While we’re on the self-care train, let’s take a moment to talk about haircare. Haircare is something that I overlook, until I experienced excessive hair shedding a few months ago – right around the start of the pandemic. I thought, “Oh dear, am I (literally) losing my hair because the situation?” I’m not sure. Whatever the cause, this mini hair loss scare helped me realize the importance of self-care, and hence, the reason for the influx of blog posts about it these days. Haircare is no exception to self-care. If you think about about it, hair is like a crown that gives you daily confidence, and it deserves some tender loving care. Come to think of it, doesn’t haircare sound like skincare?

When I take the time to listen to what my hair needs, it becomes stronger, healthier, and even shows signs of hair regrowth. Sounds like haircare is not so different from skincare after all. With that said, I thought I’d draw parallels between my current haircare process and a typical skincare process: A Daily Routine with a cleanser, moisturizer, & serum, paired with Once-in-a-While Treatments from exfoliators & masks.

Daily Routine: Cleanser, Moisturizer, & Serum

Haircare Terms: Shampoo, Conditioner, & Hair Serum

Shampoo: Like cleansing the face, shampoo cleanses the scalp. The main focus of shampoo is to target the scalp, not the hair strands.

Conditioner: Conditioner is the inverse of shampoo, therefore its main focus is the hair strands, not the scalp. A moisturizer serves as a protective blanket for your face, and a conditioner does the same for your hair strands.

When you designate shampoo & conditioner to its respective purpose of cleansing the scalp and moisturizing the hair strands, it will reduce oiliness, dryness, split ends, and breakage.

Hair Serum: A serum targets specific concerns for the skin. Hair serums work in the same way. If you have hair concerns like dandruff, frizziness, or hair loss, a hair serum can be of service.

Here are my favorite shampoo, conditioner, and hair serum products at the moment:

Since I have fragile, fine, and thin hair that’s prone to oiliness, I look for shampoos & conditioners that are suitable for daily use and strengthens hair. This duo from NatureLab Tokyo fits the bill. These aesthetically pleasing bottles are shaped like Schlenk flasks, and the clean ingredients strengthen hair – especially the product’s star ingredient, rice protein. They’re also eco-friendly, because you can keep the nifty-looking chemistry bottles and purchase refills.

As mentioned before, I dropped an excessive amount of hair when the pandemic started, so I was on the hunt for a good hair loss prevention serum. Like many of their products, The Ordinary’s Multi-Peptide Serum for Hair Density was an economic choice. After a few months, I noticed less hair shedding and even some baby hairs growing out. Just by itself, the product alone probably didn’t contributed to those results, but I do think it played a big part nonetheless.

Once-in-a-While* Treatments: Exfoliators & Masks

Haircare Terms: Hair Scrubs & Hair Masks

*Once-in-a-while is subjective. It’s more important to listen to your hair needs. For example, when my hair was not in great condition, I used a hair scrub and hair mask each week. Now that it’s getting back to a healthy state, I dialed down on my frequency and use them every 3 weeks or so.

Hair Scrubs: In my Basic Daily Skincare Routine post, I mentioned that it’s best to avoid scrubs for the face. However, the hair is a different story. The face is less resilient than everywhere else on the body. Like a face exfoliator though, hair scrubs remove dead skin cells, residue, and encourage blood circulation on the scalp, leading to healthy hair growth.

Hair Masks: On special occasions, we often turn towards face masks for extra boost of something special. Hair masks work in the same way and can make our hair look top notch when we need it to.

I’m currently using these scrubs and masks:

Another great product from NatureLab Tokyo. This Clarifying Scalp Scrub reduces scalp irritation. Whenever I reach for this, I use it in place of the shampoo step.

My hair loss scare also led me to rediscover products from Lush. Not only do I appreciate the sustainable and environmentally-conscious philosophy of the brand, but I also discovered Lush’s founder, Mark Constantine, was a trichologist. So, what better way to fix hair loss than with these Lush hair masks. The H’Suan Wen Hua mask is named after the Chinese “Goddess of Hair,” and it smells like chai tea and bananas. Meanwhile, the Roots mask has a minty smell and as the name suggests, it specifically targets the scalp. When you apply it, your scalp will feel tingly and cooling. H’suan Wen Hua is good for nourishment, and Roots is better for volume. Both have helped with the overall thickness and strength of my hair, but I don’t it’s necessary to have two products in your collection. If I had to pick one, I would pick Roots because it smells better and provides what my hair needs most.

Miscellaneous Haircare Tips

Eat foods that are good for hair. Hair supplements are out there, but I’m unsure about them. I do, however, notice some hair benefits (like thickness and shine) from consuming certain foods so far, specifically seaweed and black sesame seeds.
Comb hair before showering. When your hair is wet, it’s at a weak state and prone to breakage. If you comb it out before showering, you can avoid combing wet hair afterwards.
Be gentle: Speaking of wet hair, the typical habits of using a towel to dry your hair after a shower can be rough. Instead of putting your hair up in a turban with a towel or wringing your hair dry with it (i.e. rubbing your hair between your two hands), use the towel – or better yet, a t-shirt, to gently soak up excess water from your hair. This gentler switch-up will minimize hair breakage at its most fragile state.
Scalp massages: To promote blood circulation to the scalp, I do a quick scalp massage every night before bed. For a more intensive step, you can also do massages with a scalp brush during the shampoo process.

It’s funny how small changes to your daily habits can yield big changes. My hair sure has thanked me because of them!