Hair!

 

 

Hey Loves,

A lot of you have been writing to me lately and asking me about my hair! It is very sweet and very flattering that some of you like my hair :) , but I promise you that it was not always the case that I had good hair!! Once upon a time, I had to keep my hair in a bun all the time, because it was so dry and brittle, and clumped together like semi, unintentional dreadlocks. Soooo not pretty! And quite unfortunate. So If my hair can change, and now be healthy and soft with very minimal care, the same can happen for you, and you truly can grow the hair you want from the inside out!

I promise you that your diet has a major impact on your hair. The changes might not show as quickly as other parts of your body when you change your diet, because your body will work to cleanse, repair and revitalize the more life-giving parts of your body, like your organs, blood, digestive tract, etc. You will usually see a difference in your skin first before your hair. But as you continue to cleanse and alkalize your body, consuming plenty of beauty minerals a day, your hair will start to really shift!

Here are a few of my hair tips:

1. Eat your greens! (I’m sure you knew that would be my number #1 :)  ). Again, the easiest way to really up the anty on your intake of greens to to get your Green Smoothies in!!

2. Use minimal products. They just weigh your hair down. Your hair really doesn’t need that much. The peeps in Bora Bora that didn’t put anything in their hair had stunning locks! My routine is this: Shampoo, condition, and comb my hair out in the shower. When I get out, I turn my head upside down and put a little bit of leave in conditioner in it. That’s it! Air dry all the way, all the time. Sometimes, if I am in a rush (or forgot shampoo, like this last trip to LA!) I just wash it with water. But I never skip the leave-in conditioner!

3. Use products without sulfates/sulfites- these are toxic ingredients that will go into your scalp and body. There are a bunch out there now. I like the  Hamadi and Ojon brands. One of my yoga students Emily gave me a bottle of Bumble and Bumble’s Curl Conscious leave in. It rocks the house! But it is not exactly natural, unfortunately!

4. If your hair is feeling really weighed down, I highly recommend a Lemon Rinse. Simply dampen your hair, then pour lemon juice onto your scalp and massage in. Leave in for 5-10 minutes. Rinse out. For this you don’t have to squeeze fresh lemon juice, you can use the pre-bottled stuff. Save the fresh lemons for your salads and smoothies!! It’s a really great and natural way to cleanse out any old debris from your hair and scalp.

5. Cut down on the really acidic stuff that will delay how the changes in your diet that will affect your hair. The really acidic stuff includes coffee, sodas, all dairy products including yogurt, meat, refined sugar and refined starches. You know, the crap you hear me tell you to avoid over and over again. But now that you  know it will affect the bounciness and beauty of your HAIR, maybe you will listen now, hmmmmmm?? :)

I’m excited for you to have GREAT HAIR!!!

Lots of love,

xx Kimberly

 

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19 Responses to Hair!

  1. Ophélie October 6, 2009 at 11:17 am #

    Hello Kim,

    Neutral henna (Cassia Obovata) also does wonders for hair! It’s 100% natural, and it makes my hair really shiny and stronger.
    Ghassoul is great too.

    Now, about the green smoothie, is zucchini considered as a green? Because it tastes quite good with apples!

    Have a nice day,
    Ophélie

    • kimberlysnyder October 7, 2009 at 11:21 am #

      Hey Ophelie,
      Great! Thanks for sharing about the henna. Is that a form that doesn’t color your hair a different color?

      And yes, zucchini is a great inclusion!!!
      xx Kimberly

      • Ophélie October 8, 2009 at 7:08 am #

        Hey Kim,

        It doesn’t color your hair at all, because this is not real henna actually. Henna always color your hair. What is called neutral henna is Cassia Obovata. It looks and smell like henna, hence the unofficial name.

        It’s really great. It makes your hair stronger, really shiny. My hair even looks thicker. It can be drying though, so beware if you already have dry locks. I would recommend adding coconut oil to your mix.

        xoxo
        Ophélie

        • kimberlysnyder October 8, 2009 at 5:27 pm #

          Ophelie, Wow, thanks! You learn something new every day. I do love coconut oil!!

  2. Em October 7, 2009 at 2:01 am #

    Hi Kim,
    I agree with everyone else – your hair is absolutely gorgeous! My hair is very fine and was getting dry, but I started putting coconut oil in my hair before bed and rinsing it out in the morning and my hair has never looked shinier! I only do that once a week though, but I’ve gotten so many compliments from people! I’ve never used leave-in conditioner before. What brand do you use on a daily basis?

    Keep up the great work. I LOVE your blog and because of you, I now drink 32-48 oz of green smoothies a day and feel SOO light and energized :-)

    Thanks again!
    Em

    • kimberlysnyder October 7, 2009 at 1:51 pm #

      Hi Em,
      Thanks!!! I am sure your hair will rebuild with the Green Smoothie over time! Be sure to cut out dairy too for faster results.

      I use coconut oil also sometimes as my leave-in conditioner!! If it works for you I would stick with it for sure. I don’t use very much, because it can get oily, if I’m not rinsing it out, but it was my only hair product for months when I was traveling across Asia. :)

      Like I said, I like the Hamadi brand, which is pretty natural, as another option. :)
      Come visit me soon!
      Kimberly

  3. jocelynsteiber October 7, 2009 at 10:34 pm #

    Hey Kim,

    You are absolutely gorgeous. Besides having my dream hair your smile lights up a room. But back to the hair! haha…I’ve been trying to grow my hair out for about 9 years now! And it’s still only about shoulder length. I eat a well balanced diet (I’m obsessed with green smoothies!!) and I’ve tried everything from biotin to pre-natal vitamins to grow my hair and nothing seems to work. I HAVE been highlighting my hair since I was in 9th grade (I’m 23 now). Recently in the past year I’ve been cutting down on the highlighting and when I do I use an organic highlighter which is better then that peroxide I was using previously. Any other suggestions?! Thanks!!

    • kimberlysnyder October 8, 2009 at 5:20 pm #

      Hi Jocelyn,
      Well thanks but look whose talking! YOU are gorgeous!! Hmmm. Even if your diet is good, cleansing is the other part of the battle. We have to pull toxicity and acidity out of the body. Even if your diet it good- and actually I should say especially when your diet is good, waste can get kicked up and recirculate. Acidity can help keep the blood from circulating alkaline minerals efficiently around the body, and to the hair. So just throwing supplements on top of the acidic condition of the body isn’t really going to help on its own. Besides also eating well, gravity-centered colonics have really helped me get old waste out. So have daily probiotics (I like the Dr. Ohhira brand), dry skin brushing, and drinking Kombucha. Also, make sure you eat your fruit and smoothies on an empty stomach, to prevent the acidification of the fruit!
      Let me know what you think of these ideas and which are feasible for you—- and write me back!
      Lots of love!
      Jocelyn

  4. Riia October 10, 2009 at 6:09 am #

    Hi!

    Thanks for the tips for good hair! :) I found your blog about a month ago and have been reading it ever since. I’ve also started to change my diet to more and more towards raw and organic. It’s been really great to notice that nowdays there is a lot less highly processed food products and sweets and such in my grocery basket, even though I used to have quite a sweet tooth. I’ve managed to satisfy my need for sweet with raisins. :)

    I haven’t been able to give up coffee (even tough I’ve tried many times before for various reasons), but after reading this post I’ll have to try harder. About three/four years ago, my hair started to fall of rapidly and it got really thin. I went to the doctor various times, had expensive tests done but no one could really tell me why I was loosing hair. The test results were fine, and in the end one doctor told just to start eating iron pills, since my hemoglobin was slightly below average. I suspect now that the reason for the hair loss was a change in my diet and other habits, since I moved out of my childhood home (my parents were organic farmers and I lived in the countryside eating mostly food that was made from the products that grew in the farm) to go and study in university. I started to consume a lot more coffee, alcohol and microwave meals that I had ever before.

    I struggeled with the hair loss for sometime, but then I just accepted the fact that no pill that a doctor could give me or what I could get from the pharmacy could cure me. I started to eat a lot of vitamin pills etc (even though I know they aren’t as good as getting the vitamins from actual food) and gave up most hair products. I now use only organic shampoo and conditioner (and my sometimes on rare occasions hairspray).

    After I started using organic shampoo etc. I noticed that my scalp looked better, and the hair loss didn’t continue as rapidly as it had been. My hair isn’t as good as it was in my teenage years, but I hope that by changing my diet more towards raw I’ll eventually get back my old head of hair. :)

    • kimberlysnyder October 22, 2009 at 1:01 pm #

      Hi Riia!
      That is wonderful about the changes you are making in your diet and in your life!
      If you continue to alkalize your body, you should see improvements in your hair. I’m not sure what your diet was like before, but what can be helpful for most every one, to help remove excess acid from the body, is to try some gravity-centered colonics. It can help your whole body rebalance.
      Good luck with your hair and keep in touch!
      xx Kimberly

  5. Charlene (JA) October 10, 2009 at 9:09 am #

    Yeah Kim!! Great Post. I can truly attest to the difference products with mostly if not all natural/organic ingredients make! They truly changed my hair for the better! love ya

    • kimberlysnyder October 15, 2009 at 11:08 am #

      Thanks Girl. :) Which products do you use in Jamaica? Do you put coconut oil in your hair?
      Love!!

  6. Tonia October 16, 2009 at 1:12 am #

    Thanks for the great post. I’ll try the Hamadi brand. I have a question about how you style your hair. You said after washing your hair you put leave in conditioner in it and let it air dry. You don’t put it in a towel or bun? Do you let it air dry straight? Also, do you have any advice for getting your hair cut to work with this method of styling? I have very thick long wavy hair and I would love to have it look fabulous and spend less time styling it. When I saw your post it got me all excited and I would love to know exactly how you do it! Thanks for the great blog, I love it!

    • kimberlysnyder October 16, 2009 at 9:24 am #

      Hey Tonia!
      If you put your hair up in a towel or in a bun (both of which I used to do), you “squash” its natural texture. There is a salon here in NYC called Diva Curl, and 2 of my friends go there and taught me all about how I was “squashing” my waves. That’s why I comb it in the shower now. I don’t do anything to it while it is drying, that way its real body can come out. The only thing I do is bobby pin back the hair out of my eyes in the front when its drying so I can still function!
      The hair cut is key to everything. I used to get my hair angled in the front. Then I was on a shoot one day, and the hair person was like, “Girl, your hair is heavy! You need layers!” She cut layers into the back and all around my hair, but subtle. It instantly made my hair bouncy and looked like it was styled a lot! She has been cutting my hair ever since. :) So for me, not having my hair all one big layer, and just a little angling on the side, has made all the difference in the world. Now it has life!
      Hope that helps. Let me know how you do. :)
      xx Kimberly

  7. Anna October 20, 2009 at 1:18 pm #

    Hello hello again!!

    Just wondering when you say to avoid the dairy products, i drink milk everyday with my cereal…if i stop it, where would i get calcium???? Is it already in the greens??

    Oh! and btw, do you use natural/organic make up??? If u do, could you give some brand names!! Would love to try some!

    Hope your well!! Have a lovely week ahead of you!!

    P.S Going to make my first green smoothie tomorrow!! Excited! x x x

  8. Lilly August 26, 2010 at 10:34 pm #

    Hi Kim,
    First off i just wanna say that i love your blog ever since i came across it a few days ago i have been reading it non stop. You are an amazing women and truley inspiring!
    I have tried the green smoothie twice and am feeling fantastic!
    I have oily dandruff have used medicated shampoos but they dont work at all in fact they make the problem worse and I cant seem to get rid of it i am using pantene at the moment also i massage my scalp with coconut oil occasionally. i know that sulfates are not good for the health of my scalp but i have tried many sulfate free shampoos such as giovanni aubrey etc. but i find that they dont clean my hair properly even when i wash twice and i find that i loose more hair because i have to really massage the shampoo into my scalp and hair where as with the panetene i hardly have to use any and my hair is clean no problems.
    So my question is can i still use pantene or should i use giovanni and there a different way to use it?
    xoxox
    Lilly

    • kimberlysnyder August 27, 2010 at 3:53 pm #

      Hi Lilly!
      As your diet improves so will your hair. Try the Ojon brand, I really like it and it is sulfate-free.
      Come visit me again!
      xo

  9. Maria July 26, 2011 at 7:08 pm #

    Hi Kimberly,

    Do you have any advice for us ladies suffering from scalp problems like sebborheic dermatitis? I have long, wavy, ultra thick coarse hair. I suffered from acne since I was eight and sebborheic dermatitis on my scalp since my early twenties. I discovered dandruff shampoos do not really work for me. In the summer when it’s hot and humid, my scalp will break out and I will develop a bacterial infection. Right now I am on tetracycline to get rid of the bacterial infection on my scalp. Any advice on how I can treat this problem? Prevent it from happening? I admit I don’t always eat properly. I am addicted to sugar especially sugary drinks like Pepsi. I also have very oily skin that has the tendency to break out. I will be 45 next week. Could you PLEASE help me? Thank you so much! My dermatologist recommended me to wash my hair more often, but the truth is I was already washing my hair every other day and sometimes every two days. I’ve also been told by doctors not to use conditioner. What is your advice? Please help! I’ve suffered from these problems since I was eight years old and I’m so tired of it!

    PS. Any thoughts on how to improve asthma? endometriosis? I have those conditions too! I really want to get healthy and improve my general health! Thank you for reading this and any help you can give me!

    Maria

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