For the Newbies

This is taken from my Official Blog (www.theantihairslave.com)

The Pre Poo.


What exactly is it? The pre-poo is the first step in some people's hair washing regimen. What you do is cover your hair with oil and let it sit. You can use any oil, my favorite is coconut oil. Then you saturate your hair with the oil, especially the ends. Leave it on for as long as you like, even overnight if you don't mind ruining a pillowcase. If you plan on doing these 'treatments' overnight I would suggest dedicating a pillowcase especially for this. The Pre-poo is not a necessary step that you should include in your haircare regimen if you do not use Ayurvedic Powders, but if you do use the powders try doing a pre-poo first and I'm sure you'll love the difference. Personally, I try to pre-poo before every Ayuverdic rinse I do. Otherwise, I just do it whenever I have the time. If you are going to cut corners, this is the step to skip.


Next up, Shampooing


I'm sure you all know what shampoo is, how it works, and why you need it. There are a couple different ways to shampoo and tons of different products to use to shampoo with. The best advice I could give regarding shampooing is NOT pile all your hair on top of your head then rub as hard as you can in attempts to clean the hair. Shampoo is meant to mainly clean the scalp, keeping a clean scalp is a key element in healthy hair care. The downside is that most mainstream shampoo's contain SLS which strips the hair of it's natural oils, a big no-no for people with drier hair to begin with. So try to find a shampoo that is SLS free.

Moving on, Conditioning

Conditioning the hair is probably one of the most important things you can do for it. Conditioning your hair keeps it health and able to withstand normal styling and handling. I wouldn't image washing my hair without following with a good conditioner. My favorite conditioner is still Miss Key's 10 en 1 super conditioner, but there are a lot of good conditioners out there. A little trick to making your conditioner work even better... add heat! Sit under the dryer for a little bit with your conditioner in your hair and see the difference it makes. The allows the conditioner to penetrate deeper into your hair.

Which leads us right to: Deep Conditioning

I deep condition or DC at least once per week. You really should choose a conditioner that is meant to be a deep conditioning treatment as opposed to a regular conditioner that you decide to leave on a bit longer. Deep conditioners are specially formulated to penetrate deep into the hair to improve it's overall condition, notice I did not say repair... nothing will repair damage! When I DC I pay special attention to my ends making sure they completely covered, then I put a cheapie plastic shower cap over my head and sit under my dryer. The longer you leave it on the better, so make sure you give yourself enough time. I would say try to leave it on at least 20 minutes.