Is your hair sending out distress signals? Pamper your tresses with this five-day hair care guide.
Like children, your hair will signal its distress the moment something is amiss. Most probably it will show unhappy signs of dryness dullness, weakness and split ends. These signs also hint at unhealthy aspects in your diet, skin, self-esteem and fitness regimen. Give your hair a breather and adopt a healthier lifestyle to give it some instant beauty. Here is a five-day guide to make your hair happy.
Day One:
Re-Hydrate
Constant exposure to pollution dries your hair out and makes it frizzy. The first step to healthy hair is to add some moisture. Dryness in hair occurs when the protective outer layers, known as the cuticle, lifts and allows the valuable moisture within the hair shaft to evaporate. When the surface of the hair feels rough and dry, this indicates that the cortex (the inner layer of the hair that forms the bulk of the hair shaft) is also dry, the natural moisture has escaped. Like most of the body, hair and skin contains a high percentage of water. Since both are exposed to sun and wind they are at an increased risk of drying out than any other parts of the body. Therefore, the water content needs to be maintained in order to ensure healthy hair.
Re-hydrating techniques
Tress De-Stress Diet
Here are some of the best nutrients for your hair:
Essential fatty Acids (EfAs): Oily fish such as salmon and tuna, flax seed oil, sunflower oil, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds.
Vitamin B: Mushrooms, watercress and cauliflower.
Vitamin C: Watercress, oranges and tomatoes.
Vitamin E: Olive oil, wheat-germ and seeds.
Zinc: Oysters, nuts and shrimps |
Wash hair with a shampoo and conditioner or use a deep conditioning treatment after your shampoo. Keep it wrapped in a warm towel for about 10 minutes before washing off the treatment.
Hair is at its most fragile when wet, so gently squeeze out excess water and wrap hair in a towel. Do not rub dry, let it dry naturally.
Day Two:
Banish Dullness
Picture the scenario. You go out for dinner and are faced with a room full of people you don’t know. You are stressed and become conscious and uncomfortable. Sounds familiar? Social distress is only one kind. You face stress at your office, at home with your kids (or your husband and his family), even while driving in city traffic. And there is a new type of stress—Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression linked to the changing seasons which mostly affects you during the hot, humid summer months. Which is almost all year round.
All this stress and general wear and tear leads to dull and sad hair. The hair cuticle lifts and the hair surface becomes rough, leading to loss of shine. Deposits of dust and hair shaft cause dullness too.
So for the second day, here is a simple but unorthodox solution – be happy. Meet a friend or a family member you can have a laugh with. It causes the brain to release endorphins, producing a natural high. Sounds too good to be true? Add this - take a risk, try out newer things. Learning something also leads to a happier hairstyle. Follow these simple steps:
Note down three things that make you feel good. Do them at least once a week.
Let hair dry naturally as often as possible to prevent damage caused by blow-drying and heat styling.
If you use a conditioner always remember to rinse it off using cool water--- it closes the cuticles and helps seal in the moisture.
Day Three:
Curb a foddie weakness
Do you have a weakness for chips or chocolate? Or do you like all those garam pakodas and puris? Whatever your favourite oily or sugary weakness, chuck it today. It is the most common reason for hair fall. Lack of the right nutrients results in the loss of elasticity of the hair and damage to the hair cuticles, which means that hair becomes brittle. When the cortex is inadequately protected, combing and in general, hairdressing procedures create friction, which makes the hair more and more fragile, so the hair continues to break.
A healthy diet is important to get your hair back into shape. The reason is simple. Hair is protein. So more protein intake will mean stronger hair. Protein must be eaten at least at breakfast and lunch.
Day Four:
Arrange your life
So much to do, so little time. Seems like this explains all of our hectic lifestyles. If you struggle to get up, iron a shirt, catch the bus and still be on time for work then you may be suffering from a new complaint—poor time management skills. And yes, it does affect the way your hair looks. How many times have you pulled your hair into a pony tail because you didn’t have time to wash it? Or used the blowdryer on full heat to save time?
All these time-saving actions will result in your hair becoming weak. If hair is porous, it will not hold the style as it normally does, due to lack of elasticity, so the normal blow-dry will only last a very short while.
Also, when the body is stressed it strengthens itself with a surge of adrenaline. Too much adrenaline can harm the body raising blood pressure, pulse rate and over a long period, undermining the immune system. Managing time leads to less stress and pressure in our lives. Here are some tips on how to manage time:
Do the action jobs you don’t enjoy first. You will have more enthusiasm for completing the others later.
Learn to say No.
Blow-dry hair at full speed but on a cool setting to dry quickly but more safely.
Day Five:
Visit a Hairdresser
Take a trip to the hairdressers to get rid of split ends.
If split ends are not trimmed, the hair will break away. Here are some tips on how to prevent those dreaded split ends:
Use a wide toothed comb, beginning half way down the hair shaft, gently working your way up to the roots.
The tips of the hair are the first to dry out so avoid-heating the ends when blow-drying.
Always condition hair after shampooing.
Don’t rinse away all of your conditioner—leave a small amount on the ends to continue to protect the strands.
Don’t be tempted to snip your split ends yourself! Visit the hairdresser every six weeks to prevent ends from splitting.
