5 Tips for Washing Your Hair Better

Some people complain about having hair that's too oily, too dry or too frizzy. And we know that if we really want to tame our hair, we can spend for treatments in the salon. The right rebond treatment can tame frizziness, the right hair spa treatment can prevent dandruff and oily hair, and weekly hot oil treatments can boost your hair's moisture and manageability. However, we must not forget that the basics can be done at home, and that's your responsibility. Ladies, let's talk about washing your hair and how you can do it better.

Care for Rebonded Hair

Even if I have learned to love my natural wavy hair, I also fell into the trap named “The Rebond Fad”. For a time, it was super cool to have pin straight, manageable hair, that salons that offered it sold appointments like sex in a red light district. Last week, I talked about care for permed hair. Because I’m a fickle, fad-prone gal, I also had my hair rebonded before that. Anyway..

I got my first rebond through a home service salon professional. It was really good. Cost me around P1500 only, with cellophane treatment. After that, I had a follow –up sesh a year later through a salon, but because I’m a meticulous prick, I bought the medicine myself. It cost me only P360 to buy the medicine from HBC, and I paid the salon P500 for the labor, and they also gave a discounted cellophane treatment (P250). Not bad, right?

Although those who worked on my hair were professionals, I had to learn the best hair care routines for rebonded hair by myself. Today, I am sharing them to you:

1. Immediate Post-Rebond Care – Follow what the salon pro told you. They’re not rocket science. Do not wash your hair until the 3^rd day after your rebonding treatment, lie with your hair hoisted up, and don’t tie it up. On the 3^rd day, shampoo briefly (just to clean your scalp) but put a huge dose of conditioner. Applying a protective treatment (like L’Oreal Total Repair 5) helps too.

2. Tame Frizz – Avoid frizz by conditioning everyday, shampooing every other day, and have a weekly intensive conditioning treatment. Also, avoid warm, humid areas  and set your hair everyday if you can. I recommend using a light hair serum.

3. Use Appropriate Products – There are products that are meant to enhance curls, manage hair loss, avoid dandruff, and yes, to keep hair straight. These are now very common, even for very commercial brands like Sunsilk, Rejoice, Cream Silk, Dove, etc. So you really have no excuse not to use them. They are designed to enhance straight hair, tame frizz and prolong your hair’s rebonded state.

4. Keep it Straight –  If you want your straight hair, you should really arrange your lifestyle to accommodate straight hair. Avoid tying your hair in a ponytail, tight bun and don’t use products that defy its straight nature.

5. Wet Right, Dry Right – Washing your hair is a very crucial part in its maintenance. We already told you about the proper frequency of shampooing and conditioning so you need to know how to wash it right. To wet right, use cold water all the time. Rinse away from your face and avoid “crumpling” it as you rinse and squeeze the water out. When you dry it, place your hair in between your palms and run down with the towel so your hair can still dry in its straight place.

Here are other rebonded hair pics:

Does it feel like a lot of work? It is, actually. That’s why I switched to permed hair after 2 years. But hey, if it really looks good on you, you know it’s worth every ounce of effort. <3

The Secrets are Here for Frizz Free Hair

pic from self.com

It's been a year since I've had my last permanent hair change. From 2008-2011, I had my hair rebonded (2x) and permed (2x). Sometimes I just wanted to feel like I was worthy of high-maintenance hair and that I needed it in my Events and PR job (which entails a lot of public events, obviously). Just last year, when I finally had enough of these treatments, I switched to taking care of my hair instead and improve its natural wavy state. A few Victoria's Secret Fashion Show reruns, Cosmopolitan covers and makeup brochures, I was convinced. My wavy hair is actually beautiful.

Eat Your Way to Healthier Hair

(pic from healthcare365days.com)

You learned from grade school that all parts of your body are interconnected. You also learned from grade school that you are what you eat. When you combine these two foundations of your learning, you’ll deduce the idea that your diet essentially affects other parts of your body. It’s no surprise that what you eat affects your physique and looks. However, one of the most neglected facts about your diet is how it affects your hair. It is because of excessive hair care products on the market that people already forget the importance of supporting your hair with vitamins and nutrients essential for its condition.

You’d never realize this, up until reading this article, that natural antioxidants do wonders for your hair. Vitamins A, C and E are natural antioxidants that do not only support your daily bodily functions, but also great looking hair. Vitamin A and E are natural scalp-maintenance vitamins which in effect enhance the beauty of your hair. Vitamin A aids in the production of sebum in the scalp which is the natural oil that your hair needs in order to keep it looking naturally great. Vitamin E on the other hand helps scalp circulation for a healthier scalp which allows it for more conducive hair growth. Vitamin C, on the other hand, aids in the growth of naturally strong and thick strands of hair.

There are also nutrients that can aid you with your current hair problems. Biotin is a nutrient that you can get from protein-rich food which aids in the production of protein and keratin. If you supply enough of the recommended amount on a daily basis, this helps you in preventing hair loss and your hair from turning gray. The same effect can be reached with Vitamin B5 & B12. On the other hand, Inositol is a nutrient that you hair needs in order to maintain hair follicles in the best condition that they can be. The reason behind this is that this nutrients aids with hair growth on a cellular level for better-looking, and better-growing hair.

Lastly, maintain a healthy lifestyle. Eating well, exercising daily, getting the right amount of fluids and sleep in your system can induce the best conditions for hair growth. Not only are you more oxygenated by doing all those things, it helps your system process all the vitamins and nutrients that it can. In the process, you hair also gets the best treatment it can get in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Hair Care Tip: Care for Your Permed Hair

After the perming process, wait for at least 72 hours before you wash your hair. This is to ensure that the medicine used for your hair will have enough time to work its wonders before getting interrupted by shampoo.

NEVER EVER comb your curls. After washing your hair, just pat it dry and then let it air dry. Style it later using your fingers when it's totally dry. You will lose your curls sooner if you keep on combing your hair.

Use extra moisturizing/ conditioning products for your hair. If you ask me, I heart L'oreal's Re-nutrition range. Moreover, if you find curl enhancing products on the store, buy them and use them instead of the generic ones. I used L'oreal Re-nutrition for my hair before I found Suave's Curl Enhancing conditioner on the Gaisano mall's grocery store. I still use a L'oreal shampoo, though. :)

After shampooing and conditioning, squeeze the water out and towel dry your curls softly. Work upwards by "crumpling" your curls using the towel so you're sure they're dried at the right direction. Avoid rubbing the towel all over your scalp and hair as this disrupts the arrangement of your curls.

Usually, permed hair ends up drier than usual. (Or versus rebonded hair.) Make up for it by indulging in a weekly deep conditioning/ repair treatment. I am currently loving Watsons Hair Spa and L'oreal's Total Repair 5 treatment mask. This must be done regularly to maintain shine and manageability.

Here's a picture of my permed hair 6 months after going through the process:

Here's another one, a year after the treatment:

See how proper care pays off? :-)

The Greatest Myth About Hair Care

(photo from mobikorner.com)

The funniest statement you’d hear from different shampoo commercials has to be “keeping your hair healthy”. Obviously, these are classic tricks AKA "best beauty tips" in the marketing book to keep you wanting more of their products without even considering if these are practical or not. Furthermore, even if they are practical, you need to ask yourself if these products are really valuable given that they are just hair care products. Not that your hair is not important to look out for, but these are clear indicators that these capitalist companies are just trying to pull your leg with all the promises that they are making. Although this is nothing new for you, let’s try and debunk the biggest secret that these commercials don’t tell you.

The greatest myth about hair care is the concept of “healthy” hair. There is no such thing. When you say healthy, it comes from a status of a living organism that naturally keeps its balance in a manner that is fit for its needs. Hair is clearly not one of those. It is made of protein and keratin. It does not have blood, nor veins, or a heart that you need to keep “healthy”. This provocative word is just a clincher for advertisers to catch your attention without even making you consider if what their saying is true. Given that, hair can more appropriately be termed “well-maintained”, rather than liking its condition to a living creature. So the mindset you need to create now is how to maintain it better, just like your car or bike!

Since we’ve established that your hair is not a poodle on your head that you need to feed, the next question is, “What’s the best way to maintain it?” There are simple gestures like after when you take a shower which can do wonders for your hair. Since your mindset now is to have the best maintained hair there is, damage-control is always the best form of maintaining it rather than actual repair. One of the common mistakes that people do to their hair is shock it with a hot shower. This plus the steam kills off the natural oil in your hair which makes it frizzy and dry. Lukewarm water will always be the best for it.

Furthermore, it’s always better to pat your hair dry and avoid hair products with harsh chemicals. Some people know of the healthy hair myth too much. They’ve even come to a point of not taking care of their hair, at all! Instead of even trying, they blow dry their hair outright everyday and dap on hair products full of chemicals. You’re not technically “harming” your hair because it doesn’t have feelings, but you’re certainly wrecking it!