How to Create Your Own Hair Care Routine

No matter how much hair you have, or what state it’s in, it is important to have a hair care routine. The purpose of a hair routine is to get your hair familiar with the products you use and to train your hair the way you want it to behave. When it comes to establishing a routine consistency is key! In order to get your hair familiar with the products you use and how often you deep condition, or do protein treatments it’s important to use these treatments on a scheduled basis so your hair can flourish.

There are three main questions to ask when building a regimen. First, you need to ask yourself, “What products work for my hair?” “What purpose do these products serve in my regimen”, and “How often do I need to incorporate this into my regimen?” When you understand what you need to do when following the first three steps then everything else will be a breeze.

The main areas you need to focus on will be cleansing, conditioning, moisturizing, sealing, and deep conditioning and protein treatments. For the most part, everyone with hair needs to incorporate all of these steps into their routine at some point. The difference is that not everyone will deep condition or use protein treatments as often as someone else. It all comes down to how well you know your hair. Let’s say if you know your hair is extremely dry then you might want to incorporate a moisturizing shampoo into your routine and also a moisturizing leave-in conditioner. Just use products you know work for you and then try to figure out how often you need to use these products to best suit your tresses.

Shampoos are used to cleanse the scalp of any built up debris that may accumulate during the week. Depending on how your hair is you can use sulfate shampoos, or sulfate-free shampoos. To give you a better idea of what to use, if you notice that your hair gets buildup quickly then you should look into using a sulfate shampoo, or a you can use a moisturizing shampoo if your hair is on the dryer side. Here are a few examples of sulfate shampoos, and moisturizing shampoos.

Tresseme Curl Hydration Shampoo:

https://www.tresemme.com/us/en/products/shampoo.html

ORS Sulfate-Free Hydrating Shampoo:

https://www.orshaircare.com/product/sulfate-free-hydrating-shampoo/

After cleansing your scalp, and your hair you’ll need to add moisture back into it using a conditioner. Conditioners help lay the hair cuticle flat and smoothes the hair down to aid in moisture retention. Conditioners help lock in the moisture that may have been stripped from the hair when shampooing. Some people use conditioners to help detangle their hair, but whatever works best for you is fine. Its best to use a conditioner that has a lot of slip to it. Slip is just a product that easily glides through your hair without any resistance to knots and tangles. It’s good to have a conditioner that has enough slip in it so it makes detangling easier for you and your hair. Here are a few conditioners that have amazing slip and moisture packed in them.

Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner:

https://www.rankandstyle.com/top-10-list/best-drugstore-moisturizing-conditioners/herbal-essences-hello-hydration-moisturizing-conditioner/

Aussie Moist Moisturizing Conditioner: https://aussie.com/en-us/shop-products/conditioner/mega-moist-conditioner

After conditioning we’ll head right into moisturizers. Moisturizers are used to nourish your hair and help make it grow. In order to have healthy hair, you need to moisturize, and in order to moisturize you need water. When buying products, you should look for water in the top ingredient list. If you don’t know how often to moisturize your hair, then take a step back and analyze how often your hair starts to feel dry. If after a few days your hair starts to feeling dry, then go ahead and re-moisturize. It all depends on how your hair feels. If your hair is more fine textured then you should use moisturizers that are light-weight, but if you have thick hair then you should gravitate towards heavy creams. Here are a few moisturizers that are lightweight and some that are more on the heavy side.

Shea Moisture Curl & Style Milk: http://www.4chairchick.com/best-summer-moisturizers-type-4-hair/

Dark & Lovely Coil Moisturizing Soufflé: https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/dark-and-lovely-au-naturale-coil-moisturizing-souffle/ID=prod6185719-product

After moisturizing your hair, you need to seal in all that moisture or it will evaporate out of your hair. Depending on your hair texture sealants can be oils, or butters. For fine textured hair oils are more suitable because they wont weigh down the hair, and for thick hair butters are recommended. Oils that can be used for sealing the hair shaft are grapeseed and jojoba oil. Butters that are great for sealing thick-textured hair is shea butter, cocoa butter, and capuacu butter.

Lastly, deep conditioning and protein treatments. Deep conditioners are used to rebuild the strength of your hair, add shine, and make your hair super soft! You don’t have to deep condition every week, or every two weeks, it is all about how often you think your hair needs it. Protein treatments are used to strengthen your hair strands from the inside out. Hair is composed of 90% protein, so your hair needs to be replenished sooner or later! If you are experiencing breakage, or if your hair feels weak and limp then it may be time to do a protein treatment. Protein treatments should not be used on a regular basis because you may experience protein overload. Protein treatments should be used despairingly or whenever needed, just make sure you don’t overdo it. With these steps, and paying close attention to the needs and wants of your hair you’ll have a perfect routine in no time!

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