Haircare Routine To Restore Dry, Brittle Hair for Cheap (Day 29)

#30dayglowup - Day 29

Is your hair in need of some TLC? Here's a simple yet effective haircare routine to get your hair back to full health...

Since I did a big chop nearly a year ago now I’ve been committed to getting my hair to be as healthy and shiny as possible as well a boost the rate of my hair growth. Through many online deep dives I’ve learned a lot about haircare through forums, YouTube videos and articles, and from the knowledge I’ve learned I’ve adapted my haircare routine to give it as much moisture and nurture as possible.

 

For the record my hair is super thick, around armpit length and has a slightly wavy texture. It’s now growing at pretty much an inch a month and is pretty healthy since I chopped off all of my bleached hair last year. Without further ado however, here is my haircare routine to give it everything it needs from moisture to protein to scalp stimulation.

 

Wash day

Pre shampoo

Before every hair wash, I will do some sort of pre-shampoo conditioning treatment. This can be as simple as oily my ends and leaving it for an hour or so before rinsing it out, to a full hot oil treatment, to a moisturizing hair mask. My absolute favourite is my science-based DIY hair mask which works since the humectants work to draw in moisture, and the hydrophobic oil seals it all in:

What you’ll need

• Aloe Vera gel
• Honey
• Your regular condition
• An oil (I use castor or coconut)

 

How to do it

1. Mix together the conditioner, aloe gel and honey
2. Heat the mixture
3. Apply to damp hair
4. Leave to soak then coat in an oil
5. Leave for as long as possible

 

I also like to do some sort of scalp treatment before a wash as mine can get a little dry, and for this I like Lush Roots, Lee Stafford ‘For Hair That Never Grows Past a Certain Length’ or the Inkey List Salicylic Acid scalp treatment which I have a full review of here.

 

In-shower hair routine

• Shampoo using Shea Moisture Black Castor Oil Shampoo (With a shampoo brush)
• Apply Shea Moisture Black Castor Oil Conditioner to hair lengths and aloe vera gel to my roots
• Leave for a few minutes
• Rinse out with cold water

I love Shea Moisture products because they’re silicone and sulphate free, which means I’m avoiding that damaging cycle of sulfates over-stripping hair to remove the silicone build up. I also find that by applying aloe gel to my scalp while it’s wet it really combats my dry scalp and helps to keep it flake-free for longer, and using a shampoo brush helps to stimulate and exfoliate my scalp to remove dead skin cells and dryness. Rinsing by hair with cold water also helps to give it more shine and make it feel smoother after it’s dried.

 

Post-shower

• Apply Shea Moisture Strengthen & Restore Leave-In Conditioner
• Pat hair dry with a microfiber towel
• Plop my hair on my head using an old t shirt

Using non-snagging materials such as microfiber and an old t shirt prevent my hair from tanging and getting unnecessary damage, especially when it’s in a more vulnerable state from being wet.

 

Drying and styling

Here I either let it air dry fully, or I use a heat protectant followed by the Revlon hair styler (Full review here). Since my hair is so thick it takes a very long time to dry and I also find sleeping on it when it’s damp irritates my scalp, so I like to use the blowdryer to speed up the process.

 

For styling I like to do overnight curls using a dressing gown belt by wrapping my hair around it and sleeping on it. I find it leaves my hair with beautiful, natural looking curls and helps to tame out a lot of the frizz which comes with my hair texture.

 

Between washes

I use castor oil on the ends of my hair and dry shampoo at the roots to stop the oil from building up and to keep my ends hydrated. I also use very gentle hair accessories such as silk scrunchies, and only brush from tips to roots to prevent ripping through knots.

 

Once a month

Once a month I do a rice water rinse to give my hair any protein it hasn’t gotten to keep it feeling supple and prevent breakage. I make sure not to do this too often though so as not to prevent protein overload, which can leave hair stringy and feeling very unhealthy. When my hair was bleached, I also used to use Olaplex at-home hair treatment in order to fix any damaged hair, however now that my hair is natural, I don’t find Olaplex makes much of a difference because my hair strands are pretty healthy.

 

In conclusion

The journey to healthy hair can take a very long time and involve a lot of research into what will work for your hair type. However it doesn’t have to be expensive and it doesn’t have to be a chore.