Haircare

In our day and age, we have advanced technology in many ways. We have progressed from a society in which you fear the world and nature around you. In the past, people, specifically the nobility, would have great access to bathhouses, as seen in Rome. However, due to the outbreak of the plague, many people avoided bathing since water was one of the carriers of disease. Instead, they used perfumes to mask their scent¹. As we have advanced technologically, we can see the population feel safer using the resources we need to survive and also take luxuries in taking care of ourselves. 

Haircare! We take many measures to take care of our hair nowadays. We look out for things that will prolong our hair. There are products for treating hair damage, hair loss, hair thinning, lice, dandruff, oil/dry scalps, and other issues. These are made out of specific ingredients that are meant to target these issues. Hair, no matter what, will get damaged. It gets damaged from an assortment of things like heat damage, chemicals (bleach, vivid semi-permanent dyes, and perms), sun damage, tangles, and even washing your hair can damage your hair. This is why we go to such lengths to take care and try to repair the damage done. Overall, a good idea is to always test these products you have before using them to make sure you don't have a reaction to any of these products.

For your hair care routine, you may want to start with a hair oil before your shower to moisturise and strengthen the hair². This will seal the hair cuticles, locking in the moisture. After waiting for the hair oil to seep in, you would want to shampoo your scalp. As time goes on, you will have buildup on your scalp, so to clean it, you would use shampoo since they are used to strip oils and dirt from the scalp³. Shampoo is found to be most effective done twice, and you want to focus on the scalp, not the ends of your hair, because the buildup stems from the scalp. After that, you would make a choice; you would use a hair treatment to make your hair look and feel nice. However, it depends on what type of treatment you have, but typically, except for conditioner and shampoo, you don't want to use these products daily. You would use these products only once or twice a week. Many of these you can easily find in drugstores, but you can always go and have a professional give you a hair treatment in a salon every month or two. 

Conditioners are used to make your hair feel better, improve its appearance (less frizziness), how much it reflects (hair can get shiny enough to be reflective), and how manageable the hair is (applying more conditioner improves the feel and detangles the hair, making it easier to maintain it). ³ You may not feel that conditioner is necessary; however, as we have established before, the shampoo strips the hair of its oils. This makes the hair very dry, which you may have felt before after washing it. To restore moisture to the hair, you would want to add conditioner. You have 2 varieties of conditioners, instant and deep. Although instant, you want to have the conditioner seep in your hair for 5 minutes. This time will depend on the specific formula, so make sure to read the instructions! Deep conditioners are the same but take longer because they are used for extremely dry hair or before a process of applying chemicals to the hair. This means they are higher in concentration of chemicals. People who have especially oily scalps may want to find other conditioners, perhaps those that don't include sulphates, to make their hair manageable. 

Hair masks are used to coat the hair cuticle, and those apply moisture and nutrients and address a variety of hair concerns you may have. Does this sound similar to conditioner? This is because hair masks are basically a charged-up or stronger version of conditioner. These hair masks typically leave the hair feeling soft, smooth, and untangled. As said before, you should look at the instructions before using these to see how long you would leave them in before rinsing them out. Another hair treatment you could use is specialised for an itchy scalp: hair vinegar. They’re also commonly used (you’ll be seeing this pattern a lot) for product buildup and dull or damaged hair. You can find many other hair treatments such as detoxing, hydrating, and strengthening treatments as well. Overall, your hair care routine may be composed of these steps: (Note: If you are to do step 1, it’s suggested not to do step 9, and vice versa.)

1. Oil Hair (heavier oils)

2. Shampoo 

3. Rinse

4. Shampoo 

5. Rinse

6. Treatment (conditioner/hair mask, etc.)

7. Rinse

8. Slightly Dry Hair

9. Oil (lighter oils)

For step 6, you are suggested to only use one treatment. This sounds like a lot of work, right? This is why many people have an all-out hair day and a more simple hair care routine for day-to-day life. On my more laid-back casual days, I typically do the following as my routine. 

1. Shampoo 

2. Rinse

3. Shampoo 

4. Rinse

5. Treatment (conditioner)

6. Rinse

I talked about hair damage and hair care to fix it this entire time, but I never mentioned one of the biggest parts of hair that I’m interested in. Hair dying! Now, no matter what level of hair colour you have, if you want to go for a vivid semi-permanent colour, you still have to bleach it, even if it’s a natural grey shade, because bleach is used to open up the hair cuticles to let hair colour permeate and last. This is why you may notice that if you dye your virgin hair, it does not last as long. You may be wondering, “What does virgin hair mean?”. Virgin hair is hair that has never been dyed before. This can include hair that you may have never dyed before in general or hair that you have died, but everything that was bleached or dyed has been removed and cut with about an inch of wiggle room. This is because the new hair itself has never been dyed, although your hair as a whole may have. Overall, the amount of bleach needed depends on what level your hair is. If it is grey naturally, it will not require much bleach. It is mainly diluted with a lot of conditioner, while a level 1 (darkest possible) requires a lot more intense care and time to lighten to allow the colour. 

When looking at bleaching your hair, you may want to get the professional done by a salon rather than buying a box and doing it yourself because the chemical formulations are different. The companies that sell bleach and hair dyes try to make them universal to all hair types so they can cater to a variety of purchasers. This means that the chemicals that are in these products are typically stronger than what you need to fully bleach or dye your hair, which damages it further than you need to. Yet again, make sure to test your bleach and hair dye on a patch of skin or a section of hair to watch out for any reactions. Now, as mentioned before, shampoos have a lot of chemicals in them, including sulphate. The sulphur is in shampoos because it serves as a vital component of the job of the shampoo. They help strip the oils from the scalp⁴. As you have dyed your hair, you most likely would like to keep the colour in your hair, right? So, the sulphates in shampoo are a bit counterproductive to your goal. This is why many hair stylists suggest that you find a shampoo that does not contain sulphur to prolong the colouring. 

After you bleach your hair, you’ll notice that your hair is going to a yellow-blonde after you bleach it. Do not worry; this is natural. To get it to a more even shade, you would need a toner, also called a volume developer. This is why many box dye and bleaching brands suggest you buy toner. This will give you the type of undertone you are searching for, whether it is warmer or cooler. Without the toner, if you dye your hair a shade such as blue, when it starts fading, it will be a very green pigment due to that brassy undertone⁵. You can also dilute your hair dye with, you guessed it, conditioner. It makes it less vibrant and more pastel. I must warn you, though, that many colours are lovely but can only be properly achieved with a lighter shade. If you look at Arctic Fox, you will see they often suggest that the level of your hair be 8 or higher to achieve that shade. Keep in mind that just because one box dye brand or shade didn’t work out for you doesn’t mean none of them will. You should cycle through brands and shades because some that work great for others don’t mean they’ll work great for you. 

Also, a disclaimer to those who do perms. Perms are great; however, if you choose to do one along with bleaching your hair, keep in mind that both processes are very well known as being damaging. If you add the damages together, you will end up with very fried hair. I speak of this from personal experience. My hair felt fine before I got the perm, although I had bleached and dyed it. But after getting the perm, it was more frizzy, tangled, and extremely damaged.

Thank you so much for tuning in! Again, if there's anything interesting you find and want me to speak about, let me know.