Love Your Hair

Love Your Hair

You love your body. You do everything to be in top shape—eating balanced meals, exercising regularly, keeping a health regimen. Yet, with all the pollution in the environment and the stress of daily living, maintaining a healthy lifestyle seems complicated and tedious.
The same goes true with your hair. Having healthy hair starts with loving it. Salon de Manila proprietor and renowned hair stylist Pin Antonio says, “First of all, love your hair. This may sound obvious but is often taken for granted by many. Maintain your hair with love and consistency.”
Pin, who is known for her very modern and chic hairdos, reveals her personal hair care regimen, “I have my hair cut and trimmed appropriately, once a month. I invest in the best products for my hair like treatments and build-up remover which I pamper my hair with every week. Then, every three months I have my hair color done with salon quality products.”
Pin even treats her hair like her own baby—nurturing it with love and care. She even says, “I really pay close attention to my hair and listen to its needs.”
The famous hair trendsetter describes healthy hair as thick and dense, fine and silky, not too oily or rough. Healthy hair should also be lustrous, shiny and glossy, “This means that the hair is pliable or easy to work with because it is not limp or lank,” Pin shares.
But healthy hair goes beyond the surface. As Pin says, getting your hair healthy is easy, keeping and maintaining it is the hard part. Not everyone may have been born with great locks, but everyone can maintain healthy hair, following a few basic steps and doing the steps consistently.
Pin reveals the secret, “Make sure you wash your hair when needed. This is a different routine for everyone, some wash their hair every day, others do it every other day. Find the routine that suits you and keeps your hair looking good all the time and stick to it. You should shampoo and condition thoroughly using a medium circle of shampoo with a lesser amount of conditioner. Brush your hair often. This will not only keep it tangle-free but will stimulate new growth at the roots. Eat nutritious food. An over-all balanced diet of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fatty fish like salmon and low-fat dairy will help keep hair healthy.”
She also recommends taking the proper amount of vitamins and minerals daily such as vitamin B-complex, vitamin B6, vitamin C with bioflavonoids, vitamin E and beta-carotene. Flaxseed oil and daily dosage of magnesium, sulfur and zinc are also recommended.
The human hair is very sensitive. Pin says that no matter how much you keep your hair clean, the rigorous routine of daily life exposes the hair to extreme conditions that may cause hair damage. The sun and humidity can damage the hair cuticles which results to dry, drab, split, brittle or frizzy hair and ends. Hair loss is often caused by pollution like dust, smoke emitted by vehicles that contain high levels of carbon, cigarette smoke, and other carbonic gases. Excessive bleaching and perming can also cause damage to hair. Even too much alcohol consumption and lack of sleep can contribute to damaging hair severely. In this day and time, stress virtually affects hair. It naturally weakens body systems and that includes the hair. Hair becomes dull, lifeless and slow-growing.
Pin recommends the following in order to prevent or lessen hair damage:
• Use a scarf or cap over the hair when traveling during the day to protect the hair from direct sunlight, dirt and smoke.
• For people who travel a lot, wash hair as often as often as possible and ensure the use of a good conditioner.
• Avoid leaving oil on your hair as the tendency to absorb dust is higher.
• Give your hair the privilege of a massage regularly.
• Choose hairstyles that are not very long and are easily manageable.
• Never leave the house with wet hair because the hair cuticles are opened. Hair is fragile at this point.
• If you are going to sunbathe, make sure to protect your hair by wearing a hat especially if your hair is colored. If you can, comb in a cream leave-on conditioner while you are out in the sun.

Ordinary kitchen products can also do wonders for your hair, says Pin. Sometimes, these natural products are even better than commercial ones. “For example,” Pin shares, “mix honey and eggs and leave on hair for 10 minutes, then rinse off. Then, mix whipped egg whites with the yolk added with water in a blender. Wash hair with hot water and apply the mixture. Massage on hair for 10 minutes then rinse off with cold water.”
Milk and coconut oil are also superb for the hair, as is mayonnaise. It may sound (and smell) gross but liberally applying mayonnaise to your hair, covering and leaving it overnight, and washing it in the morning can treat damaged hair.
A lot of commercial products are also good for the hair. Choosing between natural and commercial care all depends on the preference of the person. “Believing in a product and seeing the results of that product is what’s important,” Pin says.
Salon de Manila, which Pin and sister Ruby Tubig started years ago, offers personalized hair care depending on the needs of each client. “In Salon de Manila, we usually recommend mild rebonding for frizzy and not-so-curly hair. Split ends may be treated with regular treatments of our salon quality product line as well. There are cleansing agents we recommend for people who have scalp problems like dandruff. These cleansing agents resolve the dandruff problem in a short time, purify the scalp and combat the bacterial attack that caused the flaking, resulting in a healthy, restored and clean scalp. For coarse hair, we recommend thermal relax and for limp and oily hair we use volumizing products.”

Your crowning glory needs tender loving care. Pin has this to say, “Healthy and wonderfully styled and cut hair gives you an image overhaul. A good hairstyle can change your look completely. It can chop off years from your face and make you look younger. Hair is part of the wardrobe. So, find a stylist you trust who’ll treat you and your hair with respect, and who will give you stunningly gorgeous hairstyles!” And when it comes to hair care and hairstyle, no matter what color, length or style your hair is, Pin Antonio and Salon de Manila can help make it shiny and healthy. #