Hair care isn’t a topic we typically talk about in day-to-day conversation. In fact, quite a few people do not know how to properly take care of their hair and cannot understand why their hair is too frizzy, too oily, too dry, dandruff prone, or a combination of the hair types.
The thing is hair care is more complex than we originally thought and does require some effort to get the results you seek.
Your hair type is genetic and comes from one or both of your parents, their parents, etc. It is not something you can change, but it can change with age, climate, bleaching treatments, as well as what products you are applying to it topically.
Your hair follicle is where your hair grows out. Similar to the pores in your skin, it produces oils to help hydrate and keep the environment on your scalp healthy. The more you strip away its oils, the more it will produce to make up for what was taken away.
Everyone’s scalp requirements are different. For example, natural hair needs to be washed less frequently (once every two weeks or once a week with a cleansing conditioner) it has different requirements than that of regular oily hair that needs to be washed every 2-3 days. (Yes every 2-3 days, not every day).
There are quite a few people out there who will be shocked when you tell them they do not need to wash their hair every day. The reason is, it is not required. There are however, exceptions.
Regular shampoos contain sulfates, sodium lauryl sulfate is the most commonly used sulfate because at how effectively it strips away dirt and oil.
Sulfates are what cause your shampoo, body wash, hand soap, and mostly all detergents you may have lying around the house to foam up. The suds in the soap help to deep clean all surfaces so that no grime or dirt is left behind. They are superstars when it comes to cleaning tough stains, oil, & sticky surfaces.
The clean community has demonized sulfates because of their ability to deeply cleanse the scalp can be stripping. When in fact, they can be, but that’s where the formulation of the shampoo comes in along with the other ingredients. (Click here to see why sulfates in your shampoo are not bad)
Depending on how the shampoo is formulated, there will normally be other ingredients in the shampoo to tone down the stripping properties in the shampoo. Such as oils (argan oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, etc.), fatty alcohols (cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, etc.), and conditioning agents like bentronium chloride and centromonium chloride.
These conditioning agents are important in the formula of your shampoo!
Picking a shampoo can be tough, there are so many marketing tactics that companies use to get us to buy their products. And it works! Many people fall for the trap of catchy phrases such as: moisturizing, hydrating, purifying, volumizing, gentle, cleansing, new trendy ingredients, foreign sounding extracts, etc.
What makes this hard is you can’t go off of advertising alone. You need to pick a shampoo based off of what your scalp needs are; whether its oily, dandruff, dry, frizzy, or a combination of those.
Don’t fall for the newest and upcoming shampoo, read the reviews and brush over the ingredients to see if it’s the perfect fit for you and your hair type.
Shampoo hair care tip: Only shampoo your scalp and do not shampoo the ends of your hair. Your scalp produces oils and needs to be cleansed. The ends of your hair are dead and are prone split ends, breakage, and dryness. Only condition the ends of your hair; from the ears down.
Your second step will be conditioner. Sounds simple enough, huh?
You couldn’t be more wrong. Finding the right conditioner can take just as long as finding the right shampoo for you.
Depending on your hair type and whether your hair likes protein, I always advise people to avoid coconut oil, vegetable proteins, and other heavy conditioners that may weigh down the hair or cause breakage. (This is not the case for all hair types, but for those who have hair that are protein sensitive or frizzy should avoid coconut oil).
There are hair types such as natural hair that does benefit from using coconut oil not only in their conditioners but also in their hair oils as well as leave in conditioners. (Click here to learn more about leave-in-conditioners)
If you like to have more volume in your hair, pick a conditioner that isn’t packed with a bunch of oils, (exceptions: jojoba, apricot, or sweet almond oil) but silicones are light weight enough to moisturize and detangle the hair. (Click here to learn more about silicones)
People who are more prone to dry or frizzy hair should invest in a deep conditioner. It deeply penetrates the hair and helps trap in the moisture from the conditioner. A deep conditioner is going to have a combination of silicones and oils. There are natural formula’s that do not use silicones, but I discourage people from using those because they can be greasy. Oil and water separates, so using silicone in these formulas helps to encapsulate the formula in your hair therefore giving you long lasting softer locks.
Deep conditioners are on the heavier side of the conditioner spectrum. If your hair is easily weighed down or very fine, avoid this type of conditioner.
Conditioner hair care tip: If you want your conditioner to work its magic, leave it in for at least 3-5 minutes. This gives your conditioner enough time to actually condition your hair.
Picking out a shampoo and a conditioner is half the battle! What you put in afterwards can make the difference in your hair’s texture, shine, and manageability.
(Click here to read Phase 2 of the Basic’s Of Hair Care.)