The Ultimate Guide to Building a Hair Care Regimen
Let’s create a journey to healthy care with a fresh hair care regimen.
Hair Care | October 4, 2020
Are you struggling to grow your hair, and your goal is to reach a certain length by next year? Does your hair seem to look a little damaged, and you want to restore the health of your hair? Maybe you are someone with a goal trying to achieve healthier hair, but your problem is you don’t know-how. What you need to know is that these hair goals are attainable, but to achieve these goals, you have to create a plan that will help you achieve them. This plan is called a hair care regimen, and it has to be made specifically for your hair and your lifestyle.
I have the same goals when it comes to my hair. My hair is currently armpit length, and I would like for it to reach bra strap length in less than one year. I also want to focus on the health and look of my hair. I am working on improving the strength of my hair and making it more manageable so it can continuously appear moisturized. That’s why I created a hair care routine that is for my hair type and my lifestyle. A hair care regimen is needed for all hair types if your goal is to get healthy long hair or just healthy hair in general.
What is a Hair Care Regimen/Routine?
A plan that consists of different activities and treatments that you will do to your hair. These activities can be done daily, weekly, monthly, and maybe yearly. A hair care regimen can start with the basics of when and how often you will wash your hair, how often you will moisturize your hair, and when you will apply different treatments needed for your hair. Also, if you enjoy styling your hair, then you should plan on how long you will keep the style in, how often you plan to style your hair, and how you will maintain that style.
So here is a step by step process to creating a hair regimen that meets your hair needs and your hair goals.
How Do You Start?
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Know your hair type, density, thickness, and porosity
All hair types need a routine, but it can’t be the same for all hair types. Your hair type, density, thickness, and porosity will determine many different aspects when it comes to creating a regimen, for example, how often you should wash your hair or how to seal in moisture.
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Identify the state your hair is in
The current state of your hair creates the base for how your regimen will be whether it is;
- Bleached
- Dyed
- Chemically processed (Perms/Relaxers)
- Natural (No added chemicals, natural hair texture, and color)
You should focus on creating a regimen to help maintain the health of your hair if your hair is dyed, bleached, or chemically processed.
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Styling
You have to ask yourself.
- What is your go-to style?
- How long do you keep a hairstyle?
- How often do you plan on getting your hair done?
- How often do you use heat throughout the year to style your hair?
- Are your hairstyles low manipulation?
When it comes to styling your hair, this can be the opportunity for your hair to be tucked away and avoid over manipulation. You will increase the health and length of your hair by doing so. Only a protective hairstyle will do this because it does not require heat, nor is it too tight. If the hairstyle is not a protective hairstyle, then you will receive adverse effects
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Identify the problem
First and foremost, try to identify the problem you are having with your hair. Your regimen will solve that problem. For example, you have breakage in the back of your head and split ends. Your routine will incorporate using protein treatments and protective hairstyles, then removing the split ends that are not repairable.
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Do research
Since you know what the issues are when it comes to your hair, then you can do more research on how to fix it. The next step will be you looking up ways to solve your problem. In this step, you will be able to identify the type of products you will need for your hair and the best methods you will need to do to help take care of your problem. Now that you have done the research, you have a better understanding of what your problem is. With the research, you will be able to know how to fix it and start building your hair care regimen.
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Create a Regimen
You should know what daily, weekly, monthly, and maybe yearly tasks you will need to do because of the research you’ve done. Now there is another thing you have to think about when it comes to building your hair care regimen. If you guessed tailoring the regimen to your lifestyle, then you are right. Like I said before, you have to create a regimen specifically for your hair and your lifestyle.
Only you know how much time you have for taking care of your hair also, how much work you want to put in. Everyone can’t follow one routine because it might not focus on improving the issues you are dealing with, but it also might not work for the time you have available. Your routine should be fixing your problem and is doable for you at the same time.
If you are wondering what a completed regimen looks like, try using the example below:
An Example of a Hair Care Regimen
Hair Type: 3a/3b,
Hair Thickness: Fine
Hair Density: High density
Hair porosity: High porosity
The current state of hair: Natural
Problems:
- Hair continuously feels dry
- Large amounts of hair fall out when combing and washing
Goals:
- Have moisturized hair
- Reduce Shedding
Hair Care Regimen
Daily Routines:
- Massage your scalp
- Sleep with a silk or satin bonnet/scarf or pillow
- Moisturize hair every night
Weekly/Bi-weekly Routines:
- Wash hair with a hydrating shampoo every other week
- Co-wash (washing hair with only conditioner) every other week between regular bi-weekly washes
- Deep condition hair with heat
- Check hair for split ends
- Have hair styled to last a week
Monthly Routines:
- Wash hair with a clarifying shampoo
- Apply a protein treatment every 4-6 weeks
Here are some examples of yearly routines you might add (not part of the example hair care regimen).
Yearly Routines
- Length Check
- Product change for spring/summer
- Product change for fall/winter
How the Example Hair Care Regimen Will Play Out
The person will start the routine by washing their hair with a clarifying shampoo then condition for 5 minutes. After washing out the conditioner, the person will use a protein treatment then deep condition. Now that they have completed the washing process, they will moisturize their hair and style it. The plan for this hairstyle is to last a week, so before going to bed, the person will massage their scalp and sleep on their satin pillow. Throughout the first month, they will complete the daily tasks and weekly routines until the next month when they start again with the clarifying shampoo.
What You Need to Know
This example is a simple hair care regimen when it comes to growing and improving your hair. This regimen does not have all the different treatments you can do to your hair, for example, using rice water, clay masks, scalp treatments, etc. Also, there are many methods you can use to help with hair growth, for example, taking a daily vitamin. These things are added based on your judgment only, and if you have done your research, then you should know what is worth adding to your routine.
When it comes to building a hair care regimen, you have to do what’s best for your hair and only your hair. It’s completely okay to try different treatments, methods, and hair products, but these things have to be useful. They need to help you reach your hair goal(s) so, don’t do it because others are doing it unless you see a benefit for you.
Don’t be discouraged
Creating the perfect routine can be a little difficult because it takes a while for you to see the benefits. Maybe a product you used for a long time is no longer responding to your hair the same, or you have to change it up for the upcoming season. Sometimes a method you added to your routine you thought would help with your hair growth, but instead, it was not the best method for your hair (I have made this mistake too). Anything can happen during your hair care journey, so sometimes you will need to change things around Don’t be afraid to make a change in your routine especially if you do not see a difference with your hair in a few months.
The point of a hair care regimen is to create consistency for your hair. Hair will always grow, but if you don’t have a healthy routine, then your hair is more likely to become damaged and fall out. I can guarantee that after a couple of months or maybe weeks of following a successful hair care routine, you will see the change in the health of your hair.
Always remember consistency is key.
