Economic crisis, hair dos - how to cope

 

The rains are upon us and keeping her hair looking good, despite the weather and without running broke, is many a woman’s nightmare.

 

Here are some of the tips on how to keep your hair looking good in these tough economic times. 

Buy your hair products

 

According to Sandra Babirye, a hairdresser, you can cut your weekly saloon expenses if you purchased your own treatment products. She says this guarantees you a 30%-50% discount. 

 

Let’s say if each visit to the hairdresser, sets you back sh10,000, with your own treatment, you could pay 30% less, which is sh7,000. With such a discount, you may even worry less about the unpredictable weather, because it now seems a little cheaper to have your hair fixed after rain has messed it up.

 

If your saloon does not does not offer any discount even when you carry your own treatment product, just go to another one, a cheaper one perhaps. However, ensure that the hairdressers are professional. And if your worry is that you do not trust the new salon’s products, just carry your own shampoo, conditioner, relaxer, treatment and oils.

 

This is also the time for you to avoid saloons that have long queues. This is because such saloons whose services are often demanded by a big number of customers seem to have the leeway to keep raising their prices.

 

Babirye says another option to consider is braids or a weave to save you the expense of weekly saloon visits. 

 

Here the only expense is oiling or spraying the braids. These products go for about sh15,000 to sh20,000 at a beauty store and they can take you through the entire month. 

 

Ann Mugisha, a hairstylist, says you can also save if you go for a human hair weave that costs about sh25,000 to sh30,000. The weave can be sewn on to the hair at a cost of sh25,000. According to her, you can wear it for a month and then have it treated or have your hairdresser add highlights and style it. 

 

She notes that this will give your hair a fresh look, keeping it clean to promote healthy hair growth at a low cost shs15,000 once a month. 

 

Mugisha recommends cutting your hair short as yet another option. She says with this hairstyle, there is less stress from steamers, relaxers and long queues and the weekly financial constraints. All that is involved is a weekly trim that will cost about sh5,000 to sh15,000.

 

Mugisha also says this should be the time for you to buy a wear on weave, especially if you have short hair. When you are financially constrained, the wig can come in handy. Just spray, style and clip it on. 

A good weave will set you back about sh30,000, plus a spray of about sh15,000-shs20,000 that you will often use to freshen it and help style it.

 

Do it at home

It may seem stressing to unbraid your hair, but this should be the time to do it yourself. You can even get a friend to lend a hand. You will save about sh3,000-sh10,000 depending on how much you have been paying your hairdresser for the job.

 According to Mugisha you can also wash your hair, treat and style it at home. Here’s how. 

 

• Purchase shampoo, conditioner, styling lotion, treatment, hand dryer and rollers. Altogether, these products may cost about sh80, 000-sh100,000.

• Boil water and pour it in a basin or bucket. Add cool water to make it lukewarm.

• Wet your hair with some of the lukewarm water. 

• Pour a little shampoo in your hand and massage it into the hair and scalp. Rub vigorously for about two minutes. 

• Rinse the hair thoroughly.

• Apply more shampoo to your hair and rinse two more times to ensure that your hair gets clean. 

• Apply conditioner to your hair. 

• Apply a leave-in treatment and a styling lotion.  

• Set your hair using rollers. Dry hair using a hand dryer and then style.

• If you are using a deep penetration treatment, cover the hair with a bathroom cap or a polythene bag after applying it. Cover up for about 30 minutes until the cream loosens.

• Wash out the cream thoroughly with lukewarm water after the 30 minutes. Then apply conditioner and a styling lotion.

• Set hair with rollers to give it a curly touch. Or you could just blow dry you hair using a hand dryer.