Hair

Living antennas

SoniaLovesAsanas
Aug 9, 2017 · 6 min read

Humans are the only animal whose hair continually grows throughout life. Likened to a lion ones hair can be a crowning glory proudly worn, but often times we cut it, dye it, shave it, perm it, relax it, curl it, straighten it, etcetera, to a point that it is no longer a beautiful veil, but more like a thorn in our side that wont work with us.

More times than not humans have be conditioned, since a young age, to think male hair is to be worn short and clean cut whilst female hair should be longer and styled. Why is this? Why is society so bold as to tell us how ones hair should be? If anything it should be an individual choice, whether male or female, to wear hair long or short based on the fact that hair is an extension of our nervous systems and are sensitive antennae that send and receive information. This is why we have hair over a vast majority of our body (when not shaved off).

A great way to nourish and protect our hair and all the energy it provides is to start thinking of hair being alive as opposed to dead protein. With that being said picture your hair as a beautiful plant having long straight vines or short, bouncy spiral vines or somewhere in between. You would not want to treat the amazing plant and all its gorgeous vines with harshness such as tugging and ripping at them or scrunching them all together and wrapping a tight band around them all day. Neither would you want to ignore the nourishment it needs on a daily basis or pour chemicals in its roots because the color green isn’t satisfying anymore.

You would want to water the plant and place it in an area where the sunlight feeds it according to its needs. Perhaps you might even spoil your plant with rich vitamins and minerals to aid its growth. Can you see my picture here? Our hair is a magnificent extension of ourselves that should be looked upon and treated differently than ever before.


Here area a few ways you can start showing more love to your hair, the environment and contribute to cruelty free (no animal ingredients or testing) companies.

  • Instead of harsh dying chemicals try using an organic henna dye that’s nourishing to your hair, isn’t depleting to the earth, and is cruelty free. I have never dyed my hair to change its color, I love the darkness of my hair, however I did hear the benefits of using henna on your hair and wanted to give it a try. I ordered a color as close to my own from Henna Hair Dye and felt such a difference in my hair. Henna has an earthy scent, which doesn’t bother me, because the softness and richness my hair felt was unbeatable.
  • Instead of using shampoo with harsh sulfates and conditioners packed with silicone, which only give the illusion of sleek hair, use an organic or more plant based shampoo and conditioner. I use to buy into the hair commercials and then go to Target and purchase the product I thought was going to make my hair look like the lady’s in the commercial or ad. Once I came to my senses I discovered an amazing brand called Giovanni Cosmetics. Their 2 Chic Ultra-Sleek line actually lives up to its promise without the use of silicones, harsh chemicals and is, of course, cruelty free (the entire company is cruetly free).

I learned my hair type based off the curly girl method (not just for girls and guys with curls, but those with straight hair too) and once I started working with my natural hair I stopped hating it. How horrible to hate an extension of yourself. Lets learn to love every aspect of us.

My hair type is:

  • 3a
  • high porosity
  • thin density
  • medium strand thickness

Based off this I made my own personalized curly girl method and you should too. I’ll tell you what I use, but it took me some time to get all the products right that worked well with my hair.


I wash my hair no more than twice a week. There’s a lot of opinions on how often to wash, but ultimately you have to work with your own needs. Due to the fact my hair is on the thinner side and I am constantly doing yoga and sweating it tends to look greasy fast so I opted for twice a week washes.

First I COwash (conditioner wash) for a few minutes. This helps lift dirt and oil from my scalp so the shampoo can do it job well using only a small amount. I use an inexpensive Trader Joe’s conditioner as opposed to my Giovanni one for this step. Next I use my Giovanni shampoo and conditioner as normal. However, I shampoo mainly the scalp and slightly work my way down and condition from the ends up to the scalp. You don’t need a lot either, just enough to lightly coat it (use less conditioner on the scalp).

Never rub the products in the hair. Run the product through using “prayer”hands to avoid pulling and breaking the hair.

Once you are ready to dry, take a soft t-shirt or towel and blot the hair dry. I place all my hair on top of my head and blot twice. I then let it down and blot the scalp, working my way down the shaft towards the ends continuing to blot. Never wring your hair up in a towel or rub it abrasively.

Lastly I use a Shea Moisture leave-in conditioner. It is their Jamaican black castor oil with peppermint and a plant based keratin to help strengthen, grow and restore your gorgeous hair. I smooth it up from the ends to the shaft and whatever is left on my hands I quickly and lightly smooth on the top of my hair and nape of my neck, but not into my scalp.

Finally I follow up with Giovanni’s Eco Chic Frizz Be Gone applied in the same fashion as the leave-in conditioner and let it air dry.

Side Note: In between shampoo days you can water rinse your hair or wash just with conditioner (wash twice for added smoothness).


The absolute, must-do, is to wrap your hair every night before bed and anytime you may lay down to take a nap. Friction from our pillowcase can cause severe damage to our hair, especially if you’re sleeping on a cotton pillowcase.

I tried using a satin pillowcase, but I got so hot that I needed to go back to my cotton one. Therefore I bought a satin head wrap from my local beauty supply store and wrap my hair up every night. Before this I would braid my hair and, at least for my hair, noticed it was causing more harm than good. Since wrapping I have noticed a significant decrease in dryness, breakage and tangling and increase in softness, shine, and manageability.

Harmoniously Holistic

Living cruelty and chemically-free as possible.

SoniaLovesAsanas

Written by

I am a certified Yoga instructor, Vegan, and animal activist. I love living in balance with nature and living as holistically as possible.

Harmoniously Holistic

Living cruelty and chemically-free as possible.

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