Guide to Start Your Hair Care Routine

It’s official, the self-care era is here to stay, and with it comes achieving the proper hair-care routine. At this point, you might be overwhelmed with so much information you find online and we don’t blame you! We are here to tell you that caring after your hair shouldn’t be too difficult, let’s start your hair care routine without any confusion.

What’s Your Hair Type?

A hair care routine starts with identifying your hair type. This will help you choose between products that will best benefit your strands. 

Hair Types:

• Straight (Dry, Oily, Normal) | (Fine, Medium, Thick)
• Wavy (Dry, Oily, Normal) | (Fine, Medium, Thick)
• Curly (Dry, Oily, Normal) | (Fine, Medium, Thick)

By identifying your hair, you get a better understanding of what your hair concerns may be. 

Your hair’s diameter:

You can test diameter by holding a single strand of hair between your thumb and index finger. Coarse hair can be distinctly felt. Medium hair can be slightly felt between the fingers. Fine hair will barely be felt, if at all.

What’s its density:

Density is divided into three groups: thin, medium, and thick. The best way to test this is by standing in front of the mirror and grabbing a large handful of hair and pulling it to the side. You have thin hair density if you can easily see your scalp, medium density if you can partially see your scalp under your hair, and thick density if you can hardly see it.

Know Your Porosity:

Porosity refers to the hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture. Test your porosity by plucking a single strand of hair and submerging it in a cup of water. If it sinks, your hair has high porosity. If it floats in the middle, it has normal porosity. If it floats on top of the water, it has low porosity.

Set Your Hair Goals!

Now that you have identified your hair type, it is time for the fun part! Let’s gather the hair products depending on your hair needs. 

While the type of needed products will depend on your hair needs, there are a few must-haves for any hair care routine that we recommend!

• Microfiber Hair Wrap or Towel
• Heat Protectant Serum, Spray, or Cream
• Paddle Brush

Now let’s focus on the basics. 

The first step in any hair care routine is to cleanse. Washing your hair will leave your hair and scalp feeling clean, removing any products, grease, dirt, and dead skin cells which might have built up. 

For this step, you want to opt for a gentle sulfate-free shampoo that will help maintain the health of your scalp and gently removes any build-up.

Pro Tip: When washing your hair, you want to make sure you focus mainly on the scalp to remove any dirt, oils, and build-up. Try to avoid shampooing your ends as that will cause dryness. When rinsing, any shampoo that runs down your hair will take care of cleaning your ends. 

The second step is conditioning! Conditioning your hair helps to detangle, seal the cuticles and provide moisture.

Opting for a conditioner that bonds and repairs your hair from any damage is what we recommend. Reason being that your hair goes through many challenges throughout the day. Whether it's from coloring, heat styling, a very tight hairstyle, or even just combing, our hair is exposed to damage. 

Pro Tip: When conditioning your hair it is very important to focus from the mid to the ends of your hair. Best you avoid the scalp as the can create oily hair. Your scalp creates its own oils that help nourish the top of your hair and by adding conditioner to the scalp, you are most likely to get oily hair as a result. 

The third step is protecting your hair. For this step, we recommend a leave-in conditioner, hair detangler spray, or hair serum. These products help seal the hair while making it easy to detangle your hair without pulling. Less pulling equals less hair breakage which results to fewer split ends!

Shall we move on to additional steps you can add? 

Treating your hair concerns with a hair mask or hair oil will give a push to your hair routine that will help you see faster results! 

For hair masks, it's best you opt for a repair hair mask that will condition your hair while restoring its health. You can choose from a hair mask you apply before you wash your hair to a hair mask that you apply after shampooing. 

Hair oils can be your scalp's best friend! Try opting for a hair oil that contains castor, rosemary, and peppermint oils. These ingredients act as deep treatments helping improve your scalp’s health.  

Let’s wrap it up!

We’ve recommended products to improve your hair routine but also keep in mind that techniques, consistency, and your daily diet are part of achieving healthy hair. Try focusing on eating protein to give nutrients to your hair and massaging your scalp to increase blood circulation. Remember to be gentle on your hair and limit the use of heat tools. We hope this guide has help you on where to get started with your hair care routine!