April 23, 2010

Loving Your Scalp

A healthy scalp is the foundation of healthy hair and growth. We can treat our hair like fine gold but it will be in vain if we have scalp issues. There are a few things we can do on a regular basis to keep our scalp in tip top shape and ward off any scalp issues that have disrupted our hair's growth process.

Buttering Your Scalp

This is a great way to nourish your scalp. Buttering your scalp as if using a pomade provides your scalp with a layer of protection, nourishment and alleviates any tightness or itching you may be experiencing. Great products to try is plain 'ole
shea butter, Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream, Qhemet Biologics Burdock Root Butter Cream, Sweet Nature By Eddie Dream Cream Moisturizer and Jane Carter Solution Nourish & Shine.

Natural butter based products and butters like shea butter will naturally melt into your scalp from your body heat, so enjoy!

Neem Seed Oil and Cayenne Pepper

This mixture is one of my favourites. I use about an ounce of neem seed oil with a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper mixed in. I message into my scalp for about ten minutes, cover with a conditioning cap and rinse before styling. Cayenne pepper is a natural stimulant and neem seed oil is very nourishing to the scalp.


Water

Water is essential to maintaining all around hair and scalp health. Drinking plenty of it and misting your scalp with water will help alleviate scalp issues. If you want a more nourishing water based refresher and light moisturizer try
Darcy's Botanicals Herbal Tea Leave-In Conditioning Spritz, Oyin Handmade Nourishing Herbal Leave-In(s), and Qhemet Biologics Karkady Tea Replenishing Mist.

Clarifying

Ridding your scalp of build up and dirt is very important to keep your scalp healthy. Build up clogs follicles and can manifest as scalp issues such as flaking, soreness and itching. Try
Aubrey Organics Green Tea Clarifying Shampoo or a natural remedy like a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. The ACV mixture should sit on your hair for two or more minutes to be effective.


Oiling Your Scalp

We all know the joys of oils. I love
Avocado Oil, Neem Seed Oil and of course Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Oils act as natural lubricates that are packed with vitamins and minerals to help heal and maintain the health of your scalp.


Condition, Condition, Condition

Using the right conditioner for your hair will assist the health of your scalp by making the roots more pliable and moisturized. This will also assist the length of your hair maintain moisture and retain length. I love kitchen fixes like
Mayonnaise and Extra Virgin Olive Oil mixed together as my cholesterol treatment, leave on for an hour and rinse.


Get Your Greens

Eat as much green leafy vegetables as possible, the darker shade of green it is the better. I love kale, spinach, rapini, broccoli and green beans. These vegetables are packed with vitamins and minerals that aid your body in healing, promoting healthy skin, nails and healthy hair growth and digestion.


Get Active

Regular physical activity promotes sebum production and helps your body including the scalp to rid it self of toxins!


Messaging Your Scalp

I message my scalp once to twice a week. This helps circulation which promotes growth. Some people also "scratch" their scalp as a way to stimulate growth and to loosen dirt and build up. (I'll explore this soon)


These are some ways that we can all attain and maintain a healthy scalp. Without a healthy scalp we won't attain healthy hair.

7 comments:

Chrissystina said...

I really want to try that neem seed oil and cayenne pepper, I heard cayenne pepper is the ish for hair growth stimulation, but I always forget to try it! These are all great recommendations.

Dani @ OKDani.com said...

Interesting info w/ the neem oil. What results have you seen from it?

Natalie said...

@Dani

The neem seed oil is great for your scalp and cayenne pepper is a stimulant. This mixture is suppose to be healing and promote growth, I love it!

Our Natural Hair Journey said...

I just realized that I really don't pay as much attention as I need to when it comes to my scalp. As I read your post, my scalp was getting green with envy so I feel that the first thing I'm going to do tonight is butter my scalp...lol! Nice info.

CallaLily said...

I don't frequently apply product directly to my scalp but on my daughter's scalp I use Jane Carter Scalp Nourishing Serum for her dry scalp. I mix it with some jojoba oil and it does very nicely.

Courtney said...

Hi,
You said you use neem oil. I have neem oil as well and the smell is very strong. How do you combat that when you use your mixture? Are you just using it before you plan to wash or what?

Natalie said...

@Courtney

Hi, the mixture of the cayenne pepper and neem seed oil is used as a treatment, I always wash it out after leaving it in over night or after a few hours. I'm testing out neem seed oil as a scalp and hair oil and so far it's okay. The scent is something else, lol! It lessens after 24 hrs for me. Hope this helps:)