Losing Hair? Natural Solutions to Restoring Healthy Hair

Photo from med-health.com

I have to share a personal story with you as my own hair used to be brittle and fall out a lot. People have told me that while touching my hair exclaim, "you have thick hair!!!!!" Little did they know my hair was severely damaged and covered up with products that I thought helped my hair. I've used straighteners, curling irons, bleached, dyed on many occasions, and not to mention I used all kinds of over-the-counter products such as shampoos, conditioners, heating oils, sprays, hair spray, hair gel, etc. I have used it all! I spent thousands of dollars (this is no joke!) on useless products that really ended up destroying my scalp and my hair. It's funny now because I never thought that using less products on my hair was healthier. This has never dawned on me. It seems very logical if you look at it from



My hair is healthier, thicker, softer, and falls out less now. I have to say I only do a few things to my hair that doesn't require too much money. I will share with you below.

Here are my tips that help build healthy hair:

1. SCALP MASSAGE:
This is not something you have to do everyday. A lot of us lead busy lives with our school, work, and kids. I recommend doing this at least once a week. Massage essential oils into your hair to regulate hair-oil production and improve the condition of your scalp. Use 1 tbsp of carrier oil such as jojoba, coconut, or sweet almond oil which are my absolute favorites for skin and hair. Mix in 2 drops of essential oil.

For oily or greasy hair choose from clary sage, geranium, lemon, lavender, tea tree, cypress, and rosemary.

For dry hair choose from roman camomile, lavender, and rosemary

For dandruff choose from tea tree, juniper, lemon, lavender, and sandalwood

My absolute favorite is lavender because you can use this for all hair types. I prefer this for massaging into my skin as well. If you want to get serious into essential oils I have a post on tips on getting started with essential oils. Click here for the link.

Massage oil into scalp using your fingertips for about a few minutes (you can always do it longer). Then leave it on for a half hour, then rinse off. Towel hair dry, then follow with a antioxidant fruit smoothie hair mask. This part is optional. Recipe will be listed below.


2. FRUIT SMOOTHIE HAIR MASK
This is also done once a week as well. This fruit smoothie hair mask recipe is made with 1/2 banana, 1/4 melon, 1/4 avocado, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1 tbsp of yogurt. Try to get all natural and organic brands of these items if you can. Work mixture into roots of your hair and then coat the rest of your hair. Wrap your hair in a plastic wrap or shower cap and leave it in for about 15 minutes. Rinse hair in warm water and then lightly shampoo and rinse again.

3. LET HAIR DRY NATURALLY
Of course this doesn't always happen as sometimes we have to be places and we need our hair done and dried. If you have to blow dry your hair then do it on a cooler setting. Having it too hot can dry out your hair and scalp and can damage the hair much faster. I only blow dry my hair once or twice a month now ^-^

4. USE NATURAL HAIR CLEANSERS AND CONDITIONERS
There are three different shampoos I use and it depends on my schedule or availability of what I have on hand. I typically interchange Dr. Bronner's brand of castile soap in Lavender, bar soap I make from scratch, or coconut milk shampoo I also make. Click for my recipe. I also use coconut oil or jojoba oil to condition my hair. The tip here is to keep it simple. Don't over do yourself by buying all sorts of products. Having healthy hair doesn't occur overnight. I know it took my scalp and hair about 1 to 2 months of craziness before it started settling down and getting healthier.

5. DYE HAIR WITH HENNA
Chemical dyes have such toxic and harmful chemicals that are not good for your scalp or your hair. This can lead to brittle hair that falls out easily. If you must have colors in your hair then there are natural ways to doing so. You are not going to find anything that is completely natural when it comes to chemical dying, bleaching, straightening, and perming. After so much research I found the answer in henna. What is henna you might ask? Henna is a natural powder from plants that is known culturally being used in India. They use it mainly for the beautiful designs you see on their hands and body. You  can also use it for your hair as well because of the strong pigments in the henna powder. Indigo is a bluish black pigment and henna is more of a reddish pigment. Unfortunately, you're not going to find rainbow colors in plant pigments but you'll find that this is a great alternative to having some color in your hair. I like to use the reddish pigment and it's not super bright. I prefer it that way. Now if you want something super bright it won't come out that way unless you have lighter hair colors. [Henna acts as a great conditioner as well]

I hope these tips help because I wanted to make sure that these were not costly and not time consuming. Please give it some time as again I mentioned earlier that it doesn't happen overnight. It will take at least one or two months before you see any results. Your hair will seem a bit crazy and damaged but that's because you're hair has been coated with silicone ingredients from conventional shampoo and the coating is taken off. This silicone coating makes your hair seem shiny and healthy when really it's just covering up the problem. You'll see that the natural shampoo will take this off and then your hair will start healing. Eventually it will become healthy again!

There are factors such as stress, genetics, and diet that play a huge part in hair and growth. If you have a more serious problem then you'll have to start analyzing your diet and the stress in your life first. I'll do more detailed posts about that in the near future. Medications and food can play a huge part in your hair health. And as reminder, this does not replace an advice of a medical professional.