Hair Journey Chronicles: Regimen building!

Hair Journey Chronicles: Regimen building!

The main components of a good haircare regime are:
1. Maintaining clean scalp and hair
2. Well-moisturised tresses
3. Good nutrition and adequate water intake.

Today, I'll focus on number 1: the WASH.

Why we wash our hair:
The hair grows out of the scalp and when this is kept clean (unclogged), it provides a more conducive (breathable) environment for hair to grow in.
The other, more obvious reason is to clean the actual length of the hair which can become dull and lifeless under the weight of most of the products we slather on daily. The frequency of cleansing is actually determined by how your hair feels and looks.
If it has lost it's shine after a few days, if your scalp feels dirty, or if your hair (pardon me but this does happen) smells, you should wash it. This can be done as often as daily to weekly.
I don't recommend going for longer periods because a dirty clogged scalp will not grow hair as quickly as you'd prefer.

The RIGHT WAY to wash afro-kinky curly hair:
The wrong way to wash hair is widely shown in commercials: women dumping their hair  and a big dollop of shampoo on their heads and rubbing aimlessly! This will only lead to some major tangles *read- a quick way to breakage and unnecessary shedding.*

The best way to wash the hair is to begin at the scalp.

1. The hair should either be lying flat down your back or be braided into 4-6 large braids. The latter reduces the chance of your rubbing the hairs together and causing tangles.
2. The shampoo (or other cleansing agent) should be applied first to your palm and then to your scalp.
3. Any massaging to be done should occur at the fingers. At this point, I'd like to stress the importance of filing nails down and ridding oneself of any hang-nails before getting the hair wet. Snapping off bits of your hair from the roots will undo a lot of your hardwork!
4. Once the scalp has been cleaned, rinse out the hair, allowing the shampoo to fall naturally down the length of your hair.
5. Repeat this process once more to fully cleanse the scalp and hair.