Chemical hair styling offers a plethora of options for wearing your hair in the latest styles and colors. The convenience of manageability at your fingertips, along with sporting trendy hues of color allow you to feel good about yourself and put your best foot forward everyday. Unfortunately, these same chemical hairstyling processes that offer convenience also do you the disservice of dry, brittle and damaged hair. Subsequently, reviving those lifeless tresses is often a painstaking process. However, the right restorative regimen will put your damaged hair back on the road to health sooner than you think.
Step 1
Visit your stylist for a thorough trim to trim away damaged hair, especially your damaged, split ends. You may be disheartened to trim off your hair, but the importance of beginning your hair's repair process by allowing it to grow back with a healthy, clean start cannot be stressed enough. Hanging on to split and damaged ends will not do your hair any favors. Shorter, healthy hair looks neater in appearance than longer hair with thinning, split, brittle and damaged ends.
Step 2
Shampoo your hair weekly using a gentle shampoo and follow up with a conditioner containing moisture-rich ingredients. Instant conditioners are acceptable, but penetrating conditioners made from animal proteins and keratin absorb into the hair, giving it a livelier appearance. Plan to use a protein conditioner on damaged hair every time you wash and condition your hair. Place a plastic cap on your hair after applying the deep conditioner and let it sit approximately 15 minutes before rinsing it out. Be sure to rinse until the water runs clear to ensure all conditioner is removed from your hair. Left over residue from conditioner not completely rinsed out weighs the hair down and leaves it limp.
Step 3
Stop using chemical styling processing such as relaxers and hair dyes to prevent further damage. Refrain from heat styling tools such as blow dryers, curling irons and flat irons if possible. Look at other styling methods such as roller sets and protective styles such as twist-outs, braid-outs or even a wig to give your hair a break. If you must use heat styling, use sparingly and always apply a heat protectant to your hair first.
Step 4
Avoid alcohol-based products at all costs. Stay away from any hair product containing isopropyl alcohol as it will cause hair breakage. You should also refrain from using any product consisting of mineral and petroleum oils. These oils are derived from crude oils and coat your hair and skin similar to plastic wrap. Furthermore, these ingredients block will block hair follicles, preventing proper ventilation. Your scalp needs to breathe to produce healthy hair growth. Yet another ingredient found in hair products that you should steer clear of is polyethylene glycol (PEG). This product is mostly used as a thickener in hair products, but it strips your hair of its natural moisture.
Step 5
Moisturize your tired, damaged tresses with a natural moisturizer such as shea butter. Derived from the nut of the Karite tree of West Africa, shea butter feeds malnourished hair by absorbing into it and providing moisture from its roots to its tips; it acts as a barrier against weather damage. It is beneficial to hair over-processed and damaged by excessive heat styling because it helps alleviate dullness and restores luster and sheen.
Step 6
Eat a well-balanced diet consisting of lean proteins, fresh produce and healthy fats. The importance of putting proper nutrition into your body to give an outwardly healthy appearance, specifically to your hair, should not be overlooked. Accompany your healthy diet with a multivitamin supplement and be sure you are drinking at least six to eight glasses of water per day.
Things You'll Need
- Hairstylist appointment
- Shampoo
- Instant or deep conditioner
- Plastic cap
- Rollers
- Protective hair styling tools
- Heat protectant
- Shea butter
- Healthy diet
- Multivitamin
- Water
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