Moisturising and Sealing

Moisturising and Sealing (which I will refer to as M&S from here on out.......please reel your minds back in from Marks and Spencer......and their beautiful delicious food adverts. Adverts for perfectly golden roasted chicken with moist drumsticks glinting with delicious sticky honey, a drop of which is rolling down the side of the steaming bird.. and those decadent chocolate deserts th.... err where?, what was I? ....oh *clears throat*).

Like I have said many times before, dry hair is brittle hair and brittle hair WILL break.
I hear people go on about how their hair just does not grow. Really? If your hair didn't grow then pray tell, what is this undergrowth you are forever running to the salon to get touched up? (p.s relaxers are another topic for another day).
The fact is that everyone's hair grows. Retaining that growth is the tricky part thanks chiefly to dryness.

It is therefore extremely important that our hair gets moisture. What is the ultimate moisturiser? Water. This is another reason why regular washes are important.
Between washes though, we need to find ways to hydrate hair and keep it hydrated. Which is simply what M&S means. Moisturising to prevent dryness and keeping the moisture you have added locked/sealed in.

After a wash, when my hair is about 90% dry (almost completely dry but still a little damp to the touch), I moisturise. Now is the time I reach for that water based hair moisturiser. Taking small sections of hair, I apply moisturiser generously starting from the ends, up to the roots. Once a section is moisturised, I use some natural oils (Coconut mixed in with Castor) and seal in that moisture. Again from ends to roots, I cover each section with the oils. Move on to the next section and continue until the whole head is done.
The idea is to do this regularly even when I haven't done a wash (same method from dry).

I try to do this every other day but I have to confess that so far, I have tried and failed. It is just SO MUCH WORK! It is very important though so I am still working at it.  In the mean time though, I have discovered a little trick that has made my life considerably easier with regards to M&S and I will share in a future post.

Remember people, Moisturising and Sealing are like brother and sister, twins, they always go together. Never one or the other. Capisce?

Something to note

Some oils are weightier than others e.g. Castor/Olive Oil are heavy and so might weigh your hair down more than Argan/Coconut oil will.
Use whatever combinations you are happy with.

If I lost you at Marks and Spencer food adverts and you have absolutely no idea how to go about moisturising and sealing, let me know and I will make a tutorial video the next time I M&S.
xx

Rapunzel Rapunzel, Let down your hair

Since my last post I have had so many hair related questions. "what is a hot oil treatment?', "how do you do a hot oil treatment?", "what other products can you recommend?". 

I finally decided it was best for all parties involved if I just did a series of posts on what I have been calling "my road to Rapunzel status". In the next few posts, I will be explaining what tools and techniques I have been using on my hair journey and hopefully you will get some good results from them too. 

To get started, there are a few basics any self respecting Rapunzel wannabe needs to own.

A wide tooth comb - This is pretty straight forward. You want to treat you hair as gently as possible. After your fingers, a wide tooth comb is the best tool for detangling hair. Always detangle you hair starting from your ends and working your way up. Patience is key people!

A pair of scissors - You need these to deal with split ends. There are various ways to manage split ends and I will be elaborating in a future post. Just buy some scissors ok?

A shower cap - You will need this for treatments as they generally require some sort of heat (instructions tend to be; 1. Put products in hair 2. add shower cap.). Shower caps help trap in body heat.  

A Satin scarf - I say satin scarf but what I actually use is a satin bonnet. A snug satin bonnet. A snug satin bonnet with strings to keep it tied to my head. I got tired of waking up every morning and literally LOOKING for my scarf! Satin scarves just cannot stay on my head through the night! *sigh*

Natural Oils - You already know about this don't you? Oils are extremely important to keep your hair healthy. Again, more details in a future post.

Moisturiser -  Hair needs moisture and you have to make sure to give your hair as much moisture as it requires. Dry hair is brittle and will break.

Remember to moisturise your hair strands from root to tip. Give your ends some extra loving. They are the oldest part of your hair, and frankly, they need the TLC to stay attached to your head.

Make sure to use a water based moisturiser. If you currently own any petroleum based hair products, please step away from whatever device you are reading this on, walk towards that product, pick it up and put it in the rubbish. Apple hair cream is NOT your friend.

You know a product is water based if the first ingredient on the list at the back of the product is water/aqua.

Shampoo - I dont believe this needs a lot of explaining. You need to keep you hair and scalp clean to encourage growth. A point to note is to avoid shampoos with high sulphate contents. Sulphates strip hair of the natural oils it produces and this my friends, is no bueno. We are looking to clean hair not dishes.

Again, refer to the ingredient list on the back of the product.

You also need to know exactly what the shampoo will do for your hair i.e cleansing, moisturising, volumising, e.t.c and use accordingly.

Conditioner - The only thing worth saying here is that the road to Rapunzel status is littered with conditioner bottles. You will go through A LOT of conditioner. 

Pay attention to if what you are buying is a leave in, rinse out, or deep conditioner all thee types have a place in the healthy hair journey. 

Deep conditioner - Protein is essential to prevent hair breakage. Deep conditioners / protein treatments help strengthen hair and so are extremely important for your hair.

Ok people, that was Rapunzel 101. I know it was a truck load of information but no one said the road to Rapunzel status would be easy. Personally, I am determined to grow this hair atop my head and I hope one or two of you will join in on the challenge. 

xx