Hair Balm: Creamy Shea

 What Is Your Hair Type?

In my youth, I had pin-straight hair and was envious of friends with wavy and curly hair. But those friends were jealous of my straight hair! Whether your hair type is straight, wavy, curly, coily, or somewhere in between, your locks are beautiful. 

In the same way that understanding your skin type is important for creating an effective skincare routine, determining your hair type can play a huge role in helping you to reach your hair goals.

Hair type has 4 major categories: straight hair (type 1), wavy hair (type 2), curly hair (type 3), and coily hair (type 4). These 4 types of hair are further categorized into A, B, and C subtypes creating 12 total categories.

The best way to determine your hair type is to see your hair in its natural state. By simply looking at your hair you can recognize some obvious characteristics. The next time you wash your hair, allow it to air-dry without any styling or hair products. This will help you to define the natural shape or pattern (texture) of your hair. For example:

• If your hair dries straight without a bend or curl, then you have straight hair (type 1).
• If your hair dries with a slight curve or “S” shape, then you have wavy hair (type 2).
• If your hair dries with a defined curl, then you have curly hair (type 3). This type of curly hair has springy ringlets or corkscrew curl patterns, but is not as dense as coily hair.
• If, as your hair dries, it shrinks to form tight curls or dense spirals, then you have coily hair (type 4), which is often called a "natural" hair type. This hair type is more fragile and prone to breakage than others, requiring a more specialized hair care routine.

It is important to remember that most people do not have just one type of hair. They often have two different hair textures on various parts of their head.

Each of these hair textures will need special care and attention to enhance its natural best characteristics. Also, even though two people share the same natural wave, it does not mean they possess the same exact hair type. You are unique!

Hair Density vs. Hair Texture: Not the Same Thing

The terms "thick hair" and "thin hair " can be confusing. You can have dense fine hair — meaning lots of thin strands packed together — or coarse hair that’s sparse — fewer thick strands spread farther apart.

Hair Texture: The Thickness of Each Strand

The texture of your hair is determined by the thickness or diameter of an individual hair strand. There are 3 basic categories:

• Thin or fine
• Medium
• Thick or coarse

To determine your hair texture, use a single strand of hair and compare it to the size of a piece of typical sewing thread.

• Fine hair is thinner than a thread
• Medium hair is similar in width
• Coarse hair is wider.

Thin hair does not style very easily. Medium hair is relatively easy to style and can hold curls for a longer time period. Thicker strands are very easy to curl, but because they are less pliable, they can be difficult to style or hold their shape.

Texture is what determines how your hair feels between your fingers and how it responds to moisture and styling.

Hair Density: How Much Hair You Have on Your Scalp

Hair density is the number of hair strands per square inch of your scalp.

• Low density: Fewer hair follicles per inch — the scalp may show through.
• Medium density: Moderate coverage with a little scalp visibility.
• High density: Many strands growing close together — hair looks full and voluminous.

Density affects how hair looks overall, how hair will react to certain products, and how well it will hold different hairstyles. People with low-density hair often do better with lightweight products, while high-density hair may need richer formulas to coat every strand.

What Is Hair Porosity?

Porosity refers to your hair’s ability to absorb moisture as well as hair products. You can easily determine the porosity of your hair with a simple experiment.

• Place a single strand of hair into a bowl of water.
• Does the strand sink to the bottom? If yes, it has high porosity, which means it is soaking up a lot of moisture due to gaps or tears around the cuticle..
• Does the strand sink, but only a bit? If yes, your hair is absorbing just enough moisture to keep it healthy and well-balanced.
• Does the strand float above the surface of the water? If yes, your hair has low porosity, which means it does not absorb moisture easily.

It seems like hair with high porosity would be well hydrated all the time since it can easily absorb moisture easily. However, due to the gap areas around the cuticle, the hair also loses moisture very easily, which can result in hair that is dry, brittle, frizzy, and prone to breakage.

On the other hand, that flattened cuticles of hair with a low porosity actually blocks moisture from being absorbed into the strands. Since hair care products are not readily absorbed, product buildup on hair strands is often a problem. Hair care products should be applied sparingly while hair is still damp so product is more easily absorbed and distributed.

To keep your hair healthy and nourished, it is important to develop a haircare routine that includes proper hydration. Knowing your hair type is crucial, as it helps you choose the right products for straight, wavy, curly, or coily/kinky hair.

Shampoo Bars Are One Of Our Favorite Discoveries!

The wholesome goodness of our handcrafted soap is available for your hair.

Shampoo bars are an all natural conditioning shampoo in a solid bar form. Yes, this is real shampoo in a solid bar. Shampoo bars are not a new idea.

They were commonly used before liquid detergent shampoos and conditions were invented in the 1940s.

Although the process for making a shampoo bar is the same as making soap, our shampoo bar "recipes" are specially formulated with natural plant oils, butters, botanicals and essential oils that nourish your hair and scalp.

Our shampoo bars contain no artificial fragrance, color, preservatives, detergents, alcohol, urea, formaldehyde, sodium lauryl sulfate, DEA, propylene glycol - or any of the other synthetic hair care additives.

Each of our shampoo bar selections contains a different blend of natural plant oils, essential oils, and herb infused oils. No two recipes are the same.

Which Shampoo Bar Is Best For My Hair?

Click here for help choosing an all natural shampoo bar!

Everything You Want To Know About Shampoo Bars!

Please read "Everything About Shampoo Bars!"

Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve is a USDA Certified Organic Company

The most important consideration in any business is its customers. Today's world of misleading claims, false advertising, and simple deception, often leaves consumers trying to discover the truth about personal products and their ingredients.

• We want our customers to know that we are committed to transparency in everything we do.
• We want our customers to know that when we say "organic," we mean it.
• We believe that in becoming a USDA Certified Organic company, our customers do not have to wonder if we really use certified organic ingredients or if our organic products are truly organic.
• So we choose to be a certified organic company and abide by the strict standards required for organic certification.

Some of my favorite products are made with ingredients that just do not exist as certified organic. Why? At this time there are no standards created for ingredients specifically used in the personal care product industry. Organic certification of personal care products is based on the organic food standards set by the National Organic Program of the USDA.

But since we are a certified organic company, we are required to submit documentation that even our "non-organic ingredients" were produced without the use of toxic pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), sewage sludge, or irradiation.

Why Did We Become a Certified Organic Company?

What Do All of the Organic Labels Mean?

Organic Soap Labeling