26/07/2016
BUILDING A HAIR REGIMEN PART 2
Another thing with building a hair regimen is that you can play around with it as the seasons change or your hair changes (length, needs, etc.) but whatever you do, try keeping the main regimen as the reference.Do not try changing anything in your hair regimen if everything’s working fine! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
You may ask: How often will I wash my hair? Deep condition? Protein treatment? Hot oil? Clarify? Style? Trim? Rotate shampoos and conditioner? As previously explain a hair regimen is built around ones lifestyle and so it all depends on you check the photo posts for some hair regimen sample schedules... You can always tweak it to suit your lifestyle keep in mind the GOAL is to properly take good care of your hair.
Here are some few guidelines to follow
CLEANSE
* How often to wash my hair? 1-2 times a weekis recommended for kinky curly hair with a moisturizing sulfate free shampoo. You don’t have to shampoo every wash. Try Co-washingmid week with a big shampoo once a week. For example, wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner on Sunday and then wash your hair with conditioner only on Wednesday.
CONDITION
* How often to deep condition –Coat your hair with a rich quality penetrating conditioner. Not the quick surface kind. We are talking about a DEEP conditioner. This is typically done 1-2 times a month for 20-30 minutes with heat for extra pe*******on. The amount of times is up to you. If you are a 3 times a week co-washer then deep conditioning can be cut down to once a month as moisture will likely not be an issue for your hair. If however you wash once per week, then make your big washday a deep conditioning day also!
MOISTURIZE
* Try to wet your hair every 3 days. This counts as a wash day, co wash day, or a day where your spritz it with water or your spray bottle concoction, add a water based moisturizer etc
* Always moisturize & seal: Water based moisturizers pe*****te the hair shaft, oil based moisturizers coats the hair shaft (and seals moisture in or out). To use the two effectively, you will need to apply your water-based moisturizer first, then the oil based. The reason for this is that oils and other “moisturizing” products that contain petrolatum, lanolin, and mineral oil do not moisturize your hair effectively. Instead they seal moisture in or out of your hair. They should only be used to seal the hair and add shine. Try applying your oil moisturizer after rinsing the moisture treatment to combat dryness. But do note that mineral oil, petroleum and lanolin will build up on your hair quickly without the use of sulfate shampoo. Instead try shea butter and penetrating oil like coconut, avocado and olive oil.
TREATMENTS
* How often to have protein treatments – This is very important especially for transitioning hair to give it strength and should be done every 6-8 weeks or when excessive breakage is experienced by any hair type.
* How often to have hot oil treatments? – This is for added strength and lubrication to hair. Try coconut, olive, avocado or jojoba oil. Warm some up and put it in your hair, let it sit for a bit then proceed to washing your hair as usual. Once a week should suffice.
CLARIFY
* How often to clarify your hair –Clarifying is to thoroughly remove buildup from excess sebum, environmental elements, chlorine, and products from the hair. This can be done using a clarifying shampoo and a bentonite clay mix among other treatments. Clarifying should be done every once in a while to get rid of product build up. 1-2 times a month or whenever your hair feels “gunky”. Often silicones, waxes, non-penetrating oil like mineral oil are the cause for build up. For build up you need to use sulfate shampoos or baking soda.
STYLE
* How to style it to retain the most length – e.g. try a regime with no heat styling or drying, try a regime that incorporates more protective styles
* Protective styling – If you have the ‘hands in hair disease’ then protective styling will be a length saver for you!
* A protective style is where your ends are protected and shielded away. These styles really help in retaining length. Some examples would include buns, braids, cornrows, French braids, up-dos etc. Protective styles can be considered as low manipulation styles, however, low manipulation styles are not protective styles.
* Low Manipulation basically means styling the hair with no direct heat. Braid outs, twist outs, bantu knots, pin curls, flexi rod sets, roller sets etc. are all under the category of low manipulation styles. These styles require no direct heat (blow dryer or flat iron) and barely any energy or skill on your part. They are easy to do and healthier style choices since direct heat is the quickest way to dry out the hair.
TRIM
* How often to trim my hair? Trimming WILL NOT MAKE YOUR HAIR GROW FASTER but damaged ends make your hair look uneven and unhealthy so it should be removed. Generally only a light dusting of the ends is required (removing split ends as and when you see them) every 6 months or so.
Things to remember: Hair needs dictate the regime.
* Lifestyle or weather may get in the way but you can tweak your regime to meet these changes.
* Listen to your hair and be aware of its likes and dislikes. Some people are protein sensitive meaning their hair tends to get hard when too much protein is used. Some need convenient style. Others have more time for more elaborate styles.
Now go build your own!!!
S.N: Do you have a hair regimen of your own? Let's hear from you in the comments section... And feel free to share our posts with your hair friends 😊😊😊😊😊
