With the stresses and commitments of every day life and work, it’s hard to fit in a beauty routine that meets all your needs of any given beauty qualm,

and then the key question on top of all of that is – “how do I maintain it?”.

It’ll do your hair no harm and a bit of good to give it a deep treatment once in a while, but without proper maintenance your hair will still likely bear the brunt of everyday hair care faux pa’s like heat, pollution, style and sun damage.

I know a routine for pretty much every hair care need, and a hair product to go with it – but I’m not a massive believer in forking out £££’s for products that contain good ingredients for your hair that will do it wonders, but also a ton of chemicals that will do it harm in the long term, or worse, make you reliant on them/effect other parts of your body like your skin etc.

A more specific and foundational example are the SLS’s (aka rat poison – yep)  in our shampoo products – it’s the chemical that makes your shampoo foam and gives your hair washing experience that squeaky clean effect that brands and marketers know us human beings fall for (cry).

It’s true that you can achieve the results you desire with the best mother nature has to offer, but the key, as with everything in health, beauty and fitness, is consistency.

Taking your hair from damaged to ‘healthy’ will take consistent care. It’s important to note at this point that the hair on your head is dead and by default not ‘healthy’ 🙂 The condition of your hair is largely down to the condition of your health at the point it exits your scalp. Your hair is made up of protein, and in conjunction with a number of other health related factors, your hair’s condition will largely depend on how well you’ve been eating, drinking and taking care of your internal health. It’s always important to factor this in to any one of your beauty routines as this is always the driving force of good condition anything.

If you’re working on your eating, drinking, exercise and mental wellbeing (whole foods – lots of vegetables, clean water) here’s a beauty routine for your hair that you can get used to in the meantime;

DEEP CLEAN TREATMENT // 1- 2 times a week (every time you wash your hair)

Daily pollution & hair styling products can contribute to scalp build up, which is an integral part of good hair condition. Eliminate dandruff, itchy scalp, greasy hair and chemical overload by doing a good scalp clean every time you go to wash your hair. Yes, every time. It doesn’t mean scrubbing your scalp raw, and you might even think that a deep clean isn’t that good for it – but it’s just not true.

Your scalp’s condition depends on what products you are using on it, how often it’s washed and what you’re putting on the inside. So, for the external part of this process;

Tip #1: Try slowing down your hair washing routine to once or twice a week – the less the better. Your scalp will regulate itself in time to and be less inclined to produce oil and build up more frequently. A build up of products and oil can leave your hair dull and weigh it down, regardless of whether it’s thick or thin.

Tip #2: Clean your scalp every time you wash – and do it properly. Initially, this might seem overwhelming, but nothing is impossible and with time it’ll become second nature. Add each step into your routine whenever you’re ready so that it no longer feels like a chore:

Remove Build Up With: Dr. Bronners Castor Soap – get in there with your hands and give it a good scrub, twice even, before you shampoo and condition.

Rinse with Diluted ACV: Get yourself a bottle (preferably amber glass) and fill it with good filtered water and some apple cider vinegar. Rinse your scalp and hair with this and leave it for 1-5 mins – the longer the better. Use an essential oil of your choice to mask the smell of ACV if you find you don’t like it! The ACV in the rinse restores the all important acid mantle of your scalp after you’ve removed the build up from it with your castor soap. The PH of your scalp is important like it is on your skin, so that it doesn’t become a breeding ground for bacteria. ACV also makes your hair shiny but can leave it dry without conditioning treatments.

Wash and Condition as normal: It goes without saying that a routine like the above and the following can only work to it’s optimum if you’re not putting back all the chemicals that we’re trying to get away from in the first place. Try and look for a shampoo and conditioner that meets your needs (e.g volumising, moistursing etc) but that has as few ingredients (especially unrecognisable ones) as possible. You’ll be hard pressed to find one that is completely free from/clean of chemicals, but some brands are trying their best and we’re on the journey with them – I use Shea Moisture for my hair washing routine.

DEEP TREATMENT HAIR OIL // 1 -3 x a week.

(For best results, ensure that all of your oils are cold pressed and organic – buying in bulk can prevent more expense than needed!)

By now, everyone should know just how beneficial a good oil treatment can be for your hair. For some of us, an oil treatment and head massage has been a part of a self-care treatment handed down to us by our mothers, fathers, grandparents and so on – for others, like myself, it’s something I learned later on in life as a restorative treatment after years of hair care abuse in the form of heat and styling damage. No matter when you start – it’s a saving grace.

Tip #1: The key to this treatment actually working over time and getting your hair to a really good place is consistency. This means finding a routine that allows you to get this in 1-3 x a week and leaving it on for a satisfactory period of time. Your hair and scalp porosity plays a big part in this, so to be safe, my minimum recommended leave-on time for hair oil is between 3-6 hours. My personal choice is overnight. Because of this, I work it in to my hair washing routine – if I’m due for a wash, I’ll oil my hair the night before and wash it off in the morning – and since I wash my hair 1-2 times a week, I get in my hair oil treatment 1-2 times a week as well.

Tip #2: Make it in bulk. Mix up your ingredients into a jar in advance, so that on those late nights in – you still have it easy enough so as to slap it on your head before you fall asleep standing up. You’ll use it all up before the oils ever goes ‘off’ so don’t worry about that. Store in a dark, cool place.

Tip #3: Keep a towel and scarf and roll of cling film always to hand. Cling film to wrap your oiled hair locked in, a scarf to prevent it from leaking, and a towel to place on your pillow to prevent it leaking further.

Tip #4: It’s all in the massage too. Scalp stimulation is what helps along the hair growth process massively – if hair growth is your priority, you need to get your blood there and the best way to do that is with a head massage. I’m a bit extra so this is what I do – I slap on my hair oil, cover the scalp and hair strands completely, enough so that there’s full coverage but not necessarily dripping, and then I flip my head upside down and massage for 5-10 mins. It’s long, but it’s worth it.

Ingredients for Hair Oil

– Castor Oil (it’s a carrier oil for all your other ingredients but also a notoriously good hair growth oil)

– Coconut Oil (conditioning oil)

– Olive Oil (conditioning oil)

– 1-7 drops of rosemary oil (scalp stimulant)

That’s it – you don’t need tons and tons of oils. These are my personal preferences but it serves as a template for any oils that you’d like to use. All you need is 1 carrier oil (castor) , and then a notoriously conditioning oil (1-2) like shea butter, avocado oil or the two I use above, and then an essential oil that stimulates the scalp to give it that extra kick.

Simply changing up and adding these two parts to your current hair care routine should dramatically shift the overall condition of your hair – stay tuned for extra treatments that help with specific hair care qualms coming soon to Amaliah Glo’