HAIR

How well do you know your hair and what it needs?

13 March, 2023 / words by IALH Editorial Team

Written by Diane Tuffuoh

Image by @sevyn

Some of the commonly asked questions I hear is “what treatment should I use?”, “how often should I treat or deep condition my hair?” and “what type of products will work for my hair type?”.

The answer to this question depends on your individual hair type and condition. For example, if you have low porosity, dyed hair, your treatment needs are going to be different to someone who has unprocessed low porosity hair. Grab a note pad and pen hun, because we’re about to give you a brief science lesson on hair, starting with porosity. 

Understanding your hair’s porosity is a good way for you to determine what products work well for your hair. Hair shafts are made up of two or three layers, the cuticle, the cortex, and sometimes the medulla. Porosity is linked to the outer layer of the hair shaft, the cuticle. High porosity hair allows moisture to enter in effortlessly allowing your hair to absorb moisture easily. However, this also makes it difficult to retain moisture. So, if you find your hair loses moisture and absorbs product quickly, it’s likely that you have high porosity hair. Low porosity hair doesn’t easily allow moisture to be absorbed, so if your hair takes forever to air dry and you get product build up, you probably have low porosity hair.

So now you’re all clued up on the basics you can factor in other things like if your hair is dyed, chemically processed, if you apply heat to your hair often or simply leave it in its natural form. Whatever the condition of your hair, here are 4 treatments that can help you with just what your hair needs.

Pre-shampoo

Pre-shampooing is great to do if your hair has product or dirt build-up on your hair strands and scalp. This treatment is for our low porosity hun, as products tend to sit on the hair shaft and not penetrate further into the hair stand. Pre-pooing also tends to help with moisture which helps prevent hair from being stripped of moisture when shampooing.

Pro tip: Add heat to your pre-poo to give a more effective treatment.

Intensive mask treatment

An intensive mask treatment is a good go to, if you’re finding that your hair is struggling to absorb or maintain moisture. Hair mask treatments get deep into the hair strands and cuticles to rehydrate, moisturise and strengthen your hair from root to tip.

Protein treatment

Get yourself a protein treatment if you chemically process your hair. Protein treatments helps repair, restore and strengthen hair. It improves elasticity and helps reduce breakage and split ends.

Hot oil treatment

A hot oil hair treatment is useful for both your hair and scalp. It stimulates blood flow which stimulates with hair growth. This treatment also helps with dandruff and is an all round goodie for all hair types as it helps restore, repair, strengthen and moisturise your hair.

Read all about how to retain the moisture after your treatment here.

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