Hair and Scalp Care Tips for Formulating Hair Products

Our hair is also one of the most unique features we have as humans. It could be straight, curly, or kinky, depending on each individual’s heritage.

Each of those categories has its hair types, and each hair type has its own qualities.

For instance, you’ll find a man rocking type 3 curly hair with fine strands that are low porosity. Another will have high porosity. Those two individuals will have different hair requirements based on porosity alone.

This diversity makes the hair care market a perfect industry to tap into. To formulate the right products, however, you must know what the hair and scalp need in order to flourish.

Conditions for Maintaining a Healthy Scalp and Hair

As much as every individual is different, there are basic essential elements that they try to incorporate to help their mane thrive.

1. Balancing Oils and Moisture

Our scalps have sebaceous glands which produce sebum that helps moisturise the skin and hair. Using a shampoo with harsh ingredients such as sulfates will strip away all the sebum leaving our scalp dry.

Most times, you’ll find that washing hair frequently makes the sebaceous glands overactive. They go into overtime, trying to produce more sebum to regain the healthy balance that once was. Of course, this fails, leaving the hair greasy and dull.

To prevent this, people usually steer away from shampoos with stripping agents like sulfates and drying alcohols.

2. Maintaining the PH Balance.

Healthy scalps usually have a PH of 4-5, which helps tighten pores and clear bacteria. It helps to have shampoos and conditioners that complement each other. If a shampoo raises the PH, then the conditioner should lower it to restore balance.

Failure to do this will eventually weaken the user’s hair and cause it to shed more easily.

3. Cleaning the Scalp Properly

A clean scalp keeps us looking nice and feeling even better. Different things affect how frequently we wash our hair, from working out to the weather to the moisturising products we use on our various hair types.

People who work out a lot tend to go for products that rinse out the sweat to prevent an itchy scalp. Those who use heavy products like gels and butters need clarifying shampoos to take out all the accumulated grime.

Others who struggle with dandruff look for medicated products that take into account their hair type and colour  to reduce flaking.

4. Encouraging Blood Circulation

Our scalps need oxygen and nutrients for our hair follicles to keep thriving. When you compromise their health, hair strands start to get weaker with time, leading to thinning or hair loss.

To promote circulation, the scalp needs to be gently massaged while washing the hair. People usually boost this by using a shampoo that’s infused with essential oils like peppermint. It gives them a nice tingly feeling as it amps up circulation almost immediately.

Special Hair Care

We’ll look at hair care for people who have different needs based on certain conditions.

1. Damaged Hair

Hair damage isn’t only defined by split ends. It also comes about when the hair cuticles get cracks from heat styling, bleaching, and over-manipulation. While the best remedy for this is usually to chop off the damage, there are ways to restore the hair and maintain its length.

Strengthen the hair bonds. Heat and bleach loosen the bonds in hair if used for a long time. Most people tend to go for shampoos and conditioners that have formulas that help preserve bonds. They also use heat protectants for styles that require a decent amount of heat.

Use coconut oil or products infused with it. Coconut oil has very tiny molecules that can actually fit in the hair’s outer cuticle. They then help hydrate it from within and protect it from heat damage.

2. Colour-treated Hair

Let’s be honest, washed-out hair colour  is usually a sight for sore eyes. The good news is that expensive, frequent salon visits aren’t necessary to keep the colour  popping. People can:

Use a shampoo specifically made for colour -treated hair. It ensures that the colour  doesn’t fade within the first few washes. Another plus is it has nourishing ingredients to restore hair after the colour  treatment.

Shampoo less frequently. Less washing helps the colour  last longer. It helps to use colour -safe dry shampoos between wash days to remove buildup without drying out the hair.

Condition the hair. We’re talking deep conditioners and leave-ins. Colour -safe deep conditioners help add shine to the hair, making the colour  pop more. Leave-ins, especially ones with UV protection, prevent the sun from fading hair colour . They also smoothen the strands, thus reducing frizz on styling.

3. Dry Hair

Type 4 hair is more prone to drying since its curl pattern makes it harder for sebum to make its way down the hair shaft. You’ll also find that all hair types tend to get drier in winter due to the low humidity. The dry hair then ends up looking straw-like and easily breaks off, seeing as it’s so brittle.

To avoid this, experts advise to incorporate a hair care regimen packed with moisturizing products, all the way from the shampoo to the leave-in. They should be infused with antioxidants and oils to help the hair restore its strength and retain moisture for longer.

4. Low and High Porosity Hair

While these aren’t conditions that need fixing, they each require different products. Since low porosity hair has cuticles that lie flatter, it’s hard for products to penetrate the hair shaft. It thus requires light-weight products that won’t sit on top of it and leave a white cast.

High porosity hair has a more open cuticle meaning that it needs heavier products to seal in moisture.

Conclusion

Proper hair and scalp care is a crucial area to consider when formulating hair products. They should have the right ingredients based on the problem you’re trying to solve for your clients. You can make so many variations at the moment, seeing as how each customer has a unique head of hair.

Taking shampoos alone for instance, you can choose to create a moisturising, clarifying, colour-safe, volumising, or repair line for either low or high porosity hair types. Or you could mix and match the qualities. There are no boundaries really.

With the lockdown in place, both men and women are tending to their hair at home.

This has created a high demand for well formulated and eco friendly hair care products, which explains why solid shampoo bars have become so popular.

Our company specialises in creating environmentally-friendly and top of the range products to get your business booming. Head over to our site to formulate your next hair care products!