Simple Hair Care Advice for Every Hair Type and Texture
Your most hoped for hair dreams…your worst hair experiences…your deepest, burning hair questions…
Here we get to set back and contemplate the great, life changing questions of our time. You know, questions like:
Is hot or cold water better for washing hair?
Why is my hair so curly underneath but straight on top?
Is it bad to wash my hair every day?
Where do blonde jokes come from? – I don’t know about you, but most of my blonde friends are pretty smart.
Why does my hair tangle so easily?
How do I care for a 3-year-old’s curly hair without destroying it?
Why does my hair look better at the beach? – and how can I get that result at home without the sunburn?
How much should professional hair color cost?
And who was that wonderfully brilliant person who invented potlucks? Surely, they are an unsung hero in history...okay, so that's not hair related, but I’ve always wondered about it.
I’ve asked and answered several of these questions so many times that I’ve finally decided to start writing down my answers. Now you can refer back to them whenever you want.
Some of these answers are simple. Some of them require a little science to explain, but hang in there. I promise I won’t get too technical on you.
Hair Care Tips for Every Hair Type and Texture
When it comes to hair care, the results come from the long-term habits you create. Curly hair does need some specialized care – but that’s a whole ‘nother blog ladies – these tips are good for all hair types.
Listen, at its core, ALL hair is protein and dead skin cells. How it grows out of your head will alter parts of your personal hair care routine, but all hair needs moisture. All hair needs its pH balanced once in a while. And all hair needs to undergo the keratinization process in order to remain healthy.
Oh, and by “healthy hair”, I mean strong, shiny hair with a smooth cuticle. Note: it’s the hair’s cuticle that is smooth, not necessarily the texture.
So let’s help you form some good hair habits in 2022
Is Hot or Cold Water Better for Washing Hair?
The answer is it depends on your hair type.
Pretend your hair is like a pinecone. A brand-new pinecone is all closed. As it dries out, the pinecone opens.
The cuticle of non-porous hair is closed like that new pinecone. Non-porous (or low porosity) hair tends to…
get oily faster,
take forever to dry
does not absorb moisture well
has a tight cuticle
If you have non-porous hair, you’ll want to cleanse your hair with hot water to open the cuticle. This allows your hair to absorb the moisture that the conditioner brings in.
After you condition, you’ll want to use cool water to help close the cuticle back down.
If you have porous hair, then your cuticle is like that open pinecone. Porous hair…
accepts moisture quickly,
but also loses moisture just as quickly,
dries super-fast,
tends to look “frizzy”,
feels rough and dry because of the open cuticle
Porous hair is already open, so stick to cool water for cleansing and then rinse with cold water to seal that cuticle.
Most people’s porosity falls somewhere in between these two extremes. But if you use warm water to wash and cold water to rinse, you'll be on the right track.
If you don’t know your hairs’ porosity, ask me about it at your next appointment, and we’ll do a quick porosity test.
Is It Bad to Wash My Hair Every Day?
This one is a resounding YES! Now let me tell you why.
Your hair goes through this process called keratinization. That’s where the sebum and other oils from your scalp coat the hair shaft and harden. Kinda like how hot oil on a cast iron pan hardens when it cools and forms a protective coating.
This process produces strong, healthy hair. So yeah, it’s kind of important.
A proper balance of oil on your scalp is also essential to growing new hair. If your scalp is dry all the time, it’s going to cut back on new hair growth. That means thinning – or at least not-as-full – hair.
So, if you’re constantly washing your hair – especially if you use sulfates – you’re stripping that good oil away, and your hair doesn’t get the full benefit of the keratinization process. To make matters worse, your body senses that your scalp needs more oil, so it stimulates sebum production.
And now you’re caught in that vicious cycle of “I know I shouldn’t wash my hair every day, but it gets soooo oily”.
If you find yourself in this cycle, here’s how to break it without looking like Snape. You might want to sit down ‘cause this is going to sound radical to you.
Cleanse your hair once during the week.
The rest of the week, when you would normally wash your hair, I’ll give you two alternatives.
The first and best option is to put it up out of the way and don’t touch it. Put it in a bun on top of your head and wash everything else.
If you feel like your hair just hates you after the shower, invest in some good dry shampoo and look up some cute day-two or day-three hairstyles. I think you’ll enjoy seeing what your hair can do after no washing and dry shampoo.
Option 2 is to do an apple cider vinegar rinse in the shower. (An ACV rinse is 1 cup water, 2 Tbsp ACV). Start off by massaging your scalp like you’re pretending to wash your hair. Detangle with some conditioner on your ends if you need to. Rinse with warm water, then pour the ACV rinse over your scalp with one hand while scrubbing your scalp with the other.
That’s it, get out of the shower, and style as usual.
The heat and massaging from the first rinse help loosen any grease and build up and acid from the ACV helps cut the grease and rinse it out while restoring the hair’s natural pH. But if you have longer hair, it’s possible all of that build up will just get caught on the lengths of your hair and not rinse fully out. That’s why option 1 is best.
After that week, repeat. Only wash your hair once the next week too.
What we’re doing is allowing your body to slow down the sebum production naturally.
After the second week, you can decide what’s best for your hair type. But the most you should wash is every other day. Experiment with it!
Now for you over achievers who get up at 4:00 am to work out every day and you’re worried about sweaty build up on your scalp…don’t.
Seriously, you’re still rinsing your scalp with warm – or even hot – water that will remove the salty sweat. If it makes you feel better, throw in a co-wash or a no-poo every other wash.
I know the idea of washing once a week sounds like torture to you, but I promise, in over 15 years of doing hair I can count on one hand the number of people I know who have to wash their hair every day.
Don’t get me wrong, you’re special...just not that special.
While we’re here let’s talk a little more about ACV rinses.
How Does an Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse Work?
Okay, so what black magic is this that...
keeps my hair from getting oily without harsh chemicals,
leaves my hair feeling soft and weightless,
and keeps my platinum blonde from turning yellow?
Time to get sciencey!
You remember that pH scale from high school chemistry? Well, all things have a pH rating that lets you know if some is basic or acidic. Water of course is neutral at 7. As it turns out, our hair, skin, and nails have a pH between 4-6. They’re on the acidic side.
Now the hair can absorb several things that can mess with its pH.
Pollutants in the air
dirt
pollen
the lovely salt from the sea breeze
and even the clarifying shampoo you bought at the drugstore.
These things tend to have more of an alkaline or basic pH. Salt water, for example, rates at a 9 on the pH scale. Clarifying shampoos rate between a 7 and 9. And don't even get me started on relaxers and perm. They’re between 12-14! – That’s the same pH as drain cleaner!
ACV also has a pH varying between 2-5, so by rinsing with a substance that shares a slightly more acidic pH as our hair, we restore the hairs’ natural pH.
You may have also heard of women rinsing their hair with a can of beer for much the same reason. The added benefit of the beer is that it also has amino acids that can strengthen the hair as well. But ACV is less expensive, and you don’t need an ID to purchase it.
So, when should you do an ACV rinse?
Experiencing oil build up that comes from an overproduction of sebum
Natural blondes who want to remove impurities from their hair.
Curly girls who feel like they’re experiencing product build up
Anyone with hard water
Adolescence going through the changing hormones of puberty
After you get back from the beach
Honestly, I’ve never heard of an ACV rinse doing anyone any harm, so when in doubt I go with the ACV rinse.
Why Does Healthy Hair Even Matter?
By now you might be wondering: Do all these seemingly small changes actually make a difference? Does it really matter?
It matters because you matter…
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty big on self-care. Not the “Me-First” self-care that leads to selfish squabbles and discontentment, but the kind of self-care that allows you to then go care for others.
Jesus tells us to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Implicit in that command is that we must love ourselves.
Again, not to the extent of Narcissa, but how can we know how to love and care for others if we don’t even know how to love and care for ourselves?
Recognizing the importance of self-care comes understanding that you are a daughter who God made in His image. You are worthy of care, respect, and love because you are intrinsically valuable to God.
That’s why I tell you to “go be gorgeous.” It’s just a little reminder to you to let your God-given beauty shine through.
You might be remembering another Bible verse that says, “Beauty is vain” and wondering how I make the leap from self-care to hair care.
Yes, beauty is a passing thing. Chasing beauty for beauty’s sake is really a pointless, never-ending struggle. I don’t suggest you make beauty your goal.
I want you to make God’s gifts your goal. Learn to care for what God gave you. I know, sometimes it’s not easy to see what your mom called a “rats’ nest” as beautiful. In fact, it can be downright frustrating and disheartening. But God gave you that “rats’ nest” ... and I dare say He doesn’t view it the same way your mother does.
I’m here to help you learn how to care for yourself! I’m not asking your hair to change into something it's not; I’m asking you to change how you think about your hair.
Stop calling yourself – and your hair – names! You know the ones…rat’s nest, nappy-headed, ragamuffin… come one! We teach our children not to call people names and then we turn right around, look in the mirror, and repeat those names to ourselves. This ought not be!
You are made in the image of God. Are you going to call His workmanship a ragamuffin?
I'm Not Done Yet...
You didn’t really think I was going to be able to answer all those questions in one blog, did you?
Oh, you did? Well, you clearly never had to grade the “short answer” sections of my tests in high school…Yeah, it’s going to take several blogs to flesh out all these answers.
But don’t worry! I’m always here offer you simple, helpful solutions so that you can Go Be Gorgeous!
What are the most burning hair care questions that you have? Share them with me by commenting here or emailing me at GoBeGorgeous@outlook.com
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