Healthy Hair Tips for cool weather

First, moisturise and trim hair regularly to reduce dryness and breakage.

In general, most hair types become drier with cold temperature and less humidity. This is particularly due to the decrease activity of sebaceous glands reducing oil secretions. Not to mention, after the days in hot sun, sweating and chlorine in pools, your hair has been stripped of essential oils and nutrients.

It is suggested to apply either a daily moisturiser (oil sheen, lotion and so on) to your hair, especially the ends which are more prone to splitting and breakage when too dry. One of my favourites for dry hair is simply basic olive oil which can be used daily or applied heavily with a plastic cap the night before shampooing or with a thirty minute moist heat treatment. The moist heat works better than the basic hot oil treatment.

Also to further reduce your ends from splitting, it is just as important to get a good hair trim of at least quarter inch every six weeks as your ends are the oldest part of your hair strand.

Second, shampoo hair once a week.

Contrary to popular belief, even during cooler months, you should still wash your hair at least once a week followed by a moisturising conditioner with moist heat to allow ingredients to absorb better. Because of the more frequent moisturising products during the season, if your scalp is not clean often, you can get a build-up creating an environment for growth of the pityrosporum yeast.

This causes your hair follicles to become inflamed and irritated leading to a dry, itchy, flaky scalp called Seborrheic Dermatitis which is commonly called dandruff. Therefore, keeping the scalp clean at least once a week or more with a medicated shampoo containing either zinc, selenium sulfide, coal tar, salicylic acid or ketoconazole to be applied and left on scalp for at least ten minutes to allow deeper penetration into your follicles. Then follow with your favourite moisturising shampoo. Repeat every week until under control then do at least once a month as maintenance.

You may also use a Hydrocortisone Ointment from the drugstore to any itchy scalp area two or  three times a day. If issue still persists after a month, seek clinical evaluation by your dermatologist.

Third, keep hair follicles healthier from within.

Regardless of the temperature, it is just as critical to take care of the inside hair follicles. It is to care for your hair properly on  the outside. In addition to drinking at least eight to ten glasses of water everyday and eating proper nutrition, you should feed your hair follicles from within as hair grows from the inside of your scalp.

Topical products cannot absorb deep enough into scalp and the basic multi-vitamin hair vitamins are not specific enough. It would be superb if you can use all natural hair supplement.

HairToBeauty

Q&A – Fast Hair Growth

Question:

I just had a childbirth, and my hair grows so slowly which makes me worried. I want my hair come down to my shoulders. Is there any royal way to make the hair growth faster?

Answer:

Hair does not grow as easy as we think. Texturised hair is considered to grow four to five inches a year.

First step to fast hair growth is proper and frequent conditioning. Hair needs protein and moisture to grow healthy and elastic. And to reduce the hair damage, you need to reduce your usage of heat device. Sometimes people have the split ends while the hair grows, and if you have that case, trim the ends little bit every time you find the split ends.

Be patient and take good care of your hair.

HairToBeauty

Hair Growth

Hair growth is a very interesting process that can be challenging. First of all, hair grows from the inside out. This actually means that the hair strand grows from within the body by the living hair roots which are located deeply within the scalp. Hair does not grow from the ends of the hair strand which is actually the oldest part of the hair. Essentially, hair grows from living roots but produces dead hair on the outside.

Hair growth of each hair follicle is divided into three main phases: Anagen, Catagen, and Telogen phases.

The anagen hair phase is the ‘active’ cycle of the hair strand. During this phase, the hair strands are actively growing daily anywhere from 0.35mm to 0.44mm per day which add up to anywhere from quarter to half inch per month. Approximately 85 to 90 per cent of the hair strands on  the scalp are in this phase at one time under normal conditions which can last from two to eight years.

Someone who has extremely long hair has a longer actively growth cycle up  to eight years whereas someone with extremely short hair growth may only have an active hair growth cycle up to two years. Regardless of the time your hair is in its active growth cycle. You should make sure to keep hair at its healthiest and most nourished to prevent damage and breakage.

The next phase is the Catagen stage which is considered the ‘degenerative’ (break-down) part of the hair follicle which normally occurs at the end of the actively growing hair cycle. This phase lasts roughly two to four weeks. There are only about one per cent of the hair strands on the scalp in  this phase at one time.

The last phase is the Telogen stage which is the ‘resting’ stage which lasts a period of two to four months. In this stage, you will shed hair  from the root (the white bulb will be on the tip of the hair) but a new hair is usually waiting to surface. About 10% of the scalp hairs are in this stage. It is normal to shed up to 150 hairs per day. Any full strands greater than this is considered abnormal and should be evaluated by a dermatologist.

I’d like to make the analogy of hair growth to plant growth. Plants also grow from roots which are embedded within the soil. In order to help plants grow better, you must water and feed the soil regularly so that plant leaves can grow longer and healthier. Well, hair roots need daily nourishment too on the inside just like plants. The outside products are not enough for improving hair growth.

Overall, since hair grows from the inside out, you must nourish the hair roots like you would do a plant. A product containing vitamin would help your hair grow faster, longer, stronger, thicker and healthier by directly nourishing the hair roots.

HairToBeauty