There are no great group of people that have to deal with hair issues than those with natural hair. You will constantly deal with dry hair, oily scalp, frizz, split ends, and even the need to use heat to straighten your hair.
Although you have a natural hair, you don’t have to go through all those troubles just to convince your self you are living a natural life. Hair serums are a great friend to us the natural hair team.
Hair serum will fix all the issues you are likely to experience on your natural hair. However, using it the wrong way might lead to some very serious side effects.
If you want to learn how to apply hair serum, you should continue reading this guide.
How to use the ordinary hair serum?
A hair serum will promise to take good care of your natural hair by controlling frizz, adding shine to your hair, taming some runaways, straighten your hair, defining your natural curls and also protecting your hair against environmental factors that might damage your hair.
With all this benefits, you might think that hair serum does not have some disadvantages. Like any other manufactured products, using the wrong hair serum and applying hair serum the wrong way will lead to some side effects. Some of this side effects include;
Hair damage
We have different types of hair. When choosing a hair serum you should put into consideration your hair type.
If you have dry hair, you cannot use hair serum meant for oily hair. You might end up damaging your hair permanently.
Hair loss
Since hair serums have silicone as the main ingredient, it you have dry hair you should check on the level of silicone on the hair serum.
When you use the wrong hair serum, your hair might start to fall off and eventually leaving you hairless.
Skin irritation
Aside from silicone, other ingredients added to a hair serum might be too harsh for your hair and your scalp. You should therefore avoid applying hair serum in your scalp.
If you want to avoid the listed side effects, you can use this guide to choose the right hair serum.
Even after landing finding the best hair serum you will still need to buy and apply the hair serum perfectly. Continue reading this guide for more information about hair serums.
How to apply hair serum?
The process of hair serum application does not begin where you put the serum on your head. There is choosing the right hair serum, buying, learning how to apply, and finally applying the hair serum on your hair.
For you to avoid the risks associated with hair serums, you should follow this step-by-step guide on hair serum application.
Step 1: Consult a hair professional
As we said before we all have different types of hair. Most hair serums will tell you what they will do for your hair without putting into consideration your individual hair.
A hair professional will analyze you hair, use the analysis to recommend you a hair serum that is perfectly suited for your hair type.
Step 2: Buy a high quality hair serum
Even after getting a recommendation from your hair professional, you will still need to be vigilant on which hair serum you are buying.
Buy a hair serum that is made using high quality ingredients preferably one from a famous brand. Famous brands would not risk the reputation they have taken years to build by selling you mediocre products.
To ensure the hair serum you are buying is legit, check the reviews from other customers. You should also check the expiry date of the hair serum.
Step 3: Hair serum application
After bagging the best hair serum for your hair type, you should also learn how to apply a hair serum the right way.
Before you start applying hair serum on your hair, you should ensure your hair is clean and we’ll moisturized.
- Wet your hair with some warm water before using a mild shampoo.
- Apply a generous amount of hair serum depending on the density and the length of your hair.
- Massage your hair with your finger tips to ensure all the other products on your hair are loose for easy removal.
- Rinse off the shampoo with some warm water. You can go in another round with the shampoo if you feel your hair is not clean enough.
- Apply a generous amount of conditioner on your hair to ensure you make your hair soft, moisturized and easy to work with.
- Rinse off your hair with some running Luke warm water to remove the conditioner.
Although your hair serum might promise that it has some moisturizer, you will still need to add a moisturizer on your hair for extra nourishment.
Once your hair is nourished, you can go ahead and apply your hair serum.
- Part your hair into smaller sections for easy application.
- During application, ensure you don’t touch your scalp with the hair serum. You should also avoid using too much hair serum as it might still find a way to your scalp.
- Pour some few drops of hair serum on your hands. Rub your hands together for a few minutes to melt the hair serum.
- Apply the hair serum from the mid length going to the ends of your hair.
- Massage your hair for a few minutes to ensure all parts of your hair gets the serum.
- Run a wide toothed comb through your hair to ensure every part of your hair gets the serum and also for detangling.
- Style your hair how you please and let the hair serum dry up slowly.
Once you are done, wash your hands with warm water and soap to prevent any product from getting stuck on your finger nails.
Can I use hair serum daily?
Despite of how good hair serum is, you should not apply hair serum on a daily basis. Hair serum contains some drying properties that might cause hair damage if use daily. So when should you apply hair serum?
There are quite a number of instances where using hair serum might be more advantageous.
When hitting the swimming pool
Since hair serum contains silicone which is waterproof, when you apply it on your hair, it will create a protective layer that water cannot penetrate. This will prevent your hair from shrinking, hair frizz, and other forms of hair damage.
If you have an event
Events are full of activities that might cause your hair to shrink, frizz, look dull, or damaged.
When you apply the hair serum, the protective layer formed on your hair will tame it to how you want. Humidity, sweat, and dust will not get a chance against hair serum.
When you are using hair repair products
Repairing damaged hair might be so difficult if the conditions that were causing hair damage are not controlled.
Although hair serum might not be too invested in repairing damaged hair or hair growth, you can use it to protect the products that main function is to do that.
After moisturizing your hair, go in with the hair repair product then apply the hair serum. The hair serum will create a coating between the environment and the product that are repairing your hair giving them enough space to fulfill their function.
When you are using heat to straighten your hair
If you have to use heat to straighten your hair, you should do it in a smart way. Apply a hair serum to create a protective layer between the hair strands and the source of heat.
Conclusion
A hair serum has both it’s benefits and it’s disadvantages. Luckily, this disadvantages can be avoided if you use the right type of hair serum for your hair.
Since we have different types of hair, you cannot just use any hair serum you meet in the market. The first step before buying a hair serum is consulting with a hair professional.
Once you get a recommendation, you should buy a hair serum formulated using high-quality ingredients. Consider buying a hair serum from a famous brand.
After getting the hair serum, you should consult my guide above for the right way to apply hair serum. Once you have learnt how and when you should apply a hair serum, consider subscribing to this page for more beauty hacks.
References
- Majeed, M., Majeed, S., Nagabhushanam, K., Mundkur, L., Neupane, P., & Shah, K. (2020). Clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a hair serum product in healthy adult male and female volunteers with hair fall. Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology, 13, 691.
- Islam, G. R., Rahman, M. M., Hasan, M. I., Tadesse, A. W., Hamadani, J. D., & Hamer, D. H. (2021). Hair, serum and urine chromium levels in children with cognitive defects: A systematic review and meta-analysis of case control studies. Chemosphere, 133017.
- Tiwari, R., Tiwari, G., Yadav, A., & Ramachandran, V. (2021). Development and Evaluation of Herbal Hair Serum: A traditional way to Improve Hair Quality. The Open Dermatology Journal, 15(1).