So, we are in weekend 3. And, today, I really want you guys to spend time with your hair and see what exactly does it need?
Hair Concerns
Split Ends
If it has splits, please get a hair cut. Do not be afraid of losing the length or the fact that salon people cut more than necessary amount of hair. You can tell them before hand that they should show you how much of the hair they are snipping off.
And, then, follow with weekend hair mask treatments or deep conditioning treatments to keep away the splits and make your hair happy!
Dry, Rough, Colored and Chemically Treated Hair
If it is dry and rough and colored and chemically-treated, following these weekly hair care regimes will definitely help you!
Hair Growth
If you are looking for hair growth, use essential oils and be diligent with scalp care.
Dandruff, Itchy and Oily Scalp
If you are tackling dandruff, oily scalp or itchy scalp, try the vinegar treatment and if it does not work, seek a trichologist or a dermatologist’s help.
Pre Wash Hair Care
Now, last week and before last week, I asked you to apply egg and curd respectively, this week I give you the choice to do anything you would like to. We are strictly talking here about the deep conditioning treatments only. You can do the home remedy or go for the more sophisticated professional products.
Home Remedies
– egg
– curd
– henna or henna gloss
– powdered hair masks mixed with some thing
Henna Gloss
For those who have dry hair but love henna, I have this idea called Henna gloss. You apply henna on your hair but it has other conditioning agents so you have less of dryness and it just leaves the shine on your hair instead of coloring it. You can call it a light tint. You can see my henna gloss recipe here. I did try it once.
For Colored Hair
Well, for you gals, I specifically recommend using the products which your stylist recommended. You can ask them for intensive hair mask treatments. The professional products are gentle on your hair and they have color binding and lasting ingredients which nourish your hair color making your hair look shinier.
If you still want to try out the home remedies, only try out egg. Curd will react with your color. Henna is totally not acceptable and other homemade or commercial hair powders might have some dyes mixed with them so better be safe.
I am reiterating some tips which you might have missed again.
Shampooing
– add a table spoon of vinegar to your shampoo for clarifying your hair.
– dilute your shampoo in water. two dollops of shampoo in two handfuls of water will give rich lather to remove the oil as well.
– wash your hair twice.
– apply shampoo only to the scalp and spread the lather to wash off your hair length. if needed, only then use the shampoo on the hair length. the lather washes off the oil from the hair length also generally so do not overuse your shampoo.
– after lathering your hair, massage your scalp for 1 minute gently.
– rinse well with warm water. repeat the shampoo and rinse again properly to remove all the shampoo. use warm water only.
Conditioning
– after rinsing your hair properly to remove all the shampoo with warm water, squeeze out the excess water gently.
– separate your hair into two partitions gently with fingers.
– take a large dollop of conditioner and spread on hair ends on one partition and then move up the hair length. do not apply conditioner above your ears. repeat with the second partition.
– if using intensive treatment, leave in for 15-20 minutes and if using regular conditioner, 3-5 minutes is fine. make sure you have something else to occupy yourself with. good time to give your nails a trim or a pedicure to your feet.
– wash off gently with warm water first and get rid of all the stickiness and slip of conditioner.
– after washing off properly, follow with a cold water rinse. make sure the water temperature is comfortable for you to bear.
De-tangling the Hair during Conditioning
Generally, it is suggested to de-tangle your hair using a wide-toothed comb after applying the conditioner. I have never done it and I do not advocate it because hair is wet and really weak so any sort of comb can result in hair breakage. You can try it for yourself and see if it works.
Otherwise, if your hair is prone to lot of tangles, the after wash hair care will take care of it 🙂
After Wash Hair Care
Scalp Treatment
For the scalp treatment, you can make your favourite DIY’s or use the ones available in the market. For the simplest treatment, mix freshly made green tea with few drops of rosemary essential oil and apply on the scalp using a cotton ball. This dries off in 5 minutes.
Leave-in Treatment
Just like I mentioned last time, using 2-5 drops of any non-sticky oil – like apricot, argan, jojoba, grapeseed oils – on your hair as a leave-in is a great idea to nourish the hair and keep it from getting dry.
So, this is in a nutshell what I used to do to make my hair absolutely gorgeous but since then I have discontinued it because of the lack of time and change in lifestyle. And, have consequently suffered with my hair again going dry and not growing and developing splits.
Hair growth is more or less a continuous dedication and take a lot of work with results not being immediate just like you are on a weight loss regime. So, have patience and the results will show in a month, at least 🙂
Thanks, Swati, for sharing a detailed hair wash routine. I have never done a after wash treatment. What is the benefit of applying green tea on scalp after wash? Doesn’t it make the scalp/hair roots sticky?
hey Archana. nope, green tea minus the honey does not make hair sticky at all. in fact, it helps moisturise the scalp and provide the anti-oxidants to the hair follicles to ensure better hair growth. after hair-wash treatment helps to maintain the scalp healthy and prevents hair from drying out. i do all this thrice a week (not the hair mask but the hot oil and wash and condition and after-wash care) and it really helps with hair growth 🙂
hey swati !!
Thanks for posting such a nice and informative post for us . It will help many people .
🙂
Thanks, Swati, for sharing a detailed hair wash routine. I have never done a after wash treatment. What is the benefit of applying green tea on scalp after wash? Doesn’t it make the scalp/hair roots sticky?
hey Archana. nope, green tea minus the honey does not make hair sticky at all. in fact, it helps moisturise the scalp and provide the anti-oxidants to the hair follicles to ensure better hair growth. after hair-wash treatment helps to maintain the scalp healthy and prevents hair from drying out. i do all this thrice a week (not the hair mask but the hot oil and wash and condition and after-wash care) and it really helps with hair growth 🙂
Thanks, Swati. Will try it out.
sure do and lemme know how it goes 🙂