In cooler climates, during the autumn and winter months our skin can suffer due to cold weather, wind, rain and central heating in the home or work. Some of the most common conditions are dull, dry, itchy and chapped skin and lips, which are uncomfortable or even painful and can make you feel less attractive at a time when most of us feel a little gloomy anyway!

Many of our customers enjoy using natural Herbal Powders as a part of their hair care routine.  Each herbal powder has different properties, so you need to choose which one(s) to use based on the results you would like for your hair.  Please click here through to our botanicals page for detailed information on the types of herbal powders we supply.

Many people naturally have dry hair, particularly people who have thick, coarse or curly hair and/or are of black african/caribbean or biracial heritage.  Here are some simple and effective tips for helping to deal with dry hair and to restore moisture.

**Shampoo your hair once a week using a non sulphate Shampoo
Whilst we need to cleanse our hair of general grime and product build up, many shampoos contain sulphates which are harsh and drying to the hair.  Our clarifying and moisturising shampoo's are sulphate free and will not strip the natural oils from your hair or scalp.

**Apply a light coating of oil or hair butter to your hair prior to Shampooing
This is sometimes called a "prepoo" and helps to prevent the dryness that some shampoos cause.  A prepoo can be applied just before washing your hair or even from the night before (in which case use a scarf to protect your pillowcase!).  Leaving your prepoo on overnight is particularly useful if there are other ingredients in the product which are beneficial to the scalp, for example stimulates circulation, soothes itchiness, balances natural oil levels etc.  We sell a wide range of natural indivudal liquid oils, solid oils and butters, handmade, natural blended oils, butters and conditioner melts all of which could be used for your preshampoo.

**Deep Condition your hair regularly
Regular deep conditioning will help to improve the moisture levels in your hair.  This can be done once a week for around 1 hr, with a plastic cap. Some people choose to use a hair steamer (which also adds moisture) or heated hood dryer to help the hair open up and accept the moisture from the product. Please click here to view our range of Natural Deep Conditioners suitable for dry, damaged, curly, black, biracial hair.

It is also important to carry out an occasional protein treatment which helps the hair to hold on to moisture.  An excellent, in depth article by Audrey Sivasothy on achieving the correct moisture/protein balance can be found here.

**Apply moisture to your hair on a daily basis (if required)
If your hair becomes dry in between your deep conditions, apply some form of moisture (with some water content) to your hair on a daily basis or as and when required.  This can be as simple as plain distilled water, one of our lovely range of daily moisturiser/leave in conditioners or hair spritzes or you could even make your own mix maybe using some of our floral waters and glycerine, which is a natural moisture attractor also known as a humectant.  Generally, it is also advisable to avoid products which contain mineral oil or petrolatum (none of ours do) as they are also drying to the hair.

**Seal in your moisture with oil based products
There is common misconception that oil based products such as hair oils and butters add moisture to your hair.  They do not, but they are extremely useful in that they help to lock in moisture from your water based products, add sheen, help to smoothe the frizzes and can help block some of the damage which can be caused by environmental elements e,g sun, wind, cold temperatures etc.  We have a wide range of plain vegetable carrier oils, solid oils and butters which you could use to make your own natural hair oils or butters.  We also have a wide range of ready to use, handmade blended oils and butters which are useful for locking in moisture and other purposes.

**Drink plenty of Water and/or Herbal Teas
This will help to hydrate your internal system and have a postive effect on your hair, scalp, skin and nails.

**Protect your hair
Our hair can become dry and even damaged from over exposure to excessive heat from the sun, home heating, hair styling appliances; cold temperatures, the wind, salt in the sea and chemicals such as chlorine used in swimming pools.  So, it is advisable to protect your hair using hats (sun, winter, swim types), satin bonnets (useful for bedtime as they help prevent moisture loss) or scarves when necessary.  Also try to minimalise the use of heat appliances which will dry out your hair and maybe even cause damage if used regualry without a good heat protectant.  You could also place a bowl of water in the rooms where you have heating as this will help add moisture to the atmosphere in your rooms during winter time.

More and more people are choosing to use natural hair and skin care products as they are becoming aware of some of the toxic and harmful ingredients used in many mass manufactured products.  A great starting point for finding out more information is the Cosmetics Database., which provides safety ratings both ingredients and products, some of which have alarmingly high scores for toxicity or harmfulness to health.  Please note, that even some natural ingredients have moderately high ratings, but the database does not indicate that these ingredients are only normally used in very small amounts.  A good example for this is aromatherapy essential oils, which are only used at a maximum of 2.5% of the total product recipe and are safe when used correctly.  Please visit our Health and Safety page for further details on how to use essential oils and other natural ingredients safely.

The range of natural ingredients that can be used to make hair, skin care, bath and body products is vast.  There are many herbs, dried flowers, vegetable oils and butters, aromatherapy essential oils (natural extracts of various flora and fauna), clays, salts etc available.  They are natural, from the Earth and therefore are less toxic than some manmade alternatives and also have beneficial properties for hair and skin care.  To give you an idea of some of the ingredients available please visit the following links to our natural cosmetics ingredients pages

Carrier Oils
Vegetable Butter and Waxes
Clays, Salts and Botanicals
Aromatherapy Essential Oils

The types of products which can be made with these natural cosmetics ingredients include: cleansers, toners, moisturisers, facial oils and creams, facial and lip balms, facial exfoliators, face masks, body exfoliators, bathing salts, bath melts (small shapes of solid oils and butters which are moisturising and fragrant), body massage bars (solid lotion), body lotions and creams, oils, body mist sprays, soaps, bath bombs, shampoo's, rinse out or leave in conditioners, hair oils, hair pomades etc.  Consumers have the choice then to either make their own hair and beauty products (which gives the most personal ingredient choice) or they can be bought already pre-made.  For customers who enjoy being creative and have the time, we sell a range of E Books here which provide useful information and recipes for how to make your own natural hair and beauty products.  For our in house handmade products, please visit the following pages and sub menu pages where applicable

Natural Skin Care Products
Natural Hair Products - these are most suited to black, biracial, dry, damaged hair types of all ethnicities
Bath and Body Products

The best way to either decide which product or ingredients to purchase is by reading the description to see if they seem suitable for you, your hair or skin type or condition e.g dry hair, oily skin, itchy scalp, eczema, sun damaged skin, stretch marks, hair breakage etc  Then, it is a process of testing and trial and error to see whether your hair or skin responds well to that particular product you make or buy.  I would advise that you try a product for at least one month to see whether it is effective for you and also to avoid mixing and trying too many all at the same time!  I know this is a challenge for ingredient or product junkies...smile.  Either way, practice patience and enjoy the journey! 

Chat to you soon! Zoe xxx


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Hi!

this is just a short introductory post to our natural hair and beauty blog, which will contain

• Information regarding our handmade natural hair, skin care, bath and body products

• Useful tips and recipes to make your own homemade natural cosmetics using the fab range of comsetics ingredients which we sell

• General Hair and Beauty Tips and I am sure, other random musings!