How to put the I in indulgence this festival season

Festival season is right around the corner and it won’t be long before the streets are a riot of colours. It’s time to get the iron box out, sweet treats in and gifts are being given all around – but let’s not forget about celebrating ourselves! Indulgence comes in different flavours and we aren’t just talking about the myriad of festival sweets laid out on the family dining table. This season, let us help you put the “I” in indulgence with some well-deserved TLC (tender love and care) so that you can finish the rest of the year with renewed energy.

Taking care of the “I” starts with understanding the “why”. Most of us are aware that the festive season has now become synonymous with stubble burning up north. It has been estimated that farmers in northern India burn about 23 million tonnes of paddy stubble every year. A classic policy problem that has turned into a health hazard. The increase in pollutants coupled with the cold weather setting in is a recipe for disaster. Instead of rising with the hot air and dispersing, the dropping temperatures means that these pollutants are settling down. While we all have a basic understanding that pollutants are a bad idea, we’re here to give you the breakdown of how pollutants break down our hair health.

Why your hair needs TLC right now

A groundbreaking study published in the Annals of Dermatology a year ago showed that pollutants are detrimental to hair growth because of their ability to induce cell death in hair follicular keratinocytes. What this means is that pollutants are able to penetrate hair follicles, the portion of the hair strand that is buried underneath the scalp and responsible for hair growth. If these cells, the follicular keratinocytes, die, the hair strand falls out.

So is this a losing battle? Absolutely not! Researchers have been able to determine the root cause (excuse the pun) of hair loss by pollutants. Pollutants increase the amount of reactive oxygen which is incredibly harmful if left alone. The oxygen radicals bounce around the hair follicles, damaging them and ultimately inducing cell death. But worry not. Antioxidants are here to rescue you. Just like how the term suggests, antioxidants neutralise the oxygen radicals and therefore help prevent hair loss and improve scalp health.

Thus, it’s super important for us to keep in mind that because of the increased pollutants during this festival season, extra self-care goes a long way to preventing long term damage!

It’s the time to indulge

Antioxidants are found far and wide in natural ingredients. Our personal favourites are acai berries, blue tea and hemp seed and we’re proud to say that we’ve been able to incorporate them in clean and conscious ways. Apart from ensuring that your hair is well-protected, you can have a guilt-free celebration with our biodegradable, sustainable haircare options. We’d like to suggest indulging in one of our bundles this festival season so that your hair can be as bundled up as the rest of you!

We’ve got the bundle of two – a shampoo bar and deep conditioner – and the bundle of three – shampoo bar, deep conditioner and scalp oil. In the order of appearance, here’s how this routine can help clean up the pollutants’ mess.

Scalp treatment oils:

Since pollutants attack the hair follicles underneath the scalp, solving the problem from the grassroots makes sense! Take your pick – we’ve got hemp seed oil to revive pollutant damaged hair and camellia oil to help pollutant caused dry and itchy scalps to heal.

Shampoo bars:

The lights of our lives, the shampoo bars are an absolute must for damage control. Our combos allow you to pick from antioxidant-rich acai berries – for hair fall, master antioxidant activating blue tea – for a damaged scalp or rich in omega fatty acids, hemp seed – for dryness and damage repair. They all really get to the bottom of the pollutant pile!

Deep conditioners:

To seal in your routine’s added protection, the deep conditioners bring life back into your tresses. They each condition and strengthen your hair shafts so you simply can’t go wrong, be it if you choose the acai, blue tea or hemp seed conditioner loaded with plant proteins like baobab and keratin.

Wishing you oodles of joy and a very happy festival season,

Team Switch

About the author:

Aishwarya is a science communicator passionate about bridging the gap between citizens and research through fun and accessible ways. When she’s not writing articles or recording podcast episodes, you can find her in the field conducting research on menopause for her postgraduate studies. Aishwarya is a customer turned author at The Switch Fix.