The woes of a natural hair product user - Restoring damaged hair naturally

In my last post I talked about using aloe vera juice as a light leave-in conditioner for damaged hair. I've been thinking about how since I've dyed my hair it's been a lot more fragile and harder to maintain, so I figured I would write a post on what I've been doing with it.

1. For starters, I wash my hair as little as possible and I do it strategically. I try to not wash my hair for three days at least, but usually get to four or five. What I do is I wash my hair right before I have to go to anything where I want my hair to look good (shopping with the gals, etc.) and leave it until I'm going to be doing something active that will make my hair greasy and sweaty (horse riding, etc.).

I disagree with dry shampoo. It's an awesome idea and good if you're hair's gross and you have to go out, but it dries up the oils in the hair like shampooing does, obviously not to the same extent. You really have to leave your hair oily for a day or two for your scalp to realise that it doesn't need to produce that much oil. So eventually your hair will be able to go longer between washes if you let it get oily.

2. When I do wash my hair I use a sulfate free shampoo and an intensely hydrating conditioner. Sulfates dry out the hair and can irritate the scalp, they're only really needed if you use a lot of silicony products in your hair. I've been using Avalon Organics Nourishing Lavender Shampoo and Perfect Potion Rosemary Conditioner and have been loving them.

I have a kind of shower routine to optimise my shower time. I start with shampooing my hair before anything else, then condition and tie my hair in a bun and leave it like that for the rest of my shower, rinsing it out after everything else is done. Also, every second wash or so I do the whole shower routine and leave my hair in the bun with the conditioner in it for about an hour after the shower, then rinse it out.

3. I had been using jojoba oil as a leave-in conditioner before I dyed my hair, but now my hair needs something even more moisturising. I take a tiny amount of my conditioner and apply it focusing on the ends while my hair is still wet. Then once my hair has dried if it's still dehydrated I apply another tiny amount. I still use aloe vera water in between because it's much lighter and dries quickly.

4. I avoid using heat on my hair. I don't blow dry because drying naturally is so much better for the hair and I rarely straighten or curl, mostly because I can't be bothered.

I'm going to start putting some Manic Panic hair dye in a smaller bottle of my conditioner just to use on my ends soon. I'm thinking I'll just use the manic panic with the shower where I don't leave it in for an hour, since I don't want my whole head to be purple.