Choosing Shampoo Wisely

Most commercial shampoos contain sulfates. If you pick up your shampoo bottle, check out the ingredients label and odds are something like "sodium laurel sulfate" or "ammonium laurel sulfate" will be listed. Funny thing is (well not so funny) your dish detergent usually contains one of those two ingredients as well.

Thats right you are using dish detergent in your hair. Harsh...on your hair.

Why do these two products contain the same ingredients? They're grease fighters! Their main job is to make everything they come in contact with oil-free.

Well my curly headed friends, these products won't cut it for us, but it may for the straight haired folks. Straight hair tends to contain more moisture giving the hair more of a shine. We all have sebaceous glands that secrete oil on our scalps. The oils tend to move though straight hair much more quickly and easier compared to spiraled hair. This is why curly hair tends to be more dry; no oils!

When we use these sulfate shampoos on our hair, it causes more dryness which is not pretty unless your a model on the runway...that stuff always seems to be in.

So how do we fix this problem?

Good news! Don't shampoo and if you do make sure to choose a shampoo that is sulfate free!  If you choose to drop the shampoo completely, replace it with a gentle conditioner wash or co-wash. Conditioners don't just condition! They contain surfactants, just like shampoo. They still lift off dirt and oil leaving your luscious locks perfectly clean and moisturized.

If you are like me and you can't completely ditch the shampoo. Try a sulfate-free shampoo. I've tried many, but one of my favorites comes from Deva Curls (www.mydevacurl.com). As a college student, it is the worst feeling in the world when you are out of shampoo, and your favorite shampoo costs $20 per bottle. To save some money, try making your shampoo at home! Below I'll include a great recipe I found!

At this point in my post, I feel like many of you may be saying..."There is no way I can wash my hair with conditioner. It becomes way too greasy!" Well, you're wrong. I can be pretty harsh like those sulfates (hehe). Not many people have naturally oily scalps. The reason many curly haired people believe that they must wash their hair with shampoo everyday is because their scalps are pleading for some help. When you strip natural oils from your hair, your scalp becomes dried out. I don't know about you all, but when my skin is dry, I lather on a lot of lotion. Your scalp has the same mindset. The glands in your scalp respond by producing more oil to compensate for what is missing. Sebaceous glands don't have brains so they don't realize that all of this extra oil is making you feel completely gross. With that being said, let's forgive those sebaceous glands and take them by the hand. Let's show them that everything will be okay by simply changing your own shampoo routine.

I hope this post has helped you! I would love to hear some feedback if you try the switch!


Homemade Sulfate-Free Shampoo Recipe
- 1/4 cup of distilled water
-1/4 cup of castile soap
-1/2 tsp. of vegetable oil
-Plastic bottles

Directions:
1. Pour 1/4 cup of distilled water into a large measuring cup.
2.Add 1/4 cup of castile soap into distilled water. Combine the two ingredients together with a whisk.
3. Stir in 1/2 tsp. of vegetable oil. Whisk to combine the vegetable oil with distilled water and castile soap.
4. Pour the contents of the measuring cup into the plastic bottle.

Flintstones, Meet the Flintstones...

These magical vitamins are not just for kids. Thanks to Fred, Barney, Wilma, Pebbles, and Bam Bam,  my hair has grown one and a half inches a month.

Trust me, these vitamins work wonders. I've taken lots of multivitamins to make my hair grow as quickly as possible and none of them have worked as well as Flintstones!

All Flintstone vitamins have Biotin in them. Biotin is important for cell growth and the metabolism of fats, sugars, and some amino acids. It helps release energy from carbohydrates. Something that a lot of people don't know is that Biotin doesn't actual stimulate hair growth, it promotes it. It basically renews the follicles and roots of your hair that are already growing which results in thicker, fuller and much healthier hair. Flintstones also have Folic Acid which promotes hair growth as well because it stimulates tissue growth and cell work.

In order to achieve the longest hair possible you should do the following:
1. Stop hair breakage by reducing heat on your hair. Always AIR DRY. Especially on the days you have time. I had off of work today, so I let my hair air dry as I caught up on a few episodes of New Girl (Obsessed with Zooey Deschanel). Not to mention, air drying reduces frizz greatly.
2. Increase the growth phase by using vitamins... I recommend Flintstone vitamins....just in case you haven't caught on ;)
3. Address any other problems that may limit your hair growth. For my curly headed friends, DON'T EVER DRY BRUSH/COMB YOUR HAIR EVER. It causes major breakage!

The key to hair growth is hair health. Give Flintstone vitamins a chance!

My Hair Story

I've had crazy curly hair my entire life which is not surprising since I come from an Italian and Irish heritage. Growing up, my hair was always a blessing in disguise. The disguise part included plenty of knots, frizz, and products.

As a young girl, I allowed my mom, an 80's diva, to style my hair. Let's just say I hate looking back on old photos of my younger days. I guess you could say Frizz was my friend at the time. As I began to transition into becoming a young woman, I began to become less confident with my curls. I would hear boys talk in class about how they were only attracted to girls with straight hair. This sounds so minuscule now, but looking back those were the times that made me hate my curls. So I began to straighten...

Everyday for 5 years, I would blow out, straighten, and loosely curl my hair. At first, I received so much positive feedback from my fellow classmates and friends. However, the feedback slowly declined as my hair began to fall out. Hello Damage! During the first year of this horrid and extensive  routine, my hair was at the length where the ends of my hair brushed my lower back. By the end of the straight journey, my hair reached the end of my jawline.

                 

What did I learn? Love and cherish what God has given you. It took me 3 years to retrieve my natural curl pattern and to grow out all of the damaged pieces. Within the past 3 years, I have tried almost every trick in the book on how to obtain frizz-free, healthy, and gorgeous locks. Now, there doesn't go a day that someone doesn't mention how they wish their hair would look like mine. People pay big money to achieve these curls!

I want to help other curly women learn to love their hair and to keep it healthy while I am still in the process of learning to love mine! Hair looks happy when its healthy!

(Most updated hair length!)