Some six years back when I tried to go natural, I was repeatedly told by friends and family that water and natural hair were sworn enemies. When I was relaxed, I used to wash my hair once every three weeks but when I became natural I began washing my hair only thrice a year because I had embraced this myth whole heartedly thinking I was doing my hair a favour. Yes I have just called it a myth for indeed it is. Our hair needs water and I can never over emphasise it. If not yours, well but mine actually craves it. Look here. Now, after researching and experimenting with my hair and coming to the knowledge of what it wants, no one can still tell me that water is the enemy because now I know that water as in H20 is indeed my best friend because my hair loves it.
Please do not think oil or any grease will add moisture to your hair because oil is not moisture. Only water can moisturise hair. Water is actually approximately a quarter of the weight of a strand of hair when well hydrated. The reason we add oil after moisturising the hair with water is to seal the moisture in. You see, the cuticles of curly or kinky coily hair are raised and do not lye flat like on straight hair. This makes our hair to be very porous and because it is very porous, it sucks in moisture easily but will also quickly lose it making it difficult to retain moisture. Since our hair needs moisture, that is the reason we apply oils or grease to lock or seal the moisture in.
From inside out
It is given that our bodies need an adequate supply of water to function properly. Some of the water that we drink also needs to get to our skin and scalp and our hair. But now, the body has a system of priority organs that need to be supplied water first no matter what. On these priority organs, the heart and the brain take top positions. This means if your water intake is not adequate, your skin and hair will suffer. Your hair will become so dehydrated, dry and brittle and you know, once something becomes brittle, breakage should not come as a surprise. Your hair benefits from the water that reaches your scalp where the base of the hair is. There is also a saying which goes, “A healthy scalp equals healthy hair.”
How much of friends are we? You want to know
Well, I co-wash my hair once every week and shampoo once every month. I spritz my hair with my water based oil mixture once every day and sometimes twice depending on how dry it is to the feel. When I twist my hair, (this I do very often) I spray it with water to lubricate it so that it is easy to handle. Sometimes I just wet my hands and massage the ends of my twists with my wet hands then pour a generous helping of coconut oil or castor oil into my hands and then rub it on my ends as well and am good to go without spraying my whole head which may mean going to bed with a damp head and not something I enjoy at all. I also drink a lot of water, as in the recommended 6-8 glasses of water per day for good health.
Water is life and our hair needs it to survive. Do introduce it to your hair regimen and it will thank you.
Till then.
Be blessed.
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[…] my earlier post on the importance of water here though I mainly dealt with the need to apply it topically. Therefore I will not dwell on already […]
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