Vitamin Value

Vitamins A, B, D, E, what do they do for me?

These are the vitamins that I currently use in my hair topically. I either get it from a dietary supplement or I get it from a particular fruit. Its important to know what you put in your hair so you can determine if its actually adding value to your regimen.

Vitamin A makes our strands stronger and thicker, it also conditions and moisturizes the sebum in the scalp.

Vitamin B helps with hair loss and increases growth rate. It also gives our tresses a mean shine!

Vitamin D helps prevent premature hair loss.

Vitamin E helps with blood circulation which will stimulate growth. It also softens and nourishes our hair.

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Stress To Your Tresses

We’ve all heard that too much manipulation, weather,  lack of moisturizing, not sealing and of course heat can damage our hair.  But did you know that our mental health also can play a role in a healthy mane.  Stress can play a role in your hair’s healthiness, or rather, lack there of.  The next time you are upset, angry or worried – LET IT GO!  Notice I didn’t say don’t do these things, cause we are human, life has a way of making us experience different emotions.  But what we can do is control the emotion so that it will not dwell within us and cause us to be stressed over the situation.  On the other hand if you just cannot control yourself – which i doubt 🙂 – just show your hair some extra TLC during this time.  Drink more water, make sure your hair stairs moisturized inside and out. Be sure to lock the moisture in by using your sealant. And certainly protect it from the elements, be it your bed spread, the heat or the cold.

Essential Oils

Essential Oil are a major part of my hair care regimen. Their benefits out way not incorporating them in your journey. And most of them double up as some other life aid from skin ailments to sleep remedies….the benefits are endless. They are very strong and have to be used in small doses; however you have to go by the amount of the liquid you are adding it to. So if you have a small mixture you only want to put a few drops. If your mixture is large then you can add more. If your skin is very sensitive then use a small amount and adjust as necessary. I use most of these in my deep conditioner mix and if I have an itchy scalp I will message my scalp with one that is beneficial for dandruff and itchy scalp (most of them :))

Tea Tree Oil

This was the first one that I tried because I suffer from dry scalp and dandruff. It works wonders for itching and dry scalp. I found out that it also moisturizes my hair a great deal.

Lavender

I originally purchased this for my daughter’s hair for its cleansing properties. I would put one drop in a small spray bottle and spray her hair once a week. I no longer do this with her hair because with kids less is best. It too is helpful with dandruff and itching as well as promoting hair growth.

Peppermint

Stimulates blood flow to the hair shaft which in turn helps with growth.

Rosemary

Helps with dandruff, flakes, and itchy scalp. It also stimulates hair follicles.

Sage

Stimulates hair growth

There are many more however these are the ones that I have tried thus far to target my problem area’s and to promote growth.

Regimen Change

Soooo finding out that castile soap may not be a good choice for my hair I am going to remove it from my regimen for the present time.  *This is subject to change as my research continues* I am also not seeing any benefit of just using the VO5 as my leave in so I am switching to Herbal Essences as a leave in. Below is what I have come up with 🙂

My present regimen starting Friday May 18th

Daily (Saturday thru Thursday)
* co-wash w/ VO5
* leave in conditioner Herbal Essences Hello Hydration
* seal w/ Vitamin E
* apply product, Curls Unleashed

Weekly (Friday)
* deep condition w/ honey, EVOO, and Vitamin E oil with cap overnight….Is this the Greenhouse Effect?  🙂 Research Research Research 🙂

Monthly (Sunday)
* hot oil treatment w/ EVOO, Jojoba oil, Vitamin E oil, Tea Tree mixture with cap for 30 minutes
** if needed ACV rinse as clarifier in case of product buildup

Castile Soap

So I’ve been hearing random not-so-good things about castile soap.  Because I am doing the CG method (washing with conditioner only) but this method allows you to use gel as well as product and that is reason for me to want to clean with a little more than conditioner periodically.  I DO NOT want to use shampoo so I thought if I used castile soap which is an all natural soap made of oils not a detergent that my hair would be safe from harsh elements.  WRONG! Apparently the PH balance in castile soap is very high between 8 and 9.  This can strip the hair and make it very dry thus making my health care regimen POINTLESS.  I am not saying that I am going to abandon castile soap completely BUT I am going to cute back on my usage….so I am going to change my regimen.  Instead of washing my hair with this weekly I am only going to do it Monthly (if needed) and the amount will be less.  Last time I used 1/2 cup castile soap, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons Jojoba oil, 2 tablespoons Vitamin E, 2 tablespoons Tea Tree oil, and 2 tablespoons EVOO.  This time I will use 1/4 castile soap with same mixtures of oil.  I am just a fan of the ingredients and I don’t want to use anything un-natural on my hair.

Okay, so what about the PH balance??? Well a healthy PH balance for our hair is between 4.5 – 5.5.  Anything above 7.1 is considered alkaline and anything below 6.9 is considered acidic….our hair is  slightly acidic.  Pure water is considered neutral at a PH level of 7.  When our hair is at the proper PH level the cuticle is closed this stops the hair from frizzing up.  When the cuticles are open the result is frizzy hair.

 

Oohhh, so I signed up for my first hair challenge! 🙂 The deadline has been extended to May 27th so I decided to try it.  Thought this was a good challenge especially since I just BC’d I can see where I will be in two years 🙂  Website is  http://www.naturalhair2014.com/