Hair Care Using Natural Shampoos

Hair care is part of most people’s daily personal hygiene and beauty regime. Our hair is exposed to the elements and acts like a filter, trapping dust, dirt and other fine particles contained in the air surrounding us.

A full head of hair is made up of about 150-200 thousand individual hairs and thus makes quite a good filter to remove particles from the air. Unfortunately, this is not really what we wish our hair to do and in order to get rid of the unwanted dirt and dust, we need to wash our hair on a regular basis.

Regular washing of our hair however, may cause many possible problems. Shampoos that are too drying cannot only damage our hair, but also cause dandruff and drying of our scalp’s skin, leading to more serious problems like eczema and even dermatitis of the scalp. This is partly due to the harsh detergents used in many commercially available shampoos. These detergents combined with other synthetic chemicals can lead to itchy, irritated skin and possibly other problems.

Using natural hair shampoos is a good choice, because the harsh solvents and detergents used in many commercially available shampoos are not present, and the natural essential oils and herbal extracts that are part of natural shampoos, are nourishing both the hair and the skin of the scalp.

Obviously ingredients that do remove stale oils and dirt and can clean your hair need to be included as well. Truly natural shampoos use naturally occurring soaps extracted from plants to do this rather than harsh synthetic chemicals that potentially damage your hair and irritate the skin of your scalp.

Considerations of Hair Type

Just like our skin can range from oily to dry, so too does our hair. Some people have a tendency to dry or oily hair and therefore, a shampoo for normal hair types is not quite what they need. Oily hair is a result of more natural oils being secreted from the oil glands on the scalp and oils being oils, they tend to trap dust and dirt, which then sticks to the oily hair. This means, that people with oily hair need a natural shampoo that has a stronger oil-removing action than a shampoo for dry hair, which needs to be more nourishing.

Another important aspect of shampooing your hair is to consider the pH of the shampoo. When your hair is dry, it has no pH, because only solutions have a pH. However, when your hair is wet, it usually has a pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Using a shampoo that has a pH of around 3.0 to 3.5 will close the cuticle (outer surface of your hair), which adds natural shine, reduces tangles, locks in moisture and adds elasticity.

In addition to using a natural hair shampoo, you should follow washing your hair with a conditioner, preferably a natural hair conditioner. This will help to retain the moisture in your hair, making it look shiny, healthy and smooth.