We all want hair that is healthy, glossy, and full of life. Your hair enhances your personality, so it is essential to take care of it the right way. While you may not even realize, the little things you do to your hair can damage it. A proper hair care ritual might be just what you need to tackle the situation.
This article brings you natural hair care tips inspired by age-old Ayurvedic secrets that can do wonders for your scalp and hair health. Read on to find out how proper hair care and a healthy diet can help you achieve the perfect hair.
Hair Care Dos
1. Massage Your Scalp
According to research, massaging your scalp helps reduce tension and relieve stress. [1] It increases blood circulation in the scalp, making your hair follicles healthy, thereby boosting hair growth.
You can use an Ayurvedic hair oil made of natural ingredients to massage. The best way to do so is by using your fingertips and applying medium pressure to the scalp. To see results, massage your scalp twice a week with warm hair oil before shampooing.
2. Condition Your Hair
Your conditioner can help moisturize and hydrate your hair. Apply it evenly on the ends of your hair after shampooing to avoid tangles and frizz. Some conditioners are formulated using natural ingredients such as jojoba and aloe vera that deeply nourish your hair and help maintain its overall health.
3. Use A Microfiber Towel
The best way to dry your hair is by using a microfiber towel. It absorbs water faster than terry cloth or cotton towels. Its soft fabric creates less friction on your hair strands, which limits frizziness and prevents split ends.
4. Trim Your Hair Regularly
A simple trim can encourage hair growth by getting rid of damaged, broken, and split ends. As a result, your hair will break less and grow longer in a shorter period. You can trim your hair every 10-12 weeks to maintain its health.
5. Get Enough Sleep
According to Ayurveda, lack of adequate sleep can disturb your Vata dosha, resulting in dry hair and split ends. The right amount of restful sleep allows your body to restore itself. Most adults need at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night to function at their best.
6. Eat Healthy
According to Ayurveda, the health of your hair depends on the food you eat. An improper diet can cause an imbalance to your doshas and lead to hair problems [2], such as hair fall, dryness, dullness, and frizziness.
Ayurveda recommends consuming a nutritious, balanced diet based on your Prakriti. Ensure to include foods rich in protein, vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, and minerals like zinc and iron to your diet.
7. Stick To A Hair Care Routine
The Dinacharya Adhyaya of Ayurvedic classical texts recommends the daily nurturing and care of your body. "Ayurveda lays importance on how one can identify harmful elements, prevent them and resort to a healthier change for growing and nurturing healthy hair," says Dr. Zeel Gandhi, Chief Ayurvedic Doctor at Vedix.
A typical hair care routine can involve shampooing, conditioning, oiling, massaging, detangling, styling, and other hair treatments.
8. Use Natural Hair Products
Natural products are not only beneficial for your hair but are also environmentally friendly. Natural ingredients like herbs and oils have been in use for ages. Unlike chemical-based hair products, they never cause any side-effects to your scalp and hair.
9. Oil Your Hair
Oiling helps rejuvenate your scalp and hair by making the roots strong. Ayurveda suggests that a regular head massage with Ayurvedic oil naturally conditions your hair. For best results, choose an oil that works well with your hair type. Some of the best hair oils include almond, olive, and coconut oil.
10. Sleep On A Satin Pillowcase
Switch to a satin or silk pillowcase as these create less friction and prevent frizziness in the hair. A cotton pillowcase can cause a lot of friction, making the hair cuticles rough and leading to breakage.
11. Apply Hair Masks
A hair mask is one of the best traditional Ayurvedic therapies to cure a multitude of hair problems. It typically helps detoxify the roots and provides the scalps with essential nutrients and minerals.
You can make a nourishing hair mask using herbal powders such as henna, triphala, amalaki, and fenugreek. You can also create a natural DIY mask using simple ingredients like egg, honey, and aloe vera. It would help if you used a hydrating hair mask at least once or twice a week.
12. Manage Stress & Exercise Regularly
According to Ayurveda, stress can impact your hair’s health by causing an imbalance in your doshas like Pitta. Stress can prevent hair follicles from producing new strands. It also affects the hormonal balance of your body, which results in problems such as hair fall. Regular exercise can help you manage stress effectively.
13. Use A Wide-Tooth Comb
Ayurveda recommends using a wooden wide-tooth comb as it makes detangling easy and prevents breakage while combing. Regular combing increases blood circulation in the scalp, which nourishes the roots and follicles. It also helps move the scalp's natural oil to the strands. Don't forget to wash your comb regularly to keep it clean.
14. Drink Enough Water
Just like plants, your hair also needs water to grow. Did you know that one-fourth of every hair strand is water weight? That's why it is essential to drink enough water to avoid hair loss.
Drinking adequate water helps keep your scalp hydrated that results in healthier and shinier hair. The Institute of Medicine [3] (IOM) recommends women to drink about 9 cups (2 liters) of water per day, and men to drink about 13 cups (3 liters) per day.
15. Wash Your Hair Regularly
Regularly washing your hair helps remove dirt, excess oil, and sweat that accumulate on the scalp and lead to dandruff, itchiness, greasiness, and foul smell. However, shampooing every day can harm your hair by stripping it of its natural oil and weakening the roots.
Ayurveda recommends washing your hair twice or thrice a week with a mild Ayurvedic shampoo that contains herbs such as triphala, hibiscus flowers, reetha, and shikakai. Natural cleansers protect your hair from harmful chemicals and their side effects.
16. Protect Your Hair From Pollution
The hair is extremely susceptible [4] to pollution, UV rays, and other toxins, such as the ones present in nicotine and alcohol. Prolonged exposure to these elements may cause dandruff, hair fall, an oily or dry scalp, frizzy hair, and scalp pain.
If you want to protect your hair from harmful UV rays and pollution, always wear a scarf or cap when you step out in the sunlight. Also, avoid smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol to prevent hair loss.
17. Practice Yoga
Yoga plays an essential role in maintaining long and shiny hair. It helps balance the stress level in the body and stimulates the circulation of blood and oxygen in the scalp.
You can naturally rejuvenate your hair by giving 20-30 minutes of your time to practicing Yoga. Include asanas like Vajrasana, Apanasana, Sasangasana, Uttanpadasana, Ustrasana, etc.
Hair Care Don’ts
1. Conditioning Your Scalp
Your scalp produces natural oil that moisturizes your scalp. Applying a conditioner to your scalp can make it oilier and cause build-up, leading to scalp irritation, itchiness, dandruff, and hair fall.
2. Tight Hairstyles
A ponytail or a bun can save your hair from damage, but if you're wearing them too tight, these hairstyles can cause hair breakage and scalp pain. Wearing your hair tight can also cause hair loss by pulling the hair from its root.
3. Hot Showers
Avoid washing your hair with warm or hot water as this will strip your hair and scalp of its natural moisture, leading to dry and frizzy hair. Ayurveda suggests washing your hair with lukewarm water to keep your scalp and hair hydrated.
4. Heat Styling Tools
The excessive use of heat styling tools like hair dryers and curling irons can significantly damage your hair by making it dry and weak. [5] It can lead to issues such as hair fall and split ends.
5. Brushing Wet Hair
Wet hair is more fragile and breaks easily. Brushing or combing wet hair can cause breakage and hair fall.
6. Overexposure To Sunlight
Overexposure to the sun can harm your cuticles and cause hair fall. UV rays can soak up the natural oil from your scalp and hair, leaving it dry. You can experience scalp redness, itchiness, irritation, and hair loss due to prolonged sun exposure.
7. Over-Brushing Your Hair
Brushing helps boost blood circulation in the scalp and helps diffuse the natural oil from the scalp to your hair strands. While not regularly brushing your hair can result in tangles and hair fall, excessively brushing your hair causes friction, and leads to hair breakage.
8. Rough Towel-Drying
Remember, your hair is more prone to breakage when it's wet. Roughly rubbing your hair with a regular towel after a wash can cause hair fall.
9. Chemical Hair Products
Chemicals such as sodium chloride and parabens in hair care products are harmful for hair health. They affect your scalp's pH level and weaken the roots while soaking natural oils from your hair and scalp. A dry scalp causes irritation and dandruff, which leads to hair fall.
10. Hard Water
According to a study [6] conducted in 2013, hard water contains salts like calcium carbonate [CaCO3] and magnesium sulfate [MgSO4]) that may cause fragility of the hair. Hard water makes the hair dry and frizzy. It can even fade your hair color and leave it looking dull. The best way to combat this is by using a shower filter.
The Last Word
Ayurveda recommends choosing hair products that suit your Prakriti. Doing so will help you balance your dosha level and help you achieve quick results. Vedix provides a customized Ayurvedic hair care regimen to treat your hair problem from its root by evaluating your doshas.
Know Your Dosha NowRecommended Products
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