Pollen Season is here & coming in with a vile mission of making us miserable. From itchy, watery eyes, to sneezing & sinus issues. Some of yous reading this may not have allergies or have very mild allergies. Congrats! You may or may not find this helpful. Those who do suffer from seasonal allergies due to pollen, this is for you.
Hair has been proven to be an excellent trapping medium for pollen. A pollen magnet one might say. When you go outside pollen is there, making its home in your hair & going back inside your house with you. Pollen on your hair can cause you more seasonal allergy reactions. By your hair being in your face, to the pollen transferring to your pillowcase at night, you are breathing in pollen in your house. Pollen will transfer to the inside of hats, hair bands & accessories, clothing, hair combs & brushes, & other people. Let's chat real quick about hats, hair bands, & hair accessories. If you go outside for any amount of time without a hat, you have pollen on your hair. Once you put that hat on some of that pollen will transfer to the inside of your hat. When you wake up the next day, shampoo your hair, & then put your hat back on, some of that pollen on the inside of your hat will transfer to your hair. And the cycle continues. The same happens with head bands & hair accessories. Wash your hats, hair bands, & hair accessories regularly to minimize your exposure to pollen.
The vile plans of pollen is to be everywhere at all times making everyone miserable. Pollen wants you, your kids, loved ones, friends, pets, & enemies to all be miserable with the sneezing, the sinus blockage, the post nasal drip, and whatever hell pollen can conjure up.
Pollen can also get to your scalp & cause scalp itchiness which causes a chain reaction. The chain reaction starts with you scratching your scalp causing little abrasions, which then causes your scalp to be more sensitive especially to chemical services such as color.
How can you minimize the vile plans of pollen? There are a few actions you can take to minimize the vile plans. One of the best actions is to wash your hair more often. "Kari, I don't want to wash my hair any more than I do. Can I just rinse it at night?"
You can just rinse it at night. However..... you know how you get those pollen lines on your car after it rains? That's pretty much what's going to happen with just rinsing your hair at night. The pollen in not completely gone, it is fewer in number & in a different formation. This means you probably can open your car door without touching the pollen. The pollen is still there.
Depending on what kind of styling products you use, rinsing your hair will remove some of the pollen but not all.
Is removing some pollen better than not removing any? Yeap. Use your own judgement.
You should also know that not all styling products rinse clean off with just water. If you rinse your hair off & your hair feels sticky & icky you need to wash it.
Using a gentle, lightweight shampoo nightly will decrease your pollen exposure. By shampooing your hair, pollen won't transfer to your pillowcase. If you shampoo 2x a week: use your normal shampoo 2x a week & a gentle shampoo the other 5 days a week. Shampooing daily isn't bad if you are using the correct shampoo & hair care routine. I highly recommend having at least 2 different shampoos to alternate for best results regardless of pollen season.
The goal is to remove the pollen to minimize your allergic reactions. The longer you go between shampoos, the more pollen build up. The more pollen build up, the more pollen transfer & exposure, and the longer your allergies will last & possibly the worse your allergies will become. Other Tips: -Change & wash your pillowcases more frequently -Wipe your pet's paws with a damp towel when they are coming inside. Make sure to get between their toes. This helps keep your pet healthier & minimizing the transfer of pollen throughout your house.
-Keep your shoes outside or in a designated area near the entrance you use most often. This helps keeps pollen from being transfer throughout your house.
-Wash your hats, hair accessories, combs, & brushes on the regular basis. You can simply rinse your combs & brushes after each use.
At the end of the day, minimizing the transfer & exposure of pollen is the goal. You are not going to be able to live a 100% pollen free life here in SC but you can minimize your exposure to it.
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