I had always been blessed with the most gorgeous hair. Nice and shiny with natural soft curls. In fact, every time I washed them, it looked like I had just stepped out of the salon! But life can’t always be that easy, can it? In my final year of college, I had this big wish to get my hair coloured. And despite my mom’s repeated warnings I went ahead and got honey brown streaks. I experimented with many more colours and styles, and was careless enough to not invest in any hair care products for coloured hair. And that, friends, ruined my lovely, luscious and long locks.
Years later, when my wedding came around, my hair was destroyed. They were now my biggest worry! With just a couple of months to go, I knew I had to do all it takes to restore my once healthy and gorgeous hair. And quite obviously, mum stepped in to help. The first thing we did was to change the water I washed my hair with. I was staying in Noida at that time and well, the water quality there is not really the best. My mum made sure I washed my hair only with purified RO water. She would fill up 2 buckets and keep them ready every time I had to wash my hair. I also took to regular oiling. You have no idea what oiling can do! I massaged olive oil into my dry, limp and frizzy hair and kept it on for almost an hour before washing. Olive oil is rich in Vitamin E and A which help make the hair stronger. Besides, it’s way less greasy than coconut oil. Another habit I incorporated was to tie my hair in a plait at bedtime. Sleeping with your hair open causes tangles and results in breakage.
Without doubt, I had completely given up on hair colours and avoided any heat treatments too. In fact, I made a decision to not indulge in any hair spas or treatments at all. After what colouring did to my hair, even the thought of stepping into a hair salon and have someone do anything to my hair freaked me out! Instead, I opted for simple home remedies such as a mix of dahi and lemon. My mum would apply it all over my hair and scalp, and I kept it on for about 45 minutes. I did not stick to any one particular shampoo or conditioner brand but Himalaya products generally work well for me.
I religiously took care of my hair for about 3 months and yes, it did make a difference. From very bad, the condition of my hair was now not-so-bad! And honestly, washing my hair with purified filter water is what I feel made the biggest difference to its quality. A couple of days before the D-day, I had an appointment with my hair and makeup artist to finalize all my looks. And I was so conscious about how he would react seeing the quality of my hair. But guess what? He only had good things to say! He said my hair was thick and dense and almost any hairstyle would look good with hair like that!
The wedding went by smoothly and I was happy with how all my function looks turned out. Oh, but a year after the wedding, the oh-I-am-so-bored-with-my-look syndrome surfaced again and I treated my hair to chocolate red colour. This time, I did follow the post-colouring hair care steps and my hair is okay. Not the initial ‘wow’ condition but not too bad either!
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