How can I achieve my healthiest hair possible while coloring it regularly?
I’ll break this down for you with 3 points:
A) Your colorist must use the perfect formula for your hair type with protective additives.
Choosing the correct color formula for your individual hair type. Yes, this is part chemistry, part experience and part intuition. For us here at Haus of Pretty, we optimize your formula with 3 things in mind- your hair health (we will always use a formula that enhances your hair’s integrity), your personal goals (getting you closest to an adaptation of your ideal color while maintaining our professional Cosmetologist input) and your hair journey (we create color based on what you want to do now and also in the future).
When coloring or lightening, your stylist should always be adding whats called a bond builder. You may have heard of Olaplex or Brazilian Bond Builder B3. Those are two examples of serum color additives that prevent your hair from losing as many important building blocks of each hair strand during this delicate process.
These serums can actually reconnect broken disulfide bonds (Nerd speak: disulfide bonds are part of protein chains that make up your hair and can be broken as a chemical treatment oxidizes). I do NOT lighten my own hair without a bond building additive. Now that this technology is available, why wouldn’t we use it?
B) Replace lost nutrients with a legit home care routine.
If you didn’t skim through the nerd speak in the above paragraph- I mentioned that during a chemical process, protein bonds are lost. A single strand of your hair is made up of a specific hard protein called keratin. Keratin is created by amino acids that are formed in part from the protein in our diet. What the heck does this mean? We need to topically replace the protein and amino acids that is lost from processing.
Coconut oil, applied to your hair, is packed with Omega 3’s and fatty acids that contribute to reconditioning hair. You would use this as often as you’d like, noting to avoid before a special event as the coconut oil can take a few washes to remove from your locks. I recommend using half of a pea size and emulsifying before smoothing over ends and frizz.
Protein reconstructors such as my favorite Joico Reconstructor treatment rebuilds damaged hair. You would use this once a week for one month, once every two weeks for a month, and once a month following that for maintenance. Unlike the coconut oil- protein reconstructing treatments can be damaging if used too much, so be careful and pay attention to your hair.
C) Beauty starts from within, they say. Help this along by optimizing your vitamin intake and lowering stress.
You can optimize your vitamin intake by getting your body the nutrients it needs to create fabulously strong hair. Hair growth supplements like Hairfluence and Biotin infused with coconut oil certainly help this process along. Taking extra vitamins can help you get nutrients your body may have missed absorbing from the food you eat, though it isn’t a replacement.
Foods that are packed with vitamin content that contribute to creating an ideal environment for hair growth are eggs, spinach, beans, citrus fruits, kale, peppers, chicken, oysters, beef, asparagus, mushrooms and fish. Another way you can maximize hair growth and hair health is by calming inflammation in your body.
You can do this internally with the use of collagen powder and the use of probiotics to calm inflammation in your gut to promote the absorption of nutrients. You can do this outwardly by practicing stress relieving activities such as yoga or other exercise that you enjoy. Bonus: when you exercise or are in a hot environment the oils produced stimulate hair growth and protect your scalp from the elements.
I hope this is helpful to any individual wishing for their healthiest hair ever! I’ve cited my favorite brands and articles so you can easily purchase anything I went over.
What do you think contributes to your healthiest hair? If theres anything you think I should include, let me know by emailing hello@hausofpretty.com.
- Kelsey
