Moisturising and Sealing Hair

Dry hair is the number one cause of hair breakage and loss of length, therefore retaining moisture is essential for African hair. If I ask how you moisturise your hair, chances are you will say you oil it weekly, fortnightly etc, kindly note that is oiling NOT Moisturising.

Note: Check whatever products you are using on your hair. If they contain Mineral Oil and Petroleum, Kindly ditch those products.

LOC Method

This is a moisturising procedure that layers products in a particular order. It requires you to moisturise, oil and then seal with a cream.

L- Liquid

O- Oil

C-Cream

1. Liquid: Moisturise your hair with some liquid. The most natural moisturiser is water. Most naturals spray their hair with plain water, while ladies with relaxed hair may need to use a liquid based moisturiser. Note that if your moisturiser doesn't have Aqua listed as the first ingredient, then it probably isn't an effective moisturiser.

2. Oil: Next apply your favourite natural oil, paying special attention to your ends. Most of us oil our scalps and pay little or no attention to our ends, hence they become brittle and eventually break. You can use Coconut, Jojoba, Almond, Rosemary, Castor, Olive or whatever other oil you prefer. Coconut oil apparently penetrates the hair shaft most effectively.

       Coconut and Jojoba oils are preferred for ladies with light hair

       Castor and Olive oils are preferred for those with heavy coarse hair.

3. Cream: The last step involves sealing the moisture further using cream/butter. Shea butter is the most commonly used product for this step. 

Hope you now know the most effective procedure for moisturising your hair. Next question is how often do you moisturise?

This depends on your hair porosity (heheee am sure most of you are like "what the???"). Yes it depends on how porous your hair is. Porosity is basically your hair's ability to absorb and hold moisture.

High porous hair means your cuticles have been exposed to severe damage either through chemicals, environment, too much heat etc. It means your hair has too much holes and gaps in the cuticles, thus your hair absorbs too much water, and stays wet for way longer than normal hair. This type will benefit mostly from moisturizing,sealing and leave in conditioners.

Normal Porosity hair: Requires the least amount of maintenance. The cuticle allows the right amount of water to get in and prevents too much from escaping. This hair holds moisture and shine for a longer period of time.

Conditioners and protein masks are encouraged for healthy growth, but they should not be done frequently on Normal porosity hair.

Low porosity hair: This type doesnt let moisture in easily when wet and is more prone to product build up, hence avoid protein based deep conditioning. Its mostly due to genetics. It is usually considered healthy and often shines. Shea butter, coconut and jojoba oil work best for low porosity hair.

How often to moisturise:

• High porosity hair- Twice daily, in the morning and evening or at least once daily (at night).
• Normal hair- Moisturise when necessary, preferably once a week or after every few days.
• Low porosity hair- Daily, or after every few days

So there you have it ladies. Oiling your hair isnt moisturising it. Whoever knew all this about hair? This hair journey is teaching me so much, i wonder what care i used to take of my hair.

Have a Moisturised evening
Adhis♥