Hiya,
I just posted a video on Instagram that was meant to be on Youtube!!(Long tings :P) it's a hair mask I've wanted to do for ages because my hair ALWAYS feels great afterwards.
View pictures screen shot from the video.
I simply scooped out the avocado from its skin mashed it and mixed in two table spoons of pure honey and added a spritz of water/glycerin detangler until it became a paste.
Massaged the paste into my hair strands from root to tips, wrapped it and went under the steamer for 30 mins.
The results after washing my hair was nothing short of incredible!!! My hair which is 5 MONTHS POST RELAXER by the way felt sooooo amazing!!!!!
Now to the BENEFITS
1) Moisturizes Hair
Due to heat styling, chemical treatments, environmental pollution, and even exposure to wind and sun, many people struggle with hair that is dry, damaged and weak. Avocado is like a superhero for dry hair. Chock full of vitamins A, D, E and B6, avocado is also high in proteins, amino acids, magnesium, folic acid, copper and iron.
The oils in avocados are one of the few that can penetrate the cuticle and actually moisturize hair.
The monounsaturated fatty acid content in avocado oil is higher than extra virgin olive oil— one of the main reasons it is so good for your hair. When applied directly in a hair mask, monounsaturated fats can moisturize, nourish and strengthen hair strands. This protects your hair from damage and leaves it looking radiant and healthy.
The monounsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, and high levels of antioxidants like vitamin E in avocados are well absorbed into our scalp and hair shafts. This not only has a highly moisturizing and protective effect against environmental stressors and damage, it may also stimulate new growth and help unclog blocked follicles.
Though most of us would like our hair to grow faster, few of us actually know what causes slow hair growth. We think whatever rate our hair grows at must be what we’re stuck with. But this is not the case. Hair growth is a fragile metabolic process that we can assist or stall depending on a variety of factors.
Nutritional deficiency is one of the most common reasons for slow hair growth. If you’re not eating enough or not eating the right food, soon you will start to notice that your hair looks dull and lifeless and doesn’t grow as fast as it used to. Our bodies need the right fuel, in the right amounts, to work properly—including protein, vitamins, minerals.
Hormones influence the rate at which your hair grows, as well. Pregnancy, menopause, hormone replacement procedure, thyroid issues, and even oral contraceptives can all alter your hair’s appearance, texture, and rate of growth.
Also on the list of slow hair growth culprits are stress, lack of sleep, smoking, and overindulging in coffee. (A little coffee can actually boost your health but too much interferes with the body’s ability to absorb minerals such as iron and magnesium).
Finally, with harsh or frequent chemical hair treatments—such as relaxing, bleaching or perming hair—we can be our own worst enemy. These styling processes can not only make your hair lifeless, damaged, and prone to breakage but can also seriously stunt hair growth.
Don’t panic! You don’t need to turn your life upside down to help your hair grow faster.
Avocados are high in vitamins B and E, which work at the cellular level to protect and strengthen hair. Vitamin E helps repair damage on the scalp, which may slow or prevent hair growing. Vitamin B is essential for hair growth. Avocado locks moisture into hair cells, nourishes hair cells, and strengthens hair roots, shaft and strands.
3) Prevents Dandruff
Men and women of all ages can experience dandruff. Dandruff is caused by massive flaking of dead skin tissues, when dead skin is shed from a dry, extremely oily or microbe-infected scalp. The result is redness, itching, flaking and irritation. In an attempt to restore moisture, the scalp produces excess sebum, which then blocks the hair follicles and leads to bacterial and fungal infections.
Not all causes of dandruff are medical but scalp psoriasis (a skin condition that causes rapid skin cell development), seborrheic dermatitis (similar to scalp psoriasis), and eczema (similar to scalp psoriasis but much more chronic), are common. As always, it’s important to talk to your doctor about any medical condition or sudden changes in scalp or hair health.
Stress and diet can trigger or contribute to dandruff, so you’ll want to make sure you’re caring for your whole body and not simply your head! Regular exercise such as yoga or Pilates can help keep both body and mind relaxed.
Washing your hair on a regular basis, sticking to one shampoo, and choosing a mild shampoo that is suitable for your hair type will help prevent dandruff. You also want to keep your scalp moist—dandruff loves a dry scalp!
When it comes to moisture, look no further than the avocado. This miracle fruit seems custom made to keep our bodies and hair buttery soft. Avocado oil helps rejuvenate and moisturize the scalp. A rich source of proteins, amino acids and vitamins, avocado helps soothe the scalp and promotes long, strong, healthy hair growth.
4) Revitalizes Hair
We’ve all been there. One day we look at our hair and realize it has lost its shine, bounce, and softness. Why? Where did it go? And, more importantly, how can we get it back?
An average person has about 100,000 hairs on their scalp. (Redheads have less, about 90,000, while blonds have more, about 140,000). Each hair shaft has three layers, two inner layers protected by the cuticle (outside layer), and each hair grows an average of nine inches a year. On average, we shed about fifty to one hundred hairs per day.
If our cuticle layers are in good health, the layers of the cuticle are so tightly bound together that the light is able to reflect off the cuticle. This is what makes your hair shine! But when the cuticle layers are not tight together, your hair will feel coarse and brittle. This makes hair absorb light and not reflect, which gives a surface appearance of dull and lifeless hair.
Along with regular trimming, use of mild shampoo, and resisting the urge to over-style, one of the ways we can put shine and life back into our hair is with a regular avocado hair mask.
Wishing you all a blessed week ahead!!
Xxx
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