Keeping Your Hair Moisturized With Sealants

How Do You Keep Your Hair Moisturized?

 

Now, here you are – you have cleansed your hair, deep conditioned it, added your leave-in conditioner, and you are about to style your hair and be done with it – WAIT!!

How do you seal in all that great stuff that you have just nurtured your tresses with during the conditioning or deep conditioning process? The best way to ‘lock’ that moisture in, is to apply a hair sealant whose main job is to keep in that moisture until the next time you need it, or the next wash day.

What Is A Hair Sealant?

As the name suggests – it a covering or sealing of products over the hair strand. Because the hair cuticle is open – this is especially facilitated by the warmth from the warm water you have used to wash and rinse your hair – it is important to close the cuticle to ensure that the hair will not appear dull but reflect the light against the strand.

I might add here as well, the importance of doing a final rinse with ‘cool’ water or whatever rinse solution you might use after your conditioning step. This helps tremendously to close the cuticles of your hair.

Now, after the deep conditioning or any conditioning step, it is essential to ‘lock in’ all that ‘goodness’ with which you have just nurtured your tresses. You can do this by sealing the strands. To do this, you need a fairly ‘heavy’ oil to do the job. An oil which can be absorbed into the strand and yet not too heavy as to leave the hair too ‘weighed down’- giving your crowning glory that ‘oily look’.

Here is a list of the more common oils used as hair sealants:

• coconut oil
• olive oil
• castor oil
• argan oil
• monoi oil
• jojoba oil
• carrot oil

Now, my personal favorite is coconut oil and olive oil, sometimes used alone or a 50/50 ratio of the two. As a matter of fact, all of the oils can be combined to get the:

• consistency
• smell
• and potency you desire.

One advantage of using natural products for your hair care is that fact that you can choose combinations that address your own specific needs.  Let’s take a closer look at the above-mentioned oils.

Coconut Oil

 

The lowly coconut oil has been touted to be a powerhouse of goodness for your hair. It delivers:

• shine
• softness,
• and strength in the form of protein.

Not only can this oil be used as a light sealant, but it can also be used in the deep conditioning process as well. It strengthens the hair strands and sometimes can be said to leave hair feeling a bit ‘stiff’ if too much is used. Of course, everything in moderation. It is best to use a virgin or cold-pressed coconut oil to ensure that all the goodness has been extracted from the coconut using the best process possible.

Castor Oil

 

This oil is a wee bit heavier than most oils. If too much is used, it might leave your hair feeling sticky and weighed down. It makes your hair soft, yet the smell can sometimes be a tad pungent as well.

Castor oil has ricinoleic acid and omega- 6 essential fatty acids, which accelerates blood circulation to the scalp, hence increasing hair growth. It nourishes the scalp and strengthens the hair.

Olive Oil

 

Aaahh, everybody knows and loves olive oil. It is a well-known moisturizing oil and used often in a lot of deep conditioning processes. It is also a great sealant for natural hair. It certainly makes the hair feel soft and supple with constant use. Olive oil hampers the DHT hormone production that is responsible for the shrinkage of hair follicle shafts. It also contains antioxidants that make your hair soft, supple and healthy.

Argan Oil

 

Argan oil is a great oil. It smells wonderful and it also makes the hair soft, silky and shiny. It also helps to keep hair frizz free. It is often called ‘liquid gold’. It is an organic product extracted from the kernels of the argan tree, which is native to Morocco. It is extremely rich in beneficial nutrients including fatty acids and vitamin E.

Monoi Oil

 

Monoï oil is an infused perfume-oil made from soaking the petals of Tahitian gardenias (best known as Tiaré flowers) in coconut oil. It is a delightful oil and has a sweet smell. It helps increase shine and minimises frizz as well being a deeply moisturizing oil which repairs your hair by realigning the keratinous structure of each strand.

Jojoba Oil

 

Jojoba oil is derived from the seeds of evergreen jojoba shrubs (Simmondsia Chinensis). It is native to Arizona, California, and Mexico. It is composed of 98% monounsaturated fats and 2% saturated fats so it can penetrate the hair follicle and strengthen hair fibers from the inside.

It also hydrates your hair starting from the inside of the hair shaft. It is a fact that jojoba is the only oil whose molecular structure is similar to sebum (the oil that the scalp naturally produces) and so works synergistically with your natural hair oils.

Carrot Oil

 

Carrot seed oil is extracted through steam distillation, mainly from the dried seeds of the carrot. This oil is known for its antibacterial and healing properties. It infuses moisture to the hair as well as vitamins A & E.

Carrot oil strengthens and makes your hair shiny, smooth and keeps it moisturized. It also prevents your hair from environmental damages like sunlight and pollution.

 

My Final Thoughts On Keeping Your Hair Moisturized With Sealants

It is all well and good to cleanse your hair, do a deep-conditioning process on it, followed by a leave-in conditioner to further enhance the softness of your hair; however, all that time and energy will be wasted if all the goodness and nurturing you have taken the time to infuse, goes to naught.

You have to seal your hair strands. You have to find a way to keep the moisture in for as long as possible before your next wash day. This being said, I highly recommend that you spend just a little more time and complete this final step – let’s call it – the icing on the cake. Your hair will thank you for it by being soft to the touch, pleasing to the eye,  and bye-bye frizz as well.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about these wonderful oils and will give one or all a try to see how best it works for your tresses as a hair sealant. Please let me know your results and I welcome your comments.

Thanks for visiting.

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