Moisturizing! The Beauty Word of the Week!

Going with what is seeming to be my theme for the week, Moisturize!, I have a thought or two about beautiful hair.

Well, first of all, I surely do not understand how on earth my scalp can be oily and the ends of my hair feel like hay.

Along with all of the conditioners ever made, I have tried the “Laura Ingalls Wilder-esque” 100 strokes a night hairbrushing method that I have heard will “redistribute the natural oils in your hair all of the way out to the ends, leaving you with a luscious looking mane.” Nope. What it does, as far as I can tell, is increase the circulation to my scalp and make the oil factory start producing overtime. At least for the day or two I could stand all of the hairbrushing, and the resulting “hair flat to the head” look. Not my look, I am Texan, we have BIG hair!

So…. moving beyond the old fashioned methods of hair conditioning…..

There are so many choices out there for hair conditioning, and so many truly useless ones you must weed through first. Once you have weeded out the conditioners that are mostly water (read: useless), the rest can be fairly simply divided into two categories: restructurizing conditioners and (let’s all say it together…) moisturizing conditioners.
Very basically, if your hair feels like hay at the ends, but is in pretty good shape otherwise, you need to (guess? anyone?) Moisturize! Most of these types of conditioners say the “M” word right on the container. No big secrets here!

Where it goes slightly off kilter is in the restructurizing category. These can be labeled “Protein Conditioners, Restructurizing Conditioners, Strengthening Conditioners–anything BUT the “M” word, and that should be a clue. If you have ever “fried” your hair to the point where it feels spongy when it is wet, you need “Restructurizing.” In fact, if you color your hair at all, perm it, or spend enough time out in the sun that it bleaches your hair, you need at least an occasional round of restructurizing.

“Why bother with all of that–can’t I just buy a conditioner and be good,” you say?

Well, it can be a vicious circle. If your hair is “spongy when wet” (overprocessed, by either chemicals or sun), and you don’t add some protein (structure) to it, then it just is not going to change. It will be limp from all of the “M-ing” and still FRIED. You have repaired nothing. On the other hand, if you use protein in hair that has plenty of protein already, that equals dry as you have added NO moisture. You will still have hay-like hair, no matter how much money and time you spend.

Needless to say, I will have more to say about conditioning in the future. Be sure and subscribe so you won’t miss a thing!