassoul clay for cleansing hair. Some people mix it with Hibiscus powder and/or Amla powder to deep condition.
Hello Curlytea! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, I appreciate them so much! Yes I never go without a good leave in conditioner its just a Godsend for natural hair in my opinion. : ) I keep hearing such great things about the Rhassoul Clay and I've wanted to try it for years, I just hadn't gotten around to it. I'm also hearing that it's a conditioning clay? I use Henna, Amla, and Marshmellow root powder often, but have never tried Hibiscus powder. So much fun stuff to dabble in! : )
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