Hair Care

Hair is composed of dead cells that grow out of tiny pockets or follicles, of actively dividing cells just under the skin. These follicles are nourished by small blood vessels and fed by sebaceous glands, which give hair its shine. The photo on the left shows me with long hair. That was taken several years back when my children are bigger and I had a maid at home to help me then.

With all the time, effort and money entailed, it would be nice to think that hair care products and treatments have some effect on the appearance and manageability of hair. Some purists argue that these investments cannot possibly affect the health of hair, since hair, after all is dead. Although this is true in a literal sense, there is no question that products and treatments can change the appearance of hair, if only through temporary cosmetic alterations. There is also no question that these products and treatments can damage hair if they are overused. Fortunately, with many professional hair care centres around, even damaged hair is eventually replaced with new, healthy hair nowadays.

Hair needs to be treated gently to prevent damage. This usually means minimizing excess exposure to sun, wind and chlorine (swimming). It also means regular but gentle brushing to rein in stray hairs and eliminate tangles (especially for long and curly hairs). Hair should be brushed from the scalp to the ends so that oil from the scalp can be distributed evenly over the strands. For women with long hair, split ends are very common. Split ends, which often appear at the tips of older hairs, are best eliminated with regular trims.

Daily shampooing with a gentle shampoo does not harm hair, but it is certainly not necessary for all types of hair. To shampoo, the hair should first be wet with warm water and then lathered outward from the scalp with a small amount of a gentle shampoo. Although protein shampoos cannot penetrate the hair shaft or render any permanent changes, they can coat the shaft temporarily and give the hair a fuller, thicker appearance. Massaging with finger tips rather than nails helps prevent dandruff. For women with oily hair, keeping massage to a minimum helps avoid stimulating oil production. Next, the shampoo should be rinsed out thoroughly. After this, conditioner can be used to coat the hair, which would help to minimize damage from brushing, combing and drying.

Wet hair is particularly susceptible to stretching and subsequent damage. For women with long hair, their hair should be towel dried and then gently untangled with fingers or a wide-toothed comb. If blow drying is preferred to air drying, it should be done on low heat and the hair should be left slightly damp for minimum damage. Heated rollers and curling irons if used frequently can cause split ends.

Sprays, mousses and gels can temporarily change the appearance of the hair without causing permanent damage. However, some gels and mousses may dry out the hair ends. It is important not to inhale the hair sprays and to choose products that would not irritate underlying skin or clog pores of the scalp. In addition, hair spray should be avoided near acne-prone skin, especially on the forehead.

As you can see, it is not easy to care for long hair -- it is just so time consuming to maintain long hair. I simply have no time to care for long hair, and it is so much easier to maintain short hair. Caring for short hair is so much easier and it does not add much weight to the head too. You can see my current hair style in my earlier posts -- ever since my pregnancy till now, I have short hair style, simply for easy maintenance purpose. I also feel so much comfortable without having to worry about split ends and dropping hair!