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I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my hair lately! 

Since I started training for the triathlon I’ve been swimming a lot more. I haven’t stopped since the race was over. I think I get the best sleep of my adult life after a long swim. 

But my hair is looking rough. 

So, I’m going back to a hair care routine that I know works — the capillary hair schedule. 

Let’s get into what it is, what to use, and how to write a capillary schedule that’s going to work for you! 

What is a capillary schedule?

So, ‘capillary schedule’ is a Brazilian hair care routine. 

Basically, it is about nourishing your hair with a certain hair mask before every wash. And, depending on your hair type and its’ needs, you get a schedule for what type of mask to use when. 

What I love about it as a routine is that it’s focused on health and nourishment of your hair. So many of these routines focus on something that looks good in the short term but leads to weakening of the hair fiber. I love that this is a routine that is focused on long-term health and happiness of your hair!

Regardless of what damaged your hair–chlorine, chemical processes, the flat iron–you can restore it to health with nourishment. 

And this will work for hair of every texture. In the case of curly hair, wavy hair, coily hair, or straight hair — you will just need to adjust to find products with the correct weight for your hair texture. (Suggestions coming later in this post!)

If there’s one drawback to this method, it’s that you need three different products. I’ll suggest DIY options where available for people who need to keep the cost down! 

What are the three masks for? 

In the capillary schedule, you’ve got masks for three things: adding moisture, adding nutrition, and rebuilding bonds.

In the method, they call these (in order) hydration, nutrition, and reconstruction. 

Hydration is there to restore water to dry hair, and to add ingredients that help keep water in. These masks add deep hydration and address brittle hair or frizz. Key ingredients here: aloe vera, honey, glycerin, butters like shea butter or cocoa butter.

Nutrition is there to re-add oils and lipids to the hair, improving shine. For curlies, this will also improve definition. Key ingredients for nutrition are the oils that are best for your hair. Many people like coconut oil or olive oil — I personally love jojoba oil. And surely you’ve seen one thousand influencers dying to sell you rosemary oil for your hair. 

and Reconstruction can go one of two ways: a keratin or protein mask that adds strength and rebuilds bonds, or a true keratin treatment in a salon, if that’s for you. This can also be accomplished with a DIY mask, if you want to go that route!

Each of these masks does a job that everyone’s hair needs. We all need all three of these things! But depending on your hair type, you need different amounts of each. That’s where the schedule comes in. 

A custom capillary schedule — what to use when

Okay, so there are a lot of really strict, prescriptive schedules out there that will tell you exactly what to do when. 

That’s not really our style here. 

First: they have you pick your schedule based on that hair porosity test where you drop hair strands in a glass of water. And that test doesn’t work consistently. 

Instead of having you focus in on one little test and treating it like your bible, we’re going to design a personal schedule that’s going to work for you. 

step one 

​ make a grid with four rows, and one column for every time you wash your hair per week. So, if you wash your hair twice a week, it’s a grid 2 wide and 4 high. If you wash your hair 3 times per week, it’s 3 wide instead. 4 times — 4 columns. 

(If you wash once a week, you’re actually going to need 6 rows!)

This is one of the things I didn’t like about the assigned capillary schedules thing–it basically said that you had to wash your hair three times per week. I’m not doing that. Currently, I wash my hair twice a week. When it has its natural texture, I only shampoo once a week! I simply am not willing to wash three times a week if I don’t need to for hygiene reasons. 

So, whatever your normal wash frequency is, we’re going to plan for that. 

step two

First, count down to figure out what your fifth wash will be–whatever your fifth little box is. That’s going to be your first reconstruction treatment. 

Fill it in in the fifth box. You don’t need to worry yet about what the dates will be or anything like that. 

​(you can see that this is where it occurred to me to add my URL, lol)

step three

So, now we can go back to your first 4 hair treatments. You’re going to alternate between hydration day and nutrition day. 

It doesn’t really matter which ones goes first, except that you’re going to see the most improvement in your hair if you get the one that you need more first. Which one you choose first will not make the slightest difference in your long-term results, but it can be motivating to see a quick improvement. 

So: based on the current state of your hair, do you struggle more with frizz/dryness or lack of shine/dullness? 

If you said frizz, then your first treatment should be your hydration treatment. 

If you said dullness, your first treatment should be your nutrition treatment. 

Now, set up your first four treatments to alternate between nutrition and hydration! We are building up your base and addressing deficiencies in the hair. 

So, for me, you can see this sets up my first two and a half weeks! If you wash your hair more, it won’t take as long to get through this first phase. 

​step four

Make your sixth treatment, right after the repair, a hydration treatment, regardless of what the treatment before it was. This avoids that crunchy too-much-protein effect. And that’s the end of the first cycle! You’ll see some real benefits by this point. 

step five

You gotta wait to plan after those six treatments! 

By the end of these first six, you’re going to see some really significant improvements in the health of your hair. You’ll also have a better sense of whether your hair needs hydration more or needs nutrition more. 

If your hair needs hydration more, ​you’ll proceed with a pattern of hydration-hydration-hydration-nutrition.

And if your hair needs nutrition more, ​you’ll use a pattern of hydration-hydration-nutrition. 

​You need to add hydration more frequently because it doesn’t stick around as long in the hair. It’s much easier to overload the hair with nutrition/oils than with hydration. 

And then you’ll make a decision about how frequently you need reconstruction. If you have bleached or damaged hair, you might decide to shoot for every two weeks; if your hair is healthy, once per month is probably about right. You can step this back slowly as your hair gets healthier — start with two weeks, then three, then four. 

Again — I know it’s so tempting to be like, “I’m just going to write a schedule through the end of the year and solve the problem!”. But wait. Learn your hair. Keep a post-it note next to your mirror and make a note of how each treatment affects your mane. Learn how to give your body what it needs. You can’t rush this. 

Capillary schedule results last time

I stumbled across this online years ago. I had gone for a straightening treatment and they had really botched it–my hair had been badly overprocessed. And I ended up cutting it to my shoulders and trying to figure out how to deal with the damage. 

I was not in the habit of treating my hair well, so I was really starting from scratch. I did the hair porosity test and followed the schedule that Google Translate gave me from Portugese. And I went half crazy trying to find hair masks that were only hydration or only nutrition. I bought bootleg Olaplex off Amazon–this was during the years where Olaplex was THAT GIRL. 

And oh my goodness, did it work. 

It absolutely did not restore my hair to its virgin state. But after a month, I had shine and natural movement again instead of the stiff, crimped sadness that was left. My hair grew faster, and it was healthy enough that I didn’t chop off the processed hair as I had expected to. 

I never should have stopped! But I had some kids and a global pandemic and still managed to keep my hair pretty healthy. 

This is part of why I am so excited to get back into this–because I know how well it worked for me in the past! 

And I’m writing it up now because there isn’t really a great guide on it in English with product recommendations from the US. 

Product recommendations for each treatment

Okay, so just like every other post on this blog, I’m going to say: look at what you already have before you go out and spend money! 

If you have a hair mask or deep conditioner that is advertising argan oil and you know it agrees with your hair, use that! Or, if you have aloe hydration masks already, start there. Using what you have in a great way to start. 

But otherwise: for each treatment type, I’m going to recommend a light option, a heavy option, and a DIY option. 

You need the light option if your hair is fine, straight, or prone to being weighed down by products. 

You might prefer the heavy option ​if your hair tends to need rich products. If you’re not sure, start with the lighter product. 

And then the DIY is there because some people prefer it, and others may need to purchase their products slowly over time. 

Hydration treatment products for capillary schedule

Light hair treatment for hydration: 

​

 

This is an aloe- and glycerin-based hydration mask. There’s also an aloe-specific one that is good, too, but I like the smell of this one better. If you need a light treatment or you worry about your hair getting weighed down, start here. 

Heavier hair treatment for hydration: 

​

 

I love this product! And it’s a particularly good choice if you have a Target or Sally Beauty by you, because you can try it out in a foil packet before you commit to a full bottle. Shea Moisture makes high-quality hair products and I love that you can test small amounts. It’s not cost-effective to use the packets always, but you get 2-3 treatments out of a packet depending on the length of your hair, so it’s enough time to decide if it’s for you. 

DIY hair mask for hydration:

(I’m giving measurements here because people always ask for them, but I typically eyeball it)

• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup aloe vera (1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons, FYI)
• (optional) a teaspoon of coconut oil, or whatever oil you have on hand, if you prefer heavier hair products
• (optional) coconut water to thin it out, if you prefer

Mix and apply to your hair. This can also be applied to the scalp or combed through if you don’t use the oil.

Nutrition treatment products for capillary schedule

A lot of people just do this part with oils! It’s mostly focused on getting the right fatty acids back in your hair, so this can be done inexpensively without buying salon products. 

So, in this section, I’m going to give a product and an oil for light and heavy. 

Lighter options for nutrition treatments:

​Honestly I probably would not have paid for this product out of pocket but I got it as a gift and it smells divine. It’s a higher-end product, but it’s very effective and delivers a high-end experience.

But if you’re looking for a light hair oil that won’t weigh you down, consider jojoba! It’s light, and cheaper than the other light oils like argan or marula. My hair is coarser and could probably tolerate heavier oils, but jojoba is my holy grail oil because it works for my hair, face, and body. 

Heavier options for nutrition treatments:

This container looks​ like 2009 to me, but I have honestly never found a better affordable heavy hair mask. Hydrating, softening, but probably too heavy for fine hair.

And for oils…you got options. You can start in your kitchen with coconut oil or avocado oil! A lot of this process is trial and error, so use what you have access to before buying products. (I love coconut oil for my hair, but it made my back break out in a way it never had before! So you gotta try different things.)

DIY nutrition masks:

​Basically any oil in your house is worth a shot for DIY nutrition masks! 

Reconstruction treatment products for capillary schedule

I know I said earlier that I used Olaplex as my reconstruction mask years ago, but I think their quality has gone down since then and I wouldn’t recommend it anymore. 

K18 has kind of taken the place that Olaplex used to have. I kind of assumed it was a gimmick because of how it arrived on social media all at once, but the review photos are great. Honestly, as I’m restarting this process I am starting with a Hask packet (more on that in a second) but I’m going to buy this once that’s used up. This would work for either light or heavy product preferrers! (BEFORE YOU USE IT, LOOK AT HOW LITTLE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO USE. Do not waste your money by saturating your hair!)

Wella is a brand that mostly targets hair professionals, and this is a salon-quality product. I’m linking it to Amazon above, but I HIGHLY recommend that you pick up the trial size from Ulta before committing to the full 5 oz tub! This is loaded with amino acids and silk protein and all that good stuff, and it’s going to work for either fine or coarse hair, but it’s always a good idea to test it first! 

DIY reconstruction treatment for capillary schedule:

(I gotta note here that while a rice water treatment does add protein, it’s typically done as a rinse! I wouldn’t recommend it as a longer treatment for this process.)

Okay, if you google this you get a thousand cute little recipes out of your kitchen, but food proteins are too large to penetrate the hair cuticle. So the benefits only last as long as your wash cylce. 

But what I LOVE is a technique I learned from this vlogger: Gelatin treatment! I do it exactly as she describes, but I only use half the packet.

I don’t think this method is as effective as a store-bought product, but I do think it works and is very, very affordable. Be sure to buy plain gelatin so you don’t accidentally do a kool-aid dye job. 

How to do each treatment:

Hydration treatments: 1-6 hours before you wash your hair, apply the treatment to damp hair and comb it through. Let it sit, then wash your hair as usual. 

Nutrition treatments: ​1-12 hours before you wash your hair, apply the treatment to the mids and ends of your hair. Keep it away from your scalp. Let it sit, then was your hair as usual. You may find that you need to shampoo twice on nutrition days. 

Reconstruction treatments: ​Because these vary widely, follow the directions on the bottle (or in the video, if you go the gelatin route). 

I am unbelievably excited to come back and update this post with before and after pictures in a month!