Dharu’s Hair Story, Routine and Photos – Woes of a Curly Girly

Hello everyone! :)

Well I hope everyone is having good health and skin. And here I am to talk about the love and hate of my body. My hair of course.. I love it for its curls and bounce colour and what not. I hate it for is easy frizzing nature and dryness. Let’s see how I managed to keep the love part stronger and fought with my issues to keep my tresses one of my best features.

Do I have perfect hair? Hell no. Let me reintroduce my hair to you. Those who read my henna preparation article know it but for the sake of the journey, let’s start from the beginning.

I have curly, mahogany brown, medium length hair. It’s soft but frizz prone in nature and easily loses moisture making it dry. The kind of water affects it a lot too. When I was a kid I wasn’t concerned about it as my mom used to take care of it (isn’t every mom the same?). But as I went ahead with my studies and had to take care of it myself, I had lots of issues with it. My family was introduced to Amway and I started using their 2 in one shampoo, resulting in extreme hair fall. I lost nearly 40% of my hair and being a girl with thick and voluminous tresses that’s saying something. I had to stop it and regularly use castor oil to get them back. And then came my hormones.

I was in Bangalore and for a girl who is habituated to warmer climate that posed an issue though I love Bangalore water for my hair. The food though was horrible and had a very drastic effect on my hair because of my hormonal imbalance. My hair started to become brittle, damaged and again started to loose a lot. Even my weight increased and decreased at rapid paces. Then I made a strict hair care regime to combat this.
What I never did in my life which is damaging to my tresses:

• Using any thing which uses heat on my hair
• Colouring
• Washing my hair without oiling first.( only if hell freezes over)
• Combing wet hair
• Using styling products.
• Avoiding too many silicone based products like a plague

I made a rule to always apply a nourishing treatment to my hair prior to wash regardless of the place I am or even travelling. I used alternating treatments like oiling overnight for a wash and applying a mask for the next and again with oiling alternating with the process. My hair started to respond to it a lot and slowly came back to its formal glory. The process is something I have been doing for more than 2 years without wavering from it.

This is my hair care army.. let’s get to know what they do. :)

 

Cleansers:

I use L’Oreal smooth intense shampoo and have been using it for more than 3 years now. Even if I change the shampoo I never change my conditioner. It works perfect for my type of hair keeping it smooth and less frizzy. I also use juice of hibiscus leaves filtered to wash my hair if I can get them. Gives a little spa feeling to them and gives a lot of hydration to my parched mane. Shikakai is good but not for parched easily frizz prone hair. It just sucks the whole oil nourishment too. That’s why I use a shampoo. I am looking for an ayurvedic shampoo which works for frizz and hydration.

 

Conditioners:

I use either a honey rinse or L’Oreal conditioner. I also use Amway detangler and mask which is one of the best damage reducing products I have used till date especially the mask.

Pre wash Nourishers:

Oils ~ I use a combination of olive, coconut (virgin and not market ones), castor oil to give overnight treatments. Some times I use ghee and olive oil in prewash masks as well. I use mainly mask made out of egg white, olive oil, honey, either banana, yogurt or milk. Milk is when its winter and yogurt if it’s warm to keep my scalp healthy. Though I love lemon, it does not suit my scalp. Honey and olive oil are a must for me.

The next important treatment I give is henna. You may think it is just colour and a little conditioning, but let me tell you it is a lot more than that. Henna juice in its pure form has the most healing capacity than any herb. It is is used in scar, wound treatment in ayurveda. It will heal your scalp and hair from the scratching damage cause of itching (dandruff, sun, pollution damage), and regenerate hair follicles. I use it every month once.

Post wash protectors:

I use aloe vera gel for controlling my frizz. I use it on semi damp hair immediately after my wash followed by a serum. It hydrates my hair like a dream and keeps it less frizzy. I use the Brihans aloe vera gel for this as it contain 90% aloevera and is best gel I have used among so many others.

I use L’Oreal serum if I feel my hair needs a little boost and if I am going in hot sun. I am using Dove only if I travel as a prewash purpose as it is quite greasy if used post wash.

Titbits:

1. Apart from all these I consume ragi malt (home made one) every day. Extremely rich in nutrients, it keeps my skin, hair and nails super healthy. How much ever you do outside, inner health is most important. Your body knows what to do.

2. I use tea to mix my henna and use homemade henna!

3. I also consume iron, amla and vitamin C and E rich foods with protein a compulsory inclusion in diet.

4. I meditate and do yoga every day. They help a lotttttttt trust me :)

5. I only loose 10 strands maximum every day and get a hair cut every two months. My hair remains grease free minimum for 2 days and I wash my hair for every three days like if I wash on Sunday then I wash again on Wednesday.

This is how I am able to maintain my hair’s health and I am happy with my hair right now.

Why I want MABH hair oil so bad?:  :-D

Well duh.. Have you seen Lan’s hair girls? Unless you are blind (no offense guys) any girl would love to have the thick, long, shiny and smooth hair. I think my hair would be even better with so many nourishing herbs in it and am ecstatic to try it. I am eagerly waiting for it and hope to see my tresses even softer, smoother, silkier and shinier (well I can go on and on really ) every day.

Hoping my hair story will help at least one of you to avoid a bad hair day. cheers girls!