How to Create a Comprehensive Hair Care Routine

 To achieve your desired hair health goals, you’ve determined that you want to employ a more comprehensive hair care routine. With so many products on the market, you are probably wondering just what you need in this routine and why certain ingredients or products should be part of your regimen. To start this process, begin with an assessment of your existing routine and hair care practices using the checklist of considerations below in order to determine what products or procedures you may need to add, adjust, or revisit. Then, power up your hair care routine practice by learning about why “outside-in” products like scalp serums and shampoos, and “inside-out” products, such as hair vitamins, are such a valuable and beneficial combination for comprehensive hair care and hair health. 

11 Considerations for a Comprehensive Hair Care Routine

1. Begin with a solid understanding of your hair type and any existing hair concerns. This helpful starting point acts as a guide to the hair care products and applications that will best serve your hair health goals. 

2. Consulting healthcare professionals is also recommended to ensure that your hair health practices and your overall health and wellness needs align. For example, you’ll want to know about any ingredients or products often found in hair care routines that need to be avoided due to existing health conditions, medications, or potential conflicts with other supplements. 

3. Be willing to engage in a trial period as you construct your routine. After all, you and your hair are unique, so it will be important to try products and practices to identify what will work best for you!

4. Wash your hair with a shampoo that is suitable for your hair type approximately 2-3 times a week or as appropriate for your hair, hair concerns, and lifestyle. While you are engaging in this cleansing process, make sure to support your scalp health by gently massaging the scalp in order to support blood circulation in this region. 

5. Apply conditioner at the same frequency as your shampoo practice, and be sure to leave the conditioning product on for a few minutes before fully rinsing your hair. The goal of this part of your comprehensive hair care routine is to nourish and moisturize your hair, which is particularly important for the often drier hair ends. 

6. After cleaning your hair or as directed by the particular product directions, use a scalp serum, scrub, or treatment to reduce product build up and enhance the overall scalp health. 

7. To support hair hydration and repair existing damage, explore the integration of a deep conditioning treatment or hair mask for use weekly, as needed, or as directed by the product’s guidelines.

8. Keep to your hair trim timeline! For healthy hair growth and the prevention of split ends, regular trims every 6-8 weeks are generally recommended as part of a comprehensive hair care routine, since they help optimize your hair’s growth and overall appearance. In the interim, make sure that your hairbrush, combs, and styling equipment are good quality and suitable for your hair. 

9. Be mindful about tool and equipment selection. For example, using a wide-tooth comb on wet hair is better than a brush, because it is less likely to cause any breakage. Additionally, styling tools like flat irons and hair dryers may enable you to achieve your desired look, but heat from this equipment can damage your hair. If you often use these tools, you may need to include a heat protectant spray before use and take care to use the lowest heat possible.

10. Reflect on any environmental factors that may impact the health of your hair. For instance, regulars at the chlorinated gym pool or beachgoers enjoying the sun and salty ocean water need to add additional steps to their hair care routines, such as the use of UV protectant spray or hats to reduce sun damage or thorough hair rinsing after swims to help remove and reduce any potential damage from harmful chemicals or bacteria. 

11. Care for your overall well-being as part of your comprehensive hair care routine. Lifestyle factors like diet and vitamin consumption, the frequency with which you exercise, attention to hydration, and stress management can all impact the health of your hair.  

Combined Product Power: A Hair Care Routine from the Outside In and Inside Out

After reviewing the considerations above to help assess and establish what already exists in your hair care routine and what additions and revisions may be needed, it’s time to maximize the benefits of the products in which you are investing and, most importantly, the health of your hair!

Shampoos, conditioners, and scalp serums are products that you put on your hair to impact it from the “outside in,” meaning from the roots of the hair into the scalp. Supplements like Divi’s To the Roots Hair Vitamins are what you put into your body to support your hair from the “inside out,” beginning with how the body processes the science-backed ingredients to the improved hair fullness, thickness, and strength that you can see and feel. For a truly comprehensive hair care routine, here’s why you need to combine both types of products in order to achieve the best possible hair health! 

Reason #1: Address the roots! Since hair health can be influenced by external and internal factors, it only makes sense that these impacts be addressed using both internal and external approaches for the greatest efficacy and improvement. For any nutrient deficiencies that may be compromising hair growth, hair vitamins target those needs from within, while serums, shampoos, conditioners, protectant sprays, hair tool selection, and more help to facilitate hair protection and nourishment through topical application and use.

Reason #2:  Embrace the synergy! Hair vitamins include vitamins and minerals, like biotin, vitamin A, and vitamin E. These nutrients can help promote hair growth, reduce hair loss, enhance scalp health, and support the hair follicles. This part of your hair care routine offers system-wide benefits for your entire body, not just for your hair. The application of hair serums increases the effectiveness of the holistic improvements that vitamins offer, because they can target your hair’s particular needs, like reducing frizz or repairing damage from styling or processing. As topical products, serums further enhance the appearance and manageability of the hair that is being supported by the strengthening and thickness being achieved from the vitamin intake.

Reason #3: Take care of you! The health of your hair is tied to your overall health. Taking vitamins to encourage hair growth and strengthening also benefits immune function and skin health. Similarly, if a particular hair quality stems from stress or hydration issues, outside-in solutions can help you mitigate the impact that those influences may have on your hair. 

Creating a comprehensive hair care routine certainly takes time and effort and may also require trial and revision. To help streamline your search, consider starting with a Healthy Hair Bundle that includes both a hair serum and hair vitamins or other collections that provide both outside-in and inside-out care in order to establish the hair care routine that works best for you!