Over the years I have had many conversations with people about their hair. Your hair is very responsive to your body and your internal changes. After all, hair is made up of dead keratin cells from your body wrapped in a protective sheath.
Your hair will respond different if your internal chemistry adjusts and it will respond if your diet changes. As we age our hair changes as well. It always seems like there is something going on to offer us new challenges for maintaining strong healthy hair. The following list is the most common challenges that people have shared with me and some natural solutions that may be helpful for you. You will note that I have included food. What you put in your body has a direct link to what comes out; Hair, Nails, Skin. So I cannot ignore that. In fact, you can solve a great deal of issues in the kitchen.
If you are experiencing a radical and sudden change in your hair, then please seek a medical professional’s opinion as it could be an indicator of something requiring medical intervention.
Greasy Hair
Overly oily hair could be attributed to over active sebaceous glads. These glands are along the hair shaft and they secret a bit of oil that rises to the surface. When they are performing normally, they produce enough oil to help nourish and strengthen the hair. If your hair is over producing oil try these tips:
- Add some citrus to your hair care – Citrus juice has a wonderful ability to cleanse without build up or irritation.
- Wash less – Over washing your hair may continue to strip the hair causing the glands to go into a protective response. Shampoo once or twice a week with our Citrus Sage Conditioning Shampoo is all you should need. And please make sure your rinse well. You want to get all of the shampoo out.
- Use a light conditioning treatment – Rather than trying to condition with a cream or a lotion, try using a water based conditioning agent like our natural Hair Gel. This will help lock in moisture without causing a build up and without adding oil to your scalp.
- Try a Clarifying rinse – Using a clarifying rinse in-between shampooing may be just the thing to help give you a fresh clean feeling. You can use any one of our Hair Hydro‘s or create a ACV rinse of your own. It helps to balance the PH of the hair. You can use my ACV rinse recipe here as part of the No Poo routine.
- Pick it, Comb it, just don’t Brush it! : Using wide toothed combs and picks will help tame and untangle your hair without over stimulating the scalp and sending it into a protective mode.
- Eat foods rich in Vitamin B – To help regulate the amount of sebum produced. Foods rich in Vit B are Beans and leafy green veggies. Try cutting out all dairy for a bit and see if that helps. Just experiment for 30 days.
Flaky Bits and Dandruff
A build up of debris or overactive cell production can cause flaky bits to fall from your hair. Other potential issues could be psoriasis or exzema. These are 2 serious skin conditions that may require medical intervention in addition to a solid hair care routine. Being a lifetime sufferer of psoriasis, I have found once I got it under control, no more flakes.
- Wash less – Over washing your hair may continue to strip the hair and water can have a drying effect on skin. Once to twice a week is all the average person ever needs.
- Keep your scalp clean – It’s really important to keep your scalp clean but you want to make sure you aren’t striping it. The Très Spa Organic Shampoo’s are super-fatted so they condition and clean at the same time.
- Rinse thoroughly – Those flaky bits may be caused by not rinsing your hair enough when you wash it or from build up of after shampoo product. You don’t need to wash everyday but if you are using Hair Gel and leave in products, you should rinse them from your hair more frequently. Plain water in the shower should do the trick.
- A good brushing – A through brushing can help pull the dead skin cells and debris away from the scalp keeping the pores open and unclogged.
- Nourish Scalp – You want to keep the scalp well conditioned and nourished. A good Organic Hair Oil may be just the thing to keep the scalp conditioned without clogging pores. Just don’t go overboard and put on too much or you’ll end up with a whole new set of problems.
- Try a mask for hair and scalp – A mask can help you exfoliate the scalp, pulling debris and dead skin cells away from the scalp. A nice oatmeal mask can help cool the scalp as well if you have any irritations.
- De-stress – Stress increases the effect of psoriasis. Try a little Meditation.
- Eat foods rich in biotin and zinc – This B vitamin and essential mineral have been shown to help. Tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin seeds, and dark chocolate to name a few. You may also want to add a balanced approach to omega fatty acids found in flaxseeds, walnuts, and avocados. Try cutting out all dairy for a bit and see if that helps. Just experiment for 30 days.
Dry Itchy Scalp
Most commonly, itchy scalps come as a side effect of dandruff. But it can be a side effect of many things from over taxing the scalp through things like over shampooing, exposure to chlorinated pools, exposure to UV, exposure to ocean salt water, over styling, and skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema.
- Keep your scalp clean – It’s really important to keep your scalp clean but you want to make sure you aren’t striping it. The Très Spa Organic Shampoo’s are super-fatted so they condition and clean at the same time.
- Keep your cool – Sometimes simply cooling off your scalp will bring relief to itchiness. You could use any of our Hair Hydro’s to help cool you off. Moist hair catching a breeze works like a natural air conditioner. If your dry itch is from psoriasis, I created the mist apres Soleil to help me with my skin
- Oil Steam Treatment – Once a week try a deep moisturizing with a steam heat activated oil treatment.
- Don’t over brush – Brushing, combing and even picking your hair can cause irritation from tugging at the scalp. Use a gentle soft brush, enough to de-tangle the hair but not scratch the scalp.
- Eat foods – Foods rich in Vitamin A: orange fruits, vegetables, and sweets potatoes to support skin cells, as well as the circulatory system. Iron rich foods: leafy greens, nuts, tofu, and beans to carry oxygen to the cells. Also add a balanced approach to omega fatty acids found in flaxseeds, walnuts, and avocados.
Split Ends
Split ends can happen when you are to aggressive with your hair from over coloring to over brushing to over styling. Washing too often can also cause your ends to split. Once they split, there is no good way to put them back together. The only choice is to trim them off. The best you can do is prevent them from happening in the first place.
- Wash less – Over washing your hair may continue to strip the hair causing the glands to go into a protective response. Shampooing once or twice a week with our Organic Conditioning Shampoo is all you should need.
- Use a post style conditioning treatment – Add a bit of our natural Hair Gel to the ends of your hair after styling. This will help lock in moisture without causing a build up and without adding oil to your scalp.
- Keep it cool when you style – Rather than use heat when styling your hair, try using the cool setting. Or, better yet, let your hair air dry.
- Indulge your hair – Give yourself a deeply nourishing Hair Steam once a week. You can create your own customized treatment each time or simply use our Organic Hair Oil.
- Pick it, Comb it, Brush it! – In that order. Just don’t over do it. Too much fussing causes breaks and splits.
- Eat foods that support strong hair – Foods rich in Zinc ( whole grains, nuts like pecans and walnuts ), Omega 3s ( flax, hemp seeds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds ), Iron ( lentils, hemp seeds, parsley, spinach, raisins, tomatoes, leafy greens, or sea vegetables ), Vitamin E ( Sunflower seeds, olives, almonds, and avocados ), and B Complex ( mushrooms, raw nuts & seeds, leafy greens, winter squash, avocado, and lentils ).
Breaking Hair
- Wash less – Over washing your hair may continue to strip the hair causing the glands to go into a protective response. Shampooing once or twice a week with our Organic Conditioning Shampoo is all you should need.
- Use a post style conditioning treatment – Add a bit of our natural Hair Gel to the ends of your hair after styling. This will help lock in moisture without causing a build up and without adding oil to your scalp.
- Keep it cool when you style – Rather than use heat when styling your hair, try using the cool setting. Or, better yet, let your hair air dry.
- Indulge your hair – Give yourself a deeply nourishing Hair Steam once a week. You can create your own customized treatment each time or simply use our Organic Hair Oil.
- Pick it, Comb it, Brush it! – In that order. Just don’t over do it. Too much fussing causes breaks and splits.
- Eat some Strawberries – Boost up your antioxidant vitamin c intake. Other citrus fruits work as well as peppers. If you can get your hands on guava, dig in. Its super rich in vitamin C
- Eat foods that support strong hair – Foods rich in Zinc ( whole grains, nuts like pecans and walnuts ), Omega 3s ( flax, hemp seeds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds ), Iron ( lentils, hemp seeds, parsley, spinach, raisins, tomatoes, leafy greens, or sea vegetables ), Vitamin E ( Sunflower seeds, olives, almonds, and avocados ), and B Complex ( mushrooms, raw nuts & seeds, leafy greens, winter squash, avocado, and lentils ).
Frizz
Frizzy fly away hair happens when the hair moisture level drops below what would be normal for your hair. It could be seasonal, diet related, or metabolic.
- See the advise for Split ends
- We cannot stress enough the advantage to having our natural Hair Gel to help defend against out of control fly away frizz
Limp Lifeless Hair
Lifeless limp hair may be the result of over worked hair or it could be that you are using too much product on your hair. Usually when I hear this complaint it goes hand in hand with people who have thin fine hair.
- Keep your scalp clean – It’s really important to keep your scalp clean but you want to make sure you aren’t striping it. The Très Spa Organic Shampoo’s are super-fatted so they condition and clean at the same time.
- A matter of Style – Resist the urge to over style your hair with heated irons and other tools. First, your hair may suffer more damage as a result. Second, your hair probably wont hold the styling without adding a lot of product.
- Rinse and rinse again – It’s really important to not let build up occur on fine hair. Even the slightest excess can weigh heavy on your hair so make sure you rinse well.
- Use a light conditioning treatment – Rather than trying to condition with a cream or a lotion, try using a water based conditioning agent like our natural Hair Gel. This will help lock in moisture without causing a build up and without adding oil to your scalp.
- Eat foods that support strong hair – Foods rich in Zinc ( whole grains, nuts like pecans and walnuts ), Omega 3s ( flax, hemp seeds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds ), Iron ( lentils, hemp seeds, parsley, spinach, raisins, tomatoes, leafy greens, or sea vegetables ), Vitamin E ( Sunflower seeds, olives, almonds, and avocados ), and B Complex ( mushrooms, raw nuts & seeds, leafy greens, winter squash, avocado, and lentils ).
Hair Fall/Thinning
If you find yourself loosing a little bit of hair every day, you are not alone. We all shed a bit of hair every day. Anywhere between 50 to 100 strands each day is quite common. Of course, if you start taking medications or change your food in a drastic way, you may experience a temporary increase in loss but it should subside. Hair growth goes through phases. The first is, obviously, growth followed by a resting period and then a time where older hair is shed to make ready for new hair growth. And so it goes.
If you find you are suddenly losing hair at an alarming rate, please seek a doctors care. It could be a sign that something else is going on. In the meantime, the following steps may help you foster strong healthy natural hair.
- Wash less – Over washing your hair may continue to strip the hair and water can have a drying effect on skin. Once to twice a week is all the average person ever needs. The Très Spa Organic Shampoo’s are super-fatted so they condition and clean at the same time.
- Rinse thoroughly – You want to make sure you are keeping the scalp pores open and clear making it easy for new growth.
- Use a light conditioning treatment – Rather than trying to condition with a cream or a lotion, try using a water based conditioning agent like our natural Hair Gel. This will help lock in moisture without causing a build up and without adding oil to your scalp.
- Massage, the ultimate in stimulation – A proper head massage entourages blood flow and stimulates cell regeneration. Plus, it just feels amazing.
- Eat a bean or two – Rich in Iron and proteins to help encourage growth of strong healthy hair.
- Eat foods that support strong hair – Foods rich in Zinc ( whole grains, nuts like pecans and walnuts ), Omega 3s ( flax, hemp seeds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds ), Iron ( lentils, hemp seeds, parsley, spinach, raisins, tomatoes, leafy greens, or sea vegetables ), Vitamin E ( Sunflower seeds, olives, almonds, and avocados ), and B Complex ( mushrooms, raw nuts & seeds, leafy greens, winter squash, avocado, and lentils ).
Color or Bleach Treated Hair
The torture we put ourselves through is mind boggling. I’ve never been a strong supporter of using chemicals to alter my hairs natural color. I tried it once, but I wouldn’t do it again. It’s terrible for the environment and it enforces the wrong message from me to me. It is as if I am telling myself that I am not good enough the way I am and I am trying to get away from that old message.
But I get it, lots of people love to get their hair colored. The good news is that there are some planet friendly options out there. There are even some fun temporary colors. I’ve used this to make my hair purple and teal for a special event. Color treating your hair can be expensive and time consuming so you want to make sure you preserve it for as long as you can. Here are some ideas to help you retain the color longer and restore any damage the color treatment may have caused.
- Wash less – Over washing your hair may continue to strip the hair and water can have a drying effect on skin. Once to twice a week is all the average person ever needs. The Très Spa Organic Shampoo’s are super-fatted so they condition and clean at the same time.
- Indulge your hair – Give yourself a deeply nourishing Hair Steam once a week. You can create your own customized treatment each time or simply use our Organic Hair Oil.
- A light leave in conditioning – Use a light water based natural Hair Gel to lock those locks and protect them from further damage. Our gel gently coast your hair shaft without building up on the scalp.
- Eat foods that support strong hair – Foods rich in Zinc ( whole grains, nuts like pecans and walnuts ), Omega 3s ( flax, hemp seeds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds ), Iron ( lentils, hemp seeds, parsley, spinach, raisins, tomatoes, leafy greens, or sea vegetables ), Vitamin E ( Sunflower seeds, olives, almonds, and avocados ), and B Complex ( mushrooms, raw nuts & seeds, leafy greens, winter squash, avocado, and lentils ).
Grey Hair
Personally, I don’t see graying hair as a challenge that needs to be overcome. If you are lucky, you are living long enough to allow the grey to come. You may find, however, they grey hair coming in is a bit different in tinsel strength and texture. It’s not just the color that changes, the hair changes and it may be stiffer then what you were accustomed to and more prone to thinning and breaking.
- Wash less often – You really can get by with shampooing only once a week with our Organic Conditioning Shampoo
- Condition as needed – You may find you need a bit more conditioning as you age. For deep conditioning try our Organic Hair Oil and for a lighter conditioning use one of our Hair Gels. It’s a gel that does more than add style.
- Scalp Massage – Give yourself a scalp massage from time to time. This encourages improved circulation and stimulates cell regeneration. Plus, it just feels amazing.
- Brush Gently – There is no need to go ripping through your hair, go easy. Be gentle with yourself. Use a hair pick then step your way to a brush. I never start with a brush. No matter how long or short my hair is, I have always started with a hair pick to de-tangle my hair and most times, this is all I use.
- Eat foods that support strong hair – No more than ever is the time for you to get your foods right. The overall health benefits for whole plant foods is too strong for you to ignore them. Foods rich in Zinc ( whole grains, nuts like pecans and walnuts ), Omega 3s ( flax, hemp seeds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds ), Iron ( lentils, hemp seeds, parsley, spinach, raisins, tomatoes, leafy greens, or sea vegetables ), Vitamin E ( Sunflower seeds, olives, almonds, and avocados ), and B Complex ( mushrooms, raw nuts & seeds, leafy greens, winter squash, avocado, and lentils ).
This bares repeating: If you are experiencing a radical and sudden change in your hair, then please seek a medical professional’s opinion as it could be an indicator of something requiring medical intervention.
We are not your Doctor
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