Are your beautiful curls being smushed under the hijab?

While wearing the hijab over time your edges also get pushed back and start to become dry and brittle?

Making sure you take care of your hair while wearing the hijab is very important to maintain the health of your hair

In this three part series I am covering all the things you need to know in  taking care of different texture of hair from straight to wavy to curly.

While following the Islamic faith, where we cover our hair in presence of males other than our immediate family

Most of us have been doing it for a long time, while some of us are pretty new to this journey.

Whilst figuring out your  hijab style suited according to your face and also which material eventually ends up staying on our head we try our best to take care of our hair underneath it,

But we tend to neglect a few basic things which when adapted early on help prevent your hair from Damage

Hair Basics

Right off the bat you need to know your hair type which is the most important of all

While straight hair does not need extensive categorisation with curly hair it really is just about defining your curl pattern to help you choose the right hair care products

Hair Porosity will help you understand how each product will take part in restoring your hair strength and quality back

Check this post out to know how you can find your hair porosity by the two best methods

Less porous hair means you have less gap between the cuticle of your hair or a less bumpy hair

For low porosity hair it becomes increasingly difficult to absorb the products

but the greatest advantage with low porosity hair is once you have worked on getting the products into your hair it retains the product in wherea’s high porosity hair loses it very fast due to increasing gap between the cuticle

Is moisturising my hair really important?

Yes, though it might seem to be unnecessary if you have not been grown up in a community of coloured women, but they sure do know how to take care of their hair and enhance their beautiful curls

With that moisturising is extremely important as the hair turns very brittle and to get it back to healthy state it needs moisture

Imagine a cell which has been kept on a dish and left for sometime, eventually it shrivels up and looses its elasticity and the shape same way our hair cuticles loose water and to get it back to its original you need to quench it thirst

Now for

How to moisturise your hair

You can take the natural route i.e Use aloe vera gel to hydrate your hair

Use it directly from the plant or you can get the store brought gel too

Apply it at the roots and also on the strands but do remember this is just the hydration step after which we need to seal the moisture in too, which we will cover soon

Few other ways you can hydrate your hair naturally is use a combination of glycerine and a steamer

The time it takes to hydrate also depends on the porosity of your hair, low porosity hair takes a lot longer time while high porosity hair tends to absorb it easy

 Why is sealing the hair important

So you have just hydrated your hair, you took the effort to go root by root, hair by hair, and to put all that effort to waste?

Just by skipping one step?

Oil and water do not form a homogenous mixture they repel each other, once you have hydrated your hair you need something to lock it in or your hair cuticle or you are more likely to loose the moisture and thus making your hair look dull and dry

How do I seal the moisture in?

Butters and oils are your best friend for sealing the moisture in

After you have quenched the moisture thirst of your hair grab your favourite oil or some nourishing nut butter like shea butter or cocoa butter

And start with a small amount and coat each strand evenly to properly form a coating preventing the moisture leak

Butters and oil make my hair turn greasy

Reduce the amount of butter you have used and go for whipped butter,

whipped butters are light and more easy to work with

The hair becoming greasy is also related to how fine or dense your hair is

One trick that I learned early on was flip your hair upside down, then apply the products and the remaining product at the end apply in the front which prevents you having a greasy and oily look in the front

Hijab care tips!

Hair ties:

For the sake of allah! Do not use the regular elastic hair ties, they are the worst kind for your hair,

Really recommend switching over to the coils scrunchie or cloth Hair ties which will save you at the end of the day from not having to spend hours detangling your hair

Hair style underneath the hijab:

Girl, I always recommend  tying your hair in a protective braided style, it saves your hair from getting pulled and becoming messy underneath the hijab

Undercap Material:

The right undercap material can prevent your hair from a lot of damage, for curly girls the best suited material is satin, but I find sometimes its not so practical as the hijab keeps slipping a lot.

Use jersey material which is softest and the most gentle material you will even find!

Oil stains:

when you have applied way too much butter or oil (sealant) and now your wear your hijab and few moments later you have a huge oil spot over your hijab,

I have got few solutions for you

• Make sure all the products are well absorbed  before you have to run out

• If you need to go out in a hurry grab your shower cap and wear it underneath your hijab, as the plastic or non absorbent material will prevent the oil from getting on to your hijab, though do this only if you have to run out for ike 5- 10 mins.

• Use a rough hijab as your undercap, the one you don’t mind getting the oil spot on and then tie over your hijab, this till prevent your main hijab from getting spoiled as the undercap hijab will end up absorbing the excess products!

And that’s all my girls!

If you have any more tips drop it in the comment section below!