Natural solutions for hair health

How do some people achieve salon-fresh locks daily while others spend hours taming their tresses, only to get that just-out-of-bed look? It’s all in the care.

- SHANNON DUNN

Split ends, frizzy fly-aways, dull and dehydrated hair? If you’ve complained about these hair woes, there are ways to overcome them — but don’t expect the answers to await inside the latest haircare packaging.

Traditional advice of “It’s the products you put on your locks” is missing important pieces of the haircare puzzle. Real healthy hair starts from within and is then managed and maintained by how you look after it once it sprouts from your scalp. The vitality of your scalp also needs consideration; it’s a non-negotiable foundation for ultimate hair care.

What is hair, really?

According to stalwart beauty industry chemist and Biologi formulator Ross Macdougald, hair grows in follicles. This can be thought of as “little pockets”, where hair begins growing from a root. These roots are made up of cells of protein and are fed by water-soluble and oil-soluble nutrients, delivered by blood vessels and the lymphatic system which creates more cells and makes hair grow.

“The hair gets pushed up through the skin as it grows, passing oil glands along the way. The oil glands add oil to the hair and keep it shiny and soft. That’s why you need to wash your hair,” Macdougald says. “The hair dies by the time it is long enough to poke out through the skin — yes, hair is dead. That’s why it doesn’t hurt to get a haircut.”

Macdougald’s philosophy is, because hair is dead, there’s “not much you can do with it to care for it”. He says hair type depends on the nutrients being supplied to the root.