The journey to healthy, shiny, luscious hair

I’m super fortunate for this blog to be joined by Nicola, founder of Halo Haircare Society. This amazing woman has over 20 years’ experience in the hairdressing industry and her knowledge is endless! She has developed a cruelty-free, plant-based haircare system aimed at protecting and repairing the scalp and hair from environmental stresses. So, let’s get stuck into the journey of healthy hair….

I have extremely curly hair, that if I’m honest, I never loved - until recently. Despite feeling like I had tried EVERYTHING, my hair often felt frizzy, dry and lacking shine. This became worse after the birth of my kids, which I felt sucked the life out of my hair and I suffered hair breakage and loss.

In the last year, I have undergone a hair revolution and I love my locks (only took to my mid-30’s 🙈) but I truly understand that two things must be done in tandem to achieve luscious hair:

1. Diet and nutrition
2. Salon quality hair care.

 

Nutrition is the building blocks for healthy hair for three reasons…

1. Your hair cells are the second fastest-growing cells in your body. But because hair is not a vital organ or tissue, your body doesn’t prioritise its nutritional needs. This means a nutritional imbalance can show up in the form of hair loss or thinning.
2. Hair starts from within your body, with the hair bulb starting below the skin. This is considered to be the ‘living’ part of the hair. The bulb receives a rich blood supply, enabling nutrients to reach and nourish it. The hair shaft, the part of the hair we see, is ‘non-living’, but the health of the hair bulb reflects the condition of the hair as it emerges from the scalp.
3. Hair has a growth phase, growing consistently for 2-7 years, before moving to transitional and rest phases for 13 weeks. A lack of adequate nutrients in the growth phase, means growth may be stunted and since 90% of our hair is in a growth phase at any one time, it’s essential hair’s nutrient needs are continually met from our diets.

 

So what nutrition is needed for a healthy head of hair?

Protein: Hair is made of a tough protein called keratin, so adequate protein in your diet is a must to generate the amino acids needed to make keratin.

Vitamins and minerals: for optimal growth, hair requires certain vitamins and minerals, A lack of vitamins A, B6, B7, B12, C, D and E in the diet will compromise a healthy head of hair, as well as insufficient minerals, such as copper, iron, zinc and folic acid. These all play a variety of roles for the hair, and your overall health, for example:

• B vitamins, particularly B7 (Biotin) are not stored long in the body and can stimulate keratin production in hair and increase the rate of follicle growth.
• Vitamin C aids the body in its absorption of iron, which is a necessity for hair growth, and is also responsible for collagen production.
• Vitamin E encourages new hair growth by improving blood flow to the hair bulb and scalp.

 

Don’t fret!

A healthy balanced diet, rich in fruit, vegetables (particularly the green kind) and adequate protein (like salmon which is also rich in Vitamin E) will give you the foundations for a healthy mane. If your hair is struggling, you can consider supplementation, and this is where Aglow can help though:

Marine Collagen which is a protein containing an abundance of nutrients like B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, iron and amino acids which are used to nourish existing hair follicles and create more. Even better, Aglow Collagen contains added Vitamin C and E for an extra boost. Find out more here

Skin, Hair, Nail Super Greens contains vitamins and minerals for your hair from organic superfoods you typically don’t eat enough of, or NEVER eat 😅, like: Kale, spinach, broccoli, swiss chard, romaine lettuce, spirulina, chlorella, watercress and dandelion. Find out more here

You have fed your body with all the goodness to nourish your hair from within, now you need to lock these nutrients in. This deserves equal focus because as your hair emerges from the body; environmental stresses and chemical services can strip all those nutrients from the hair people actually see 🤯!

 

Salon quality hair care needs to look after the scalp, hair cuticle and cortex….

Scalp health is the first step to ensure your hair emerges in the best condition. Your scalp’s skin barrier has an acidic pH (~5.4 -5.9) to maintain hydration and keep away bad bacteria and fungi. However, toxins, high pH haircare, chemicals, and daily environmental conditions, like sun, wind and pollution, can disrupt your scalp’s acid balance leading to irritation, dandruff and an itchy scalp.

Maintaining the health of the hair cuticle and cortex is the second critical step. The hair cuticle protects your inner hair cortex which determines hair strength. The cuticle is like overlapping shingles that open with a higher pH, heat, water, chemicals and static electricity.  When your cuticle is open, your cortex is exposed and makes your hair health and strength vulnerable. So protecting your cuticle from opening keeps your hair in optimum condition

HALO is designed to protect and repair your hair from these environmental stresses by using a cohesive pH to your scalp and hair. HALO is a multi-tasking hair care range, so products are designed for multiple uses and hair types. These products are of different molecular weights so work best using a layering method, to ensure your scalp, hair cuticle and cortex are all protected from every external element. HALO ensures the nutrition does not get stripped from the hair once it has emerged from the scalp.

 

So, let’s teach you about our layering method.

The pre-wash

Protecting and nourishing your skin barrier starts with a scalp pre-treatment.

• Hydrated Hair Oil helps your scalp maintain moisture or sebum, providing relief for a stressed-out dry scalp, psoriasis and prevents dehydration from hot water. Because oil has no pH it can be used as a pre-treat for dry ends.
• Hydrated Halo Pre-Treat protects your hair from environmental stresses like salt, chlorine, water, hardwater and weather conditions. You apply before exposure to stop nutrition being stripped from your hair. It also protects your hair during shampooing by stopping water from opening your cuticle and water swelling in your hair cortex which causes frizz, colour loss and tangled tresses.

 

The wash

HALO shampoos are silicone, sulphate and paraben free and have a cohesive pH to your scalp protecting and cleansing the scalp of nasties providing a healthy environment for your hair to emerge from.

HALO conditioners are silicone, sulphate and paraben free and have a cohesive pH to your hair ends. These conditioners nourish, protect, and contract the cuticle for shine and add strength and hydration to your cortex, protecting it from nutrient loss. Halo conditioners can also be used as an intense treatment and leave-in styling aid.

 

Styling

Tangle Toner is recommended as your first styling step. With a low pH it protects against static electricity, adds hydration and strength to your hair cortex and contracts the cuticle for shine. It also de-tangles thanks to marshmallow root.

Hydrated Heat Halo has pro-vitamin b5 to add flexibility to the cortex (necessary for creating moveable styles), nourishing oils and a heat protective barrier up to 225 degrees.

Curl Me Gel works by using humectants to draw hydration into the hair. Use in conjunction with our multi-tasking conditioners to lock hydration in with the emollients from the conditioners. The result is frizz free curls and waves.

 

These HALO products are just a few in the range that add the perfect balance of hydration, strength and nourishment that mimic the nutrients provided by your diet.  

When nutrition from within and external protection is applied in conjunction with each other you can be insured that your scalp and hair will be at its healthiest and you will have the glossiest mane that others will envy!