Q: I am writing about my 10 year old
daughter's hair.
It's been such a pain to brush her
hair, it's all tangled up, and my mother keeps using junk on her
hair, so I'm really trying to fix her hair problem.
This summer, we spent some time at a
public pool (I know, GASP haha). Well, her hair was really damaged
from the chemicals in the pool, and her hair never has seemed to
recover (and our last visit was in September and it's now March).
She was getting her hair cut recently,
and we found out that she has damaged, fine, hair. Her hair felt
filmy, like built up residue was just never getting rinsed off. They
suggested using a "clarifier" (a couple times a week) on
her hair, maybe something with a little tea tree oil in it (though I
haven't really researched this avenue, yet, I figured I'd come to
you, first). I tried using Shea butter as a detangler, but it left
her hair kind of stringy and oily looking (maybe I used too much?)
I went back to your website, and saw
the blog on hair.
I did the fragrance- free wash gentle gel wash with a vinegar rinse
(as detailed in Step 5 of the Hair
Wash Instructions). The results were immediate and AMAZING! So
much easier to brush, and it seemed to leave her hair a little shiny.
Well, my question is this: how often should I use the
fragrance-free gel wash and vinegar rinse? Should I use it every
day? Or a couple of times a week? Should I use any mud on her hair?
If so, which "flavor?"
Also, when I use the gentle gel bath
wash on her hair, do I want that to "lather" up? or just
kind of massage it through?
Thank you for any advice or information
you can give me.
A:
Thank you for your kind words!
Regarding your questions, many people
have used our Gentle Gel and the vinegar rinse as their daily hair
cleansing routine for years. You can certainly feel free to use it as
frequently as needed. You can also try our Cool Mint Body Wash in
place of the Gentle Gel in the hair washing process as, unlike the
Gentle Gel which is super-fatted with organic jojoba oil, the Cool
Mint has no added super-fatted oil. Some folks with fine and/or
straight hair prefer having no added extra oil in their Hair Wash.
You could even alternate between the Gentle Gel and the Cool Mint
washes. FYI, the Gentle Gel doesn't really have much in the way of
foaming capability as it contains no coconut oil – it is a
traditional
true castile. Coconut and/or palm oils
are the oils that can give a castile soap a sudsing effect, though it
is important to note that this sudsing effect has no relation to how
a real soap product cleanses. Our
Gentle Gel castile is primarily made
from organic extra virgin olive oil and olive oils do not support
much foaming. However, even without high lather the olive oil
castile is very gentle and effective, and is an excellent cleansing
choice for those with infantile, or sensitive, or dry or mature skin.
You can also certainly play with the
Hair Wash! For fine, straight or thinner hair, our Fragrance-free or
our Cool Mint Hair Wash formulas are the best options.
Unfortunately, pool chemicals and
conventional shampoo chemicals can, as you've seen, permanently
damage the hair cuticle making the hair very susceptible to
splitting, breakage and tangling. Folks with fine hair don't often do
well when conditioning with oils and butters unless just the tiniest
amount is used. So, literally, use perhaps just one drop or two of an
organic oil or butter rubbed between the palms of the hands and
massaged or combed through the hair to help smooth splitting, damaged
hair.
Truly though, the best remedy for
people with finer, straighter and/or thinner hair (and everyone else,
really!) to maintain healthy-looking hair is to stay away from
chemical hair products (yes, there ain't
nothing natural about "all-natural"
shampoos) including shampoos, hair bleaches and dyes, perms, etc.
Oh, and try to avoid swimming in pools
treated with chemicals. (There are some pools out there that use salt
and/or UV light to keep the water from being overrun with bacteria
instead of using the conventional toxic pool chemicals.) To protect
one's body and hair from toxic chemicals attacking the hair and skin
and to help to prevent some chemicals from penetrating the body, we
have often suggested the following:
1. Wear a bathing cap when swimming –
there are some natural rubber ones out there.
2. Apply some of our Moisture Cream or, for even more protection, try a touch of our Cocoa Butter Body Creme (which contains organic beeswax and no added fragrance!) to the hair
before swimming to help repel the water laced with chemicals. After
swimming, to remove any chemical residues and excess Moisture
Cream or Body Creme, cleanse the hair (and body) using one of our yummy Body Washes
and vinegar rinse method, then repeat the process and/or use the Pure
Earth Hair Wash as the second or third cleansing step.
3. Apply our Cocoa Butter Body Creme with
organic beeswax to the face and body – all over as a gentle
preventative/protective barrier – before swimming to help repel the
water laced with chemicals. This has the added benefit of being
moisturizing for the skin.
