Since January, I've had a total of 15 inches off my hair, most of my hair dye leaving with it.
Another two inches of growth and I'm back to my natural dark blonde hair and really liking it.
It feels good to have to do nothing with my hair other than clean and style and not a sign of gray yet. I'm making the most of it while I still can!
However, my hair is nowhere near perfect. It's curly and very dry -- even close to the roots. Shampooing my hair (however gentle the product) on a daily basis would ruin it.
Instead I "wash" my hair with conditioner every day and only shampoo and condition twice a week.
I play tennis in the outdoors with the sun beating down on my hair. The natural highlights I get are great but it make my hair even drier. Added to that, I'm in a swimming pool multiple times a week -- sometimes daily.
Chlorine damages hair and can dry it out even more. If I don't take care of my hair, I can expect a stable of horses to mistake my head for lunch!
There are many reasons for dry hair. My mother's hair was dry (so was her skin and so is mine).
Sometimes we can just be unlucky in genetics. Illness can also cause dry hair, as can medications, poor diet and harsh shampoos and styling products.
Hair dryers and flat irons also conspire to cause dry hair. And those with tough weather (like heat) will also be affected.
So take care of it, I do. And I use natural products only -- things from my pantry and fridge, and from trees and groves.
And one of the best things we dry haired women can do is discover the power of oil. I use 100 percent coconut oil for my hair.
It's a stodgy semi-hard white substance in colder temperatures, looking like lard. It's easy to mush in your hands and run through hair and it liquidizes quickly. In warmer temps it's a bit trickier due to the possible mess that oil can make.
But with an old towel and a clothes hanger clip to wrap it around the shoulders, it's a very inexpensive and far more natural alternative than the "cosmetic" coconut oils for hair.
Many cosmetic coconut products also contain a plethora of other ingredients, from scents to preservatives to unpronounceable chemicals. These products are not better than the real thing -- simple, pure coconut oil that is on sale for a fraction of the price, as compared to the cosmetic versions than can sell from seven or eight dollars for a very small bottle to upwards of fifty dollars.
Save your money and buy it at the grocery store. I buy mine from the baking aisle. A large container costs about four dollars.
The same can be said of olive oils. Buying it at the grocery store will not lessen your odds for well-nourished, shiny hair.
Essential oils are also good for dry hair, particularly sandalwood and lavender. These can be found in nature stores or anywhere that sells natural products for hair.
Heating oil is a good idea. Wrapping your hair in towels can allow the towel to absorb much of the oil and makes the towel hard to clean. Instead I wrap my hair in a shower curtain to keep the moisture in. I buy ten shower curtains for a dollar at the dollar store.
If you can manage to leave the oil in overnight, all the better. Wash in warm water with a mild shampoo.
Feed your hair with eggs, bananas, mayonnaise, avocados, and yogurt! Blend each with a little honey, milk or oil and make a hair mask.
Keep it on for up to an hour and wash it out with warm (not hot, we don't need the eggs to scramble!) water, using a mild shampoo that is alcohol-free.
In fact, since alcohol is so drying to skin and hair, having as many alcohol-free products for the hair frees it from that extra risk of drying out hair even more. Making a double batch and refrigerating the rest can save time for next week's treatment.
There are also shampoos that specialize in chlorine removal, but they may contain alcohol. Your best bet is to make sure your hair is fully wet with regular water before you swim so less chlorine will be absorbed.
You can also use a moisturizing conditioner to offset any drying properties of the chlorine-removing shampoos. Look for shampoos like this that are alcohol-free.
Using these cost-effective techniques and using common sense approaches, like wearing a hat, will protect hair from the wind and sun. Using a leave- in conditioner can help keep hair moisturized during the day. Avoidance of over-washing, over-styling and over-processing hair (and easy on the bleach!) can help maintain what our dry hair craves the most -- moisture!
If you have other ideas and techniques for combating dry hair, let us know by posting a reply below!