After years of perming, many times hair can get damaged. It can feel dry, break off and even transform itself into a permanent frizzy state. This means bad news for hair but the good news is that, overtime, it can be repaired. To restore hair to it’s better state, often means to forgo the stress that can be put on the hair through heat styling, harsh chemicals and improper maintenance. Here are a few things to consider when restoring your hair.
Coconut oil works wonders when dealing with damaged hair. It is rich is vitamin E and fatty acids that help nourish the hair. It also has the ability to maintain the moisture that is already in your hair. Perms can leave your hair severely dry and the reason it becomes damaged is often because it lacks the necessary moisture.
Restoring your hair can often mean just that. You’ll most likely need to go back to a time when your hair did not have to struggle to survive under harsh conditions. Harsh conditions include applying severe heat to your hair. Your hair already has the potential for damage when it is exposed to the natural sun. However, applying direct heat that you get from blow dryers, flat irons and curling irons often mean that your hair is being robbed of moisture and is very vulnerable to more damage. You can almost guarantee split ends when you use these types of products, which is not a good sign. Let your hair keep as much moisture as it wants and skip or severely reduce the amount of heat you apply to your hair.
While this may be the hardest, it might also be the most effective. Most shampoos can be very bad for your hair. While they boast of their cleansing properties and moisturizing benefits, much of what they use to clean your hair, such as harsh sulfates, can severely damage your hair even further. Many times, the nourishing ingredients that they do have is a very small amount compared to the amount of harsh cleansing ingredients. To avoid this, try looking for shampoo that has no cleansing agents or ditch the shampoo and switch to something like mild bar soap that contains all natural ingredients.
One of the problems people with perms face after they stop perming is damaged, matted and tangled hair. This can have devastating results because if you let it get out of control, you may risk having to cut your hair. Instead, keep your hair brush and untangled daily. Don’t go to bed without brushing and putting it in a style that is comfortable and reduced the amount of tangles you may get in the night. This will help your hair grow properly and avoid any stress to the follicles.
The number one thing to treating damaged hair is to moisturize. It can’t be stressed enough because that is the main reason for damaged hair when perming. Perms strip your hair of all its goodies in order to create a temporary look. My motto is if your hair was meant to look a certain way, it would. Perms do a lot of damage in order to get “good” results. So it’s best to know exactly what you are working with. The object of the game is to restore what’s been lost. So this means restoring the lost moisture by adding it. It is best to use natural oils rather than those you might find in the hair care section at the grocery. Natural oils such as coconut oil, olive oil, and avocado oil have more moisturizing ingredients in them than any commercial product you can find at the store. Apply moisture to your hair daily and overtime you should see significant results.
Works Cited:
Coconut Oil for Hair.” OrganicFacts. Organic Information Services Pvt Ltd., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2012.
