My hair care fear .. And that was the end of my hair problems!

After reading this topic, I asked myself what is my hair care routine.. Did I really care about my hair??  Then I found this amazing poem in a blog. Read here for other details.

Kissing her hair I sat against her feet,

Wove and unwove it, wound and found it sweet;

Made fast therewith her hands, drew down her eyes,

Deep as deep flowers and dreamy like dim skies;

With her own tresses bound and found her fair,

Kissing her hair.

Sleep were no sweeter than her face to me,

Sleep of cold sea-bloom under the cold sea;

What pain could get between my face and hers?

What new sweet thing would love not relish worse?

Unless, perhaps, white death had kissed me there,

Kissing her hair.

(“Rondel” by Algernon Charles Swineburne)

Then I was fascinated and wanted to know how all this developed, as in hair style.. How people of those era used to take care of their hair and style them. Found this very interesting information. Go through Wikipedia for the detailed explanation. But here is the essence of it.

History

Read here for ancient hair story.. The importance of hair across various civilizations. It looks like hair and styling was given importance.

Egyptians and Greek women had long hair and used expensive accessories, in fact dyed their hair with henna. Romans used various tools like curling and ironing.  In china women braided their hair and geisha’s had hairdo’s done in Japan. African had this multiple braids done with coloring and stiffening. American had long hair and also bobbed hair. The western world preferred to cover the hairline with low caps and jeweled turbans and on and on…

it shows that people had hairstyles based on culture, gender related things existed from then.

Coming back

A hairstyle can be done on anyone, but whether it suits us are not is important. The various criteria for selection is by many factors, such as the subject’s physical attributes (natural hair type and growth patterns, face and head shape from various angles, and overall body proportions; medical considerations may also apply) and desired self-image or the stylist’s artistic instincts.

Now that I know what style to be done, I need to know the tools to be used on the hair.. such as Styling products like Leave-in conditioner, conditioning treatments, mousse, gels, lotions, waxes, creams, clays, serums, oils, and sprays are used to change the texture or shape of the hair, or to hold it in place in a certain style. ( did u know so many things existed? Honestly I came to know about them only now)

With this general preview, let me discuss my hair problem..

“All is well” was my statement for many years.. I never had problem with my hair. In fact I was known in my locality for my long hair and it continued. I always did relatively low-maintenance with my hair .  I only use to really boost the softness of the texture by using conditioner which is available in market with shampoo.

Then got married and became pregnant, still things were fine, as I was on vitamin pills. Result, I was glowing than usual, with good skin and hair.

With all the joy of welcoming the new born in the family, the un-welcomed hair-fall started.. It was a disaster I must say. Firstly I didn’t have time to take of myself. No time to take proper hair-wash, I couldn’t take hair wash, twice a week. Yes, my grandparent believed that I might catch cold and in-turn baby will also get flu. I was so frustrated that I went and literally chopped my hair. From waist length hair, mine came down( rather up) to shoulder level.

Not washing the hair regularly resulted in dandruff. Pregnancy hormones made the hair-fall worse. One day after hair wash I came out of the bathroom crying. When my mom asked what really happened, I just showed her the water drain cup, filled with my hair clumps blocking the water completely. In that rate I thought I would get bald soon, in fact I even thought of storing the fallen hair, so that I can make wig for later years.

image courtesy

image courtesy

My mom exclaimed that it is normal, but I couldn’t bring myself to peace. Next day I visited the doctor, where I learnt that Hair loss after pregnancy is one of the commonest problems reported, usually during period of one to six months after delivery. The reason behind is the changing levels of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone in the mother’s body.

I learnt that in postpartum period, hair become very weak and are more prone to break down easily. So, like my grandparent said shampooing frequently is not good, as it would break my hair.

I was given “ Sambrani” smoke created by using aromatic powder on charcoal  and given to hair. It dries up hair naturally and also the moisture content. Then I was make to wear” attu kattu”, a hair style made by just using the two side strands of hair from ear top and one from center, and plated. And rest of the hair is let loose. This also helped in quick drying of hair naturally.

Later, with a needle, the knots are removed. After every knot is cleared, comb is used.  If Hair is tied up tightly or pulled it will lead to their breakage.

With the baby, with seasem oil, I was also given light oil Massage

The doctor also said, hair loss after pregnancy is not a very grave condition if proper care of hair is done and balanced nutrition is taken.

This problem is temporary and the most important thing to be kept in mind is that as the old hair is being shed, new hair is growing, I came back to my normal but with a shorter hair And that was the end of my hair problems!

Love your hair with care … it always make you look prettier and merrier!

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