Hair Regimes

Remember your hair is always growing and the tips will speed it up you have to however retain the hair to see it. To do this you have to follow a hair regime.

Regardless of whether your hair is oily or dry, following a regime will slowly get rid of the conditions that cause your hair to be excessively oily or dry and normalize it to a healthy state.

You might read the list of oils and conditioners and wonder how it will help an oily scalp. Oil is overly produced when the scalp is dry from the harsh shampoos used. Once your regime is in swing, your scalp will return to a healthy state and will not need to over produce oil.

Weekly Regime

The following regime should be followed as closely as possible to achieve optimal results. It can be used on any hair type of any length.

1.  Pre-oil your dry unwashed hair by massaging any mixture of hair oils (see recipes or use pure coconut oil) into the scalp, lengths and ends of your hair. The easiest way to do this is to part your into four sections. Rub the oil between your palms to heat it. Massage into the hair until your hair is saturated with oil.

2. Cover with a wrap, shower cap or hot towels for 30 minutes. If you are using hot towel, you will need to reheat the towel under hot water once it cools down. You may also sit under a dryer or heat cap for 15 minutes.

3. Wash your hair with a gentle sulfate free shampoo if you are using shampoo or a light cheap conditioner if you are using conditioner only wash (read more about this later).

 Afterwards, apply a Moisturizing Conditioner/Treatment  (see recipes for home made options)

Comb through with a wide toothcomb or your fingers and rinse thoroughly

Gently dab excess water out of your hair with paper towel or a micro fiber towel. Do not use a terry cloth towel on your hair as it causes frizz.

Apply a leave in conditioner or light serum o light oil such as Jojoba on your ends. You may also use a drop of honey mixed into your leave in if you plan to air dry.

Style your hair.

Daily Regime

The daily regime should be followed every single day whether it’s washday or not.

1. Take specific vitamins for hair growth daily

2. Cover hair with a satin bonnet, satin scarf or sleep on a silk/satin pillowcase

3. Drink 8 glasses of water

4. Try to do some form of exercise for a minimum of 15 minutes or tilt your head for 5 minutes

5. Massage your head without oil for 5 minutes daily (Read the section o Head Massage for more details)

6. Apply a serum, jojoba or coconut oil to the ends daily

Washing Your Hair

Washing your every day can strip the hair of natural oils and also cause further damage by over exposure to harsh sulfates, sodium chloride (salt) and other chemicals present in most store bought shampoos. The optimal wash period should be no more than twice a week depending on your schedule.

E.g. Monday and Thursdays would be your washdays.

Shampoo once only. There are different methods of washing hair  - however washing only once with sulfate free shampoo or conditioner wash (without shampoo) is the best options.

 Shampoos containing the ingredient "Sulfate" should be avoided as they strip the hair. Examples include "Ammonium Laureth Sulfate", "Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate","Tea Laureth Sulphate", "Tea Lauryl Sulfate" or "Sodium Lauryl Sulfate". The only sulfates that are considered gentle are:

·       Sodium Myreth Sulphate

·       Polyoxethylene Fatty Alcohols

·       PEG 80

·       Sorbitan Laurate

·       Decyl Polyglucose

·       Cocamidopropyl Betaine

·       Sodium Myreth Sulfate

Clarifying shampoos like Pantenes should not be used more than once a month. These will contain sulfates used to remove product build.

If you are doing a conditioner only wash, then you might want to do a once a month clean with shampoo, but rather opt for a sulfate free version.

Ensure that you don’t pile hair on top of your hair when washing. Leave it to hang down to prevent matting or tangling. Put shampoo on your fingertips and wash your scalp. There is no need to scrub the hair - as the lengths and ends will be washed from the run down of water and suds from your scalp.

Washing hair is important to get rid of dirt and grime that may block hair follicles, thus not allowing the hair follicles enough oxygen for optimal growth.

If you are doing a conditioner wash and your hair does not “feel” clean - then ensure that you use a lot of conditioner and allow it to sit on your head for at least 5 minutes while you massage your scalp and hair with your fingertips.

Before You Wash

One day before or an hour before is the best time to infuse your hair with additional moisture it needs for optimal growth. This period can be used to apply hot oil treatments, which will be washed out from the shampoo.

Ideal hot oil treatments need not be expensive purchases. There are recipes in the book for inexpensive oil treatments that you can use. Coconut oil is the best oil to be used for the mid lengths and ends of hair as it have the highest absorption rate (i.e. it penetrates the hair better than any other oils). Most other oils only coat the hair shaft. Olive oil can also be used but if you can go for Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Rosemary Essential Oil can also be added (a few drops) which stimulates the scalp. Indian hair oils such as Amla, Bhinjri etc can also be used.

It should always be heated for approximately 10 seconds in a microwave or over a bowl of boiling water.

Oil should be massaged into the lengths, ends and scalp for a minimum of 5 minutes. The hair should then be covered with a damp hot towel or plastic cap for 30 minutes. You can also sit under a hood hair dryer or manual dryer for 15 minutes if you don't have enough time.

Shampooing

Once your pre-washing oiling is completed, you would then need to wash the oils out with Shampoo or Conditioner.

Other “Shampoo” Methods

Traditionally we wash our hair with shampoo, rinse and then condition. However much research and trials have been carried out by various women as a result there are other Shampoo methods. The best thing to do to find the right one for you is to alternative by trying different ones. If you do decide to try a different “shampoo” method - it will only be worth it to try it for at least 4 weeks to allow your hair to get used to the method and settle.

Alternative Shampoo Method:

CO - Conditioner or condition-only washing method - this method is recommended for those with thick, curly, dry or frizz prone hair. Any conditioner is used the same as a shampoo on the hair and scalp. With this method however you have to spend more time really massaging the conditioner gently into the hair and scalp for longer than you normally would with shampoo. Many report softer, frizz free hair. If you have fine hair, then this method is not recommended.

CWC - You first Condition the hair with Conditioner, followed by a wash with a sulfate free shampoo, followed by a conditioner.

WCWC - Various hair salons use this method and they swear by the conditioning properties. It is simply a Wash; Condition with a Protein based conditioner, Wash, and then Condition with moisture rich conditioner.

WO - Water only washing method. This method is used by a lot of women who do not want to use shampoo or conditioner on their hair. Hair is washed with water only and rinsed thoroughly, followed by hair oils for moisture sealing.

This method relies on the oils and hairs natural oils to moisturize the hair.

Shampoo Bars - A Shampoo Bar is a soap bar made with a mixture of oil and lye. It contains a lot less harsh chemicals than shampoo. The pH level however interferes with the natural acidity of the skin and therefore an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse is always done after using a shampoo bar.

Herbs - Many people use a mixture of Indian herbs such as Neem, Shikakai, Brahmi and normal Catnip as a shampoo on their hair. The herbs are infused into water, filtered and used as a shampoo rinse.

Protein Treatments

Hair conditioning has to maintain a balance between protein and moisture in order to grow. Most chemical processes such as perms, bleaching, relaxers, colors, bleaching etc strip protein from the hair. It is thus essential to have a protein treatment following any chemical treatment.

Protein treatments are to be followed by a moisturizing treatment to maintain the balance and condition of the hair.  For severely damaged hair they can be done once a week initially - and then every second week once your hair health has improved.

Once your hair becomes healthy, this can be cut to once a month.

Protein treatments can either be leave in or rinse out. They should always be applied to towel dried clean hair with no conditioner.

Treatments should be combed through and left on the hair for 30-60 minutes before rinsing (or left in if using a leave in treatment).

A moisturizing conditioner should always follow protein treatments. It should state “Moisturizing” on the bottle; else use one of the home made moisturizing treatments.

With a leave in Protein treatment it would be left in the hair after conditioning.

Moisture Treatments

Daily wear; Blow-drying, ironing or applying any heat to your hair removes moisture. You would thus need to replace lost moisture with every wash.

Moisturizing treatments or Conditioners should be applied after every wash and after every protein treatment.

Deep conditioning with specific deep moisture treatments should be done weekly on your hair washdays.

For best results it should be left in for 20-60 minutes with heat.