My Hair Care Guide: Tools, Products, and Practices for Healthy Hair and Women’s Hormonal Health
Updated: Oct 1
I’ve been on a long-term journey for hair care. Ive done everything from the natural, DIY hair products to the drugstore products and even high end products.
While I am lucky in the hair genetics department, I still was stuck with straggly hair that wouldn't look good if grown past "mermaid length".
While this post seemingly has nothing to do with hormones, periods, women’s health and naturopathic medicine, I have a feeling that all of us out there could use a little bit of support in the hair department. Beauty may start on the inside, but once health is on track and you look AND feel amazing, then you literally become unstoppable.
It’s worth noting that hair health often reflects overall women’s health. Hormones, stress, nutrition, thyroid function, and even digestion can affect hair growth, thickness, and shine. Supporting your body internally is just as important as caring for your hair externally, and addressing these areas can improve not only your hair but also your overall energy, skin, and hormonal balance.
So, with my tendency to dive into a topic and research everything there is about it, here is what my current routine and thoughts are, surrounding our hair.
1. How We View Our Hair
Hair is literally an extension of you. But the challenging part is that since it doesn’t feel pain, we often forget to be gentle with it. I see so many people angrily brushing or taming their hair as though they’re trying to wrangle it into control. But actually, our hair is something to cherish and protect. Being gentle with our hair—both the ends and the roots—will have long-term benefits.
Each hair strand that gets caught in the brush and snaps off will likely become a split end. Proper hair care starts with how we handle it every day.
I literally find myself apologizing to my hair if it gets tangled or snagged badly. I feel bad!
2. Hair Growth vs. Maintenance
Most people focus on ways to make their hair grow faster, but don’t always consider why it won’t grow past a certain length before breaking off. For this, we need to look at supporting the health of our ends.
Hair growth:
To support hair growth, we look to our roots.
Roots are greatly affected by blood flow, vitamin levels, hormones, and whole-body health.
Here are some nutrients that have a big impact on hair growth (I'm not suggesting you go out and buy all of these!):
Proteins & Building Blocks
Protein - keratin is the main structural protein in hair
Collagen - provides amino acids like proline and glycine for hair structure
Vitamins
Vitamin A – supports scalp oil (sebum) production and cell growth
Vitamin B7 (Biotin) – important for keratin production and stronger strands
Vitamin B12 – supports red blood cell formation and oxygen delivery to the follicles
Folate (B9) – aids cell turnover and follicle growth
Vitamin C – boosts collagen production and helps absorb iron
Vitamin D – linked to new follicle growth and reduced shedding
Vitamin E – an antioxidant that protects the scalp and improves circulation
Minerals
Iron – prevents hair loss by supporting oxygen delivery to hair roots
Zinc – regulates oil glands and tissue growth/repair
Magnesium – supports protein synthesis and scalp circulation
Selenium – antioxidant role, prevents follicle damage
Copper – helps with pigmentation and keratin production
Essential Fats
Omega-3 fatty acids – nourish follicles, reduce scalp inflammation, add shine
Next to consider is how hormonal health can impact hair growth:
Hormones
High androgens (testosterone, DHT) - Can shrink follicles, leading to thinning hair, especially at the top of the head.
Low estrogen & progesterone - Reduced protection of follicles, causing shedding (common in post-partum, perimenopause).
Thyroid imbalance (hypo/hyper) - Slows follicle turnover, leading to brittle, thinning hair.
Insulin resistance - Increases androgens, which worsen hair loss or PCOS-related thinning.
Stress
Cortisol spikes - Push follicles into the resting phase, leading to shedding (telogen effluvium).
Chronic stress - Restricts scalp blood flow and lowers nutrient delivery.
Stress-driven inflammation - Damages follicles and impairs regrowth.
While this might seem incredibly overwhelming, this is something a naturopathic doctor (like me!) can help you with!
Hair Length Maintenance
Hair ends, on the other hand (which may have been with you for 3–10+ years depending on your length), are most affected by how you treat, style, and dye your hair.
Regular trims, protective styles, and avoiding heat or dye can go a long way in preserving length. We'll talk more about that in the rest of this post.
3. A Naturopath's Favourite Hair Tools
Wet/Dry Detangler
I've been wary of using a brush on wet hair, but trying to finger detangle my straight hair often made things worse. By using my super gentle detangler from the ends of my hair and slowly working upwards, I get way fewer knots and breakage from snags.
Wooden Brushes
I love my bamboo brush for a soothing end-of-day scalp massage. I find that it can easily snag on my ends if they're not fully brushed out, so I just keep the brushstrokes to my head and scalp.
Boar Bristle Brush
A natural boar bristle brush helps bring scalp oils down to the ends. Since I wash my hair every 3–5 days, those natural oils are my best protection.
This brush is best used slowly from roots to ends. The old saying of “100 brush strokes a night” for shiny, healthy hair was likely referring to boar bristle brushing, since this can have lasting effects on our hair health.
Shower Scalp Massager
A shower scalp massager isn’t necessary, since we all have fingers that can do the same job, but I love mine. It helps massage (not scrub) the scalp, increasing blood flow and loosening oil or skin cell buildup.
The key is to apply pressure in small circles, almost as if pulling the scalp gently under your fingertips instead of roughly scrubbing the roots.
If you do use your fingers, be mindful not to scrub with your nails! Just use the pads of your fingers if possible.
Hair Scissors
I use hair scissors for “search and destroy” missions: trimming one split end at a time. It’s meditative, though time-consuming. Please don’t use your general kitchen scissors, those aren’t built the same way and can damage your ends more than just leaving the ends alone.
To do this, I section my hair, then carefully trim any splits I see.
I only trim one single hair at a time, instead of chunks of hair, especially with straight hair it’s very obvious where a chunk was cut off by accident.
This practice taught me where most splits occur (usually the top layers) and showed me that some hairs split several inches up, not just at the bottom.
This YouTube account has been so inspirational for my hair care journey, check out how she recommends trimming your hair ends: https://youtu.be/jv1PEmmDiGk?si=K1ZmOdrJiyFXlQHW
4. Washing and Drying Hair
Be extra gentle in the shower. Wet hair stretches more easily and can weaken or break. Unless I've used conditioner in my hair for some extra slip, I won't detangle it when its wet.
After washing, I wrap my hair in a microfiber towel and try to avoid vigorously scrubbing my wet hair to dry. Once it’s mostly dry, I apply hair oil to the ends and a heat protection spray if I'm blow drying it. My hair gets pretty frizzy and fluffy after air drying, so I usually blow-dry it the rest of the way so I have more sleek hair for the week.
5. Everyday Hair Practices
Daily habits have a big impact on long-term hair health.
Protective Styles
Protective styles are essentially those that help to keep hair strands together and tidy. Think braids, buns, twists, etc.
When I leave my hair down, my fine-textured, yet thick hair often mats at the nape of my neck when rubbing against sweaters or hoodies. It also gets tangled even in the wind or stuck under my purse straps or in zippers etc., so wearing it up when possible helps to prevent that.
I’m cautious with elastics since they can snag and stress the crown of my head and potentially weaken the hair follicles there. Wearing hair down all the time also led to snags and tangles, so now I mix it up depending on the day.
Bonnets and Scarves
A silk bonnet at night has been one of my best discoveries. My partner teases me for looking like a grandma, but I love how silky and smooth my hair feels the next morning. It also tames frizz after a wash day.
I used to braid my hair overnight, which worked for protection but didn’t suit my hair texture and just left me with waves that wouldn't hold up well. Before buying a bonnet, I tried a thrifted silk scarf and wrapped it around my head and hair overnight. I loved it—so much that I even made my own! Silk is my preference, though satin works well too and is more affordable.
Here’s the video that taught me how to wrap my hair with a silk scarf.
Here’s a video that I used to make my own silk bonnet.
Final Thoughts
It’s been quite the experience with growing my hair, and I've loved going down so many rabbit holes to try new things.
I’ve noticed many baby hairs growing in, which make my hair appear frizzy, especially when it rains, but they’re just little babies!
I also notice a lot of hair falling in the shower, since my hair is so long. When I lose a strand, the volume seems like a lot. But since I only wash my hair every few days, that’s when my hair is worked through and finally sheds the hairs that were on their way out anyway.
I also noticed that my layers tend to tangle the most, compared to my longest ends, and getting a haircut with minimal layers has been helping it look even more thick and full.
As a naturopathic doctor, I believe that whole body health is incredibly important and can't be overlooked. Everything from nutrient absorption, digestive concerns, hormone changes and stress levels can impact hair growth. If you feel like your hair concerns are deeper than merely avoiding heat and styling, then let's dive deeper into that.
