How dry is your hair? Surfer, Coloured Hair, Swimming pool, beach lover- Moisture Moisture Moisture

How dry is your hair? Porous

• Damaged from colouring!
• Damaged from salt water, ocean surfing and swimming! How I love going to the beach.
• Damaged from sunshine! How we love the sun.
• Damaged from swimming pool water- chlorine!

This is the link to the website:
How dry is your hair- porous?

Hair Porosity: Help for Dry, Damaged Hair

Porosity refers to the hair’s ability, or inability, to absorb water or chemicals deep into the cuticle layers and cortex. All hair is naturally porous and somewhat permeable to water.

The following questions will help you determine whether or not your hair is overly porous:Does your hair continuously soak in moisture without ever actually feeling moisturized?
Is your hair chronically dry despite your best conditioning efforts?
Does your hair appear/feel puffy, frizzy, swollen, or tough to the touch?
Does your hair have a natural, reddish toned cast to it that is usually more pronounced in spring and summer time?

If you've answered yes to any of the above hair characteristics, and these characteristics appear more pronounced toward the ends of your hair, you may have a problem with your hair’s porosity level.

Causes of Porosity Problems
There are two main conditions that aggravate the physical integrity of the cuticle layer, and thus, the hair’s porosity level.

The first is soundness of each cuticle scale along the hair strand.The soundness of the cuticle scales refers to the smoothness of each individual hair scale surface. Weak or damaged scales are often worn, cracked, and may even have holes in them. The more damaged an individual scale is, the more porous that scale will be.

The second is the general spatial arrangement of the cuticle scales relative to one another. Lifted scales are porous simply because they are not lying flat against the others. They will let moisture out easily. The unavoidable constant lifting and closing of the cuticle layers over time through regular washing, conditioning, and chemical processing increases the overall porosity of the hair. The ends of the hair are typically the most porous because the cuticle layers in this region have simply been opening and closing the longest. If the individual scales are porous, and the scales are lifted up and away from one another, the porosity situation is compounded.____

So what exactly damages the cuticles in those ways?

1. heat abuse, and heat styling tools,
2. the sun, over processing from chemical relaxers and permanent colors,
3. and the continued use of sodium lauryl or ammonium lauryl sulfate-rich shampoos. Check your shampoo labels nearly all supermarket shampoos have this chemical foaming agent. It also used in dishwashing liquid so its very drying.
4. Swimming in chlorine pools : Chlorine weakens the hair by forming distinctive sacs or bubbles of dissolved protein which burst through the cuticle . . . forming splits and cracks. Making the hair very dry. The salt that is left behind on the hair from the chlorinated water dries into hard crystals which also degrade the cuticle. Always shower off after swimming in pool water. Better yet, drench your hair in conditioner prior to entering the water so that the hair is already saturated and pool water enters less. Also when you go home wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner.

I actually use a supermarket shampoo to clean my tiles in my bathroom shower, as it is a cleaner. Also it smells great and I don't have to deal with the smell of bleach.

Is the sulfate in your moisturizing shampoo the Laureth or Lauryl version?
If you must use a sulfate-based moisturizing shampoo, remember that the “laureth” version of the sulfate detergent is always easier on the hair than “lauryl” version. If you are choosing between a moisturizing shampoo with sodium laureth sulfate and a moisturizing shampoo with sodium lauryl sulfate, go with the sodium LAURETH sulfate moisturizing shampoo. This one will be more moisturizing. Sodium myreth and trideceth sulfates are some of the gentler sulfate derivatives, so a moisturizing shampoo with these in the formula will be fairly moisturizing depending on the rest of the ingredients in the formula.

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Porosity Problems for the Relaxed and Color Treated

Relaxing or coloured treating the hair with chemicals forces the cuticle layers up and open. Relaxing hair for those who don't know. Is when you straighten afro curly hair. Unfortunately, when this happens, these chemical treatments increase the porosity of the hair by both means: by degrading the cuticle layers and causing them to lift dramatically. In time, the cuticle layers do eventually close on their own, but if the damage is repeated too often by either back to back coloring jobs, heat overuse, or relaxing too frequently those cuticle layers may never close fully again. For this reason, relaxed and color treated individuals should be extra diligent about managing their hair’s porosity.

 This means you need lots of moisture. Products that add moisture and protect the hair. Moisture, Moisture ( not protein conditioners)

1. Selecting a Moisturizing Conditioner

While water-based moisturizers boost your daily moisture, they cannot touch the conditioning power of today’s moisturizing deep conditioners. Moisturizing deep conditioners are no doubt the backbone of any healthy hair regimen. Many moisturizing deep conditioners also contain some protein. Wheat and silk proteins are the most common gentle proteins in moisturizing deep conditioners. They tend to be extremely gentle and actually enhance the hair’s elasticity by helping moisture bind within the cuticle. So, if you see this kind of protein in your moisturizing deep conditioner its fine.

The infusion of moisture and increase in washing and deep conditioning frequency stops the breakage and gets their hair growing and healthy.

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So what should you be looking for in a moisturizing deep conditioner?

1.) Fatty alcohols   When looking at moisturizing deep conditioners, you really want a conditioner with lots of “fat” in it. Okay, what do I mean by fat? You need a moisturizing deep conditioner that contains lots of fatty alcohols. Fatty alcohols are “hair friendly” alcohols, unlike the alcohols found in finishing sprays which are often drying to the hair. Common fatty alcohols are ones like cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and myristyl alcohol.

2.) Humectants, Emollients, and Conditioning Agents   Humectants are substances that draw moisture from the surrounding air to the hair. Common humectants, emollients, and conditioning agents you want in your moisturizing deep conditioner are propylene glycol, sodium lactate, sodium PCA, hydantoin, glycerin, polyquaternium, glyceryl stearate, cetrimonium chloride, and other natural waxes and oils.

3.) Silicones   Saying this tends to get the side-eye from many hair conscious critics, but it is something that works well for many, many people. Silicones have gotten a bad reputation in many healthy hair care circles as scalp clogging, hair-coating, plastic-like, moisture defeaters. However, not all “cones” are bad and many are quite useful. “Cones” actually help with your ability to effectively detangle your wet hair. A great moisturizing deep conditioner may contain a silicone or two and work excellently.Now. If the ingredient list on your moisturizing deep conditioner reads like this: water, cone, cone, cone, cone, cone…. we’d need to reevaluate the purpose of this product. A conditioner whose ingredient list reads this way is not deep moisturizing your hair. It is merely applying layers of slick silicones to the cuticle, giving you an awesome shine and making your hair a dream to detangle. Unfortunately, such a conditioner will eventually lead to dryness from a lack of moisture being deposited within the strand. If you use a conditioner like this, use it as a final conditioning rinse after you've already gotten your main moisturizing deep conditioning done. Some “cones” leave more ‘breathable’ layers on your hair than others. Amodimethicone and Cyclo-____ (any kind of ‘cone’) are the most stubborn “cones” to remove from the hair shaft. These “cones” often need to be completely clarified away. If your moisturizing deep conditioner is silicone heavy, you should consider clarifying the hair at least once or twice per month.If you are conditioner-washing your hair regularly (or washing the hair without shampoo).You should use a conditioner in the shower and wash through on every shower, especially coloured treated, surfer and swimming pool hair.

You probably won’t want to deal with too many silicone-rich products. Without your shampoo there to assist with removal, they can build up on the hair and lead to dryness.

I am doing this very technical post about shampoo and conditioners for myself, and anyone else who wants to understand more. I will therefore know what to look for when I select my products I offer for sale. As you know I trail every single product on myself and my daughter, to ensure it works for both of us. My daughter who is the inspiration of this blog, has very curly, afro, long hair. I have coloured wavy hair. Both of us surf and swim, and we are always at the beach in the sunshine. We love the beach and we want to protect our hair. My quest to find something that works for my daughter, has extended to myself - To find great hair products. 

I have had alot of problems with hair breakage and dryness being a surfer most of my life. Now I am starting to go grey too, so I have started getting colour put in my hair. Half a head of foils: blonde and caramel. The blonde is very prone to breakage. It also goes lighter in the sunshine and salt water. 

By following my routine we now both have nicer hair and in better condition.

Better Hair Routine - Stronger, more moisture and less breakage.

1. In the shower, put conditioner in the middle and ends. Sukin is good for this as it is all natural and can use it more then once per day with no problems. I sell this email me on eagle098@gmail.com SALE Hair products that work. It also is available in larger bottles 1 litre and 500 ml bottles. Also my shea butter product Everyday Shea  Moisturising conditioner is another great natural product available in a 1 litre bottle in a pump pack. This makes it easy to apply. This is good for all hair that seeks moisture. That is anyone live in a hot beach climate.
2. Wash hair less often, when it feels oily with my wavy hair. For afro curly hair when it is goes very dry and knotty. After swimming in a chlorinated swimming pool as it is so drying all those smelly chemicals they put in the water.

3. For afro curly hair, shower first then detangle with a leave in conditioning product. The Oasis Moisturising Hair Food with sunscreen is excellent for this. I sell this on my page. Awesome hair products that work. I have other detailed posts how to detangle this lovely hair.

4. Try not to use any heated appliances, let it dry naturally.

This is Taj at the Alley.

Love the big hair. Love the for and let it grow.

This is Burleigh Heads

Halle Berry's gorgeous daughter.

Love the surf!

Burleigh Heads

Ok A USA one slipped in, this is Rincon.

My friend the dolphin.

Jack Evans Boat Harbour behind my favourite surf break Rainbow Bay Gold Coast Qld Australia.

Another fun thing to do in the ocean will have to try this one day. Adam Kite surfing.

Rasta surfing Itacare Brazil.

What products do you love and use let me know, either here on my blog in the comments section.

 On my facebook page sosmysafrocurlyhair

Feel free to email me directly for any comments or advice. eagle098@gmail.com

LOVE THE FRO AND LET IT GROW.