THE ANSWER TO YOUR HAIR WOES
Limp locks? Unmanageable mane? Tired tresses? Whatever your hair woes, chelating could be the answer to all your prayers, as I discovered for myself…
It’s fair to say I reached a point of no return with my hair this week. After investing in an outrageous number of products, including oils, serums and leave-in conditioner treatments, all of which carried equally outrageous price tags and wowed me with promises to transform my bewildered barnet (and why would they lie?), my hair still felt dry and looked lifeless and dull.
I hardly styled it throughout lockdown – after all, I had nowhere to go. I even eased off on the washing and coated it in plenty of oily goodness (expensive oily goodness at that) so I just couldn’t understand why it was still so brittle and unruly.
While frantically Googling the issue, I fell down something of an internet wormhole and came across a chelating demo on YouTube, nestled amongst the cute cat videos that usually occupy my time. Bingo! This seemed like the cheap and cheerful solution I’d been looking for and, frankly, I was willing to give anything a try.
Rather than nourishing hair with conditioners and oils, chelating does the exact opposite and strips the hair of everything (good and bad). “Why would I want to do that?” I hear you cry! “Particularly if my hair is already dry and damaged.”
Well, over time, hair can become clogged as a build up of products and pollutants coat each strand. Not only this, impurities including metals and minerals from the water and atmosphere also suffocate hair and create a barrier, meaning that conditioning products aren’t able to penetrate and do their job. Think of it like trying to moisturise your skin through a raincoat… ain’t gonna happen, my friend!
Chelating aims to strip your hair back to its natural state so it’s free from oil, dirt and impurities, leaving a blank canvas, which allows it to drink in the goodness of those expensive products.
The process
So… with newfound hope and renewed vigour, I headed down to my local store for three simple items… a lemon, coarse sea salt and some washing up liquid – any basic dish soap will do.
I started by rinsing my hair in warm water, before lathering up with the washing up liquid like I would my normal shampoo. After rinsing that out, I did it once more for good measure.
Next up, taking half a lemon, I squeezed the juice over my hair and rubbed it in, together with a small pinch of the sea salt, which, incidentally, worked as a lovely scalp exfoliator.
Lemon juice and salt are both very cleansing and cut through grease and oils with ease.
After leaving to settle for a few minutes, I rinsed my hair well with warm water. Now, I should warn you, after completing this process my hair felt awful… I mean the worst it has ever felt. It had a sort of squeakiness to it and it felt so dry, almost crunchy. But don’t be alarmed (I was at first!), because this is where the conditioner comes in.
After towel-drying my tresses in a slightly mild state of panic, I slathered on a lovely coconut hair mask, donned my polka dot shower cap and put my feet up for 15 minutes as it got to work. When I finally rinsed it off, my hair felt divine!
All I needed was a spritz of heat protection mist and a generous palm full of nourishing oil before styling and my hair felt volumous, bouncy and soft. I couldn’t quite believe it – such a cheap and simple process with such fab results.
From now on, I plan the chelate my hair every few months, or whenever I feel it’s needed, to ensure I remove pollutants and other nasties and keep it feeling soft and looking shiny.
Chelating just got easier
The whole process was pretty simple, but turns out it can be made even easier. Derm.One’s sensual Hiwa-Kai Black Lava Salt Body Wash is the perfect bath time hybrid. Not only is it wonderful for your skin, but it’s packed with plant-based cleansing agents, and this, combined with the Hawaiian black lava salt, leaves your hair clean, fluffy and perfectly renewed. Why not try it for yourself in place of your usual shampoo?
To your health dear friends!