Ask any new Natural what their
top problem is and I’ll bet you most will say “dry hair.” Well, your dry hair
days are over. I’m going to cure the problem for you with two fancy concepts
“pH’ and “porosity.”
pH
The pH scale runs from 0 to 14;
7 is neutral. Unpolluted spring water has a pH of 7. As pH falls below 7,
acidity increases; as pH rises above 7, alkalinity increases.
If your hair feels dry and
brittle it could be because the products you are using are not pH balanced.
By far the quickest and easiest
way to measure pH is with pH paper. That paper is available on Amazon and eBay.
Dip a strip into your shampoo and another strip into your conditioner. If your
shampoo and conditioner are compatible, the conditioner (or leave-in
conditioner) will have a lower pH number than the shampoo. Simple.
Porosity
The more porous your hair is
(the measurement of how big the pores on your hair are), the more you may be
prone to breakage, split ends and other kinds of damage. Closing your hair’s
pores (“reducing your hair's porosity”) makes your glow, helps you retain
moisture and it will help you retain
length.
By reducing your hair’s
porosity it will stay softer for longer. Here’s how you can do that:
1.) Never shampoo without
following up with a conditioner. This is because conditioner is designed to
close the pores on hair, while shampoo opens them up. Hair product companies do
this by creating a conditioner with a lower pH than the shampoo.
Lower pH reduces porosity so
conditioners are typically lower in pH than shampoos. The pH of products in the
same line will account for this required fall in pH, however, if you mix
shampoo and conditioner brands it’s worth checking they are compatible by
ensuring that the pH of your preferred conditioner is lower than that of your
shampoo using pH paper.
If your shampoo has a lower pH
than your conditioner and you definitely do not want to change products then
always finish your wash off with an apple cider vinegar, or lemon, rinse.
2.) Rinse hair after your wash
routine using a cold lemon rinse or a cold ACV rinse.
Why would you do that when
lemon and ACV are so much more acidic than hair? As mentioned above, acids
close the pores of your hair. Although Lemon and ACV are too acidic when
they’re neat, diluting them in water reduces their pH to a level that is good
for hair.
3.) Rinse hair with cold water
after any wash or co-wash. Cold water closes the hair’s pores while warm water
opens them up.
4.) Always seal in moisture
using a cream and hair oil. Creams and oils seal the hair, so that your
leave-in conditioner and moisture don’t escape.
Heather Katsonya-Woodward can be reached via her website at www.NenoNatural.com.
On Twitter @NenoNatural
On Facebook Long Healthy Hair
No comments:
Post a Comment
So what do YOU think?