Most of us on healthy hair journeys will come across tips and tricks on how to deal with our hair. Some tips are good, others are great and yet others are so fantastic that you absolutely cannot live without them. Today I saw fit to share with you my top 5 hair care lessons that I could never depart from. I think these are must knows for anyone on a healthy hair journey!
1. Deep conditioning
This was a slightly new concept to me. Back when I relied solely on my stylist I would be asked if I wanted to deep condition my hair and I would be like “Okay sure, if you say so”. I was told I should do it once a month, but to me, I thought it was just something the stylist wanted to do to charge me extra.
Now I can say that deep conditioning is like food and air to my crowning glory! A week can not go by without deep conditioning* my hair and it has never been more moisturized, more healthy and more able to retain length in all my relaxed years! To all my relaxed, texlaxed and natural sisters; Deep condition, it is important. Whether overnight or for a few hours or a few minutes with heat, you won’t regret it and your hair will thank you for it.
2. Hot oil treatments and scalp massages
This was also a fairly new concept to me when I started my hair journey. Even though I was unknowingly doing it a couple months prior to finding out about healthy hair, I was advised that leaving castor oil* on my hair and going under a hooded dryer* for a few minutes would help it grow, which it did!
Hot oil treatments can be done in a variety of ways in my opinion whether using the greenhouse effect, heating the oil then applying it to your scalp or applying the oil then sitting under a hooded dryer*. Just get that warm oil on your scalp and hair, let it sit for a while, then rinse. You will have yourself a hair treatment you will be happy to repeat again and again!
Use whichever oils you have, my personal favorites are castor, olive, peppermint*, rosemary, jojoba, vitamin E* and coconut. Yes those are a lot but I usually mix them all together or just use castor oil on it’s own – yep castor oil* is my baby. Either way when you say hot oil treatment? Your hair will scream YES PLEASE!
Now if you really want to stimulate some hair growth the secret is…. Shhhh… Come close…. Scalp massages! Yes I told the secret, but it’s too good not to share!
Whether you use oils or not when you massage your scalp you are stimulating blood flow that will nourish your follicles. Blood filled with vitamins and nutrients reaching your hair follicles will make it to grow even faster than you would expect it to. And not only are you increasing blood flow, scalp massages are relaxing too which is an added bonus. After a hard day at work or school just unwind with a scalp massage, they are a two for one deal, and who can pass up a good bargain?
Do you do a hot oil treatment then deep condition?