Safiya Damani
Senior Press Pass Correspondent
Cleansing the hair well is integral for the retaining of hair growth and health. The factors to be considered where this is concerned are the length of the hair, its thickness and porosity, its pH and the product being used to cleanse it. The first two factors will be discussed today while the others will be addressed in the following issue. The length of the hair- When washing long hair, or hair that can be braided into sections easily, it is recommended that the hair is loosely braided. Considering that you have just detangled your hair from your previous style, you do not want your hair to become tangled again while you wash it. You may be thinking that it is not possible to get hair clean while it is loosely braided. However, good shampoos, which are usually more acidic than alkaline lift the dirt from the hair cuticles as it cleanses the hair. You can also use as much shampoo as you see necessary to get your hair clean. If you insist on washing your hair while it is not braided, it is suggested that you constantly smooth the hair downward under running water so that the cuticles would lie flat against the cortex of the hair strand. When cuticles are lifted, it makes it easier for the hair to latch on to other hairs close to it and begin tangling again.Similarly, when short hair is being washed while loose, you should try as best as you can, to flatten the cuticle layers by passing your fingers from root to ends over small sections of your hair. If your hair is too short, you can simply cleanse it by using the shampoo, massaging your scalp with your finger tips and rubbing the hair in circular motions to lift the dirt. Soon after the conditioning stage, you should moisturise your hair and detangle it in order to minimise any shrinkage or tangling.
Hair thickness and porosity - If your hair is thick and long, it is necessary that you loosely braid it in smaller sections than if your hair is thin, so that you can remove dirt more easily. Hair with high porosity accepts water easily as opposed to low porosity hair which takes very long to become saturated. It is important to know the porosity of your hair where the processes of cleansing, conditioning, moisturising and protecting your hair are concerned. If your hair has low porosity you may want to pay closer attention to getting all your hair wet while washing, saturating it with the shampoo and then rinsing all the shampoo out of your hair. On the other hand, if your hair is highly porous you may want to pay closer attention to ensuring that you don't wash it so much that you entirely strip it of its natural oils. The ideal porosity of hair is between high and low porosity.You can now see how important it is to pay closer attention to how you wash your hair. It is important to keep your hair clean as well as moisturized, therefore, it should not be washed so much that it is entirely stripped of its natural oils.
In the following issue:
The importance of pH balance and hair cleansing products as well as how often the hair should be washed will be addressed. Remember that although hair care may be a tedious process it is important to have patience with it if you would like to get excellent results.
