We go to extreme lengths to achieve that ideal look. Whether it’s dying our hair or doing perms, the end goals is to look our best. However have you ever taken the time to ask what this does to your hair? If you understand even a bit of hair science, you will know that our hair goes through quite the beating.
Over time the evidence speaks for itself when no matter what you do, you still cannot get your natural hair back…or can you?
With a few simple tips and tricks, you can get the hair of your youth and restore it to its natural beauty.
Let’s discover more!
1. Wash Less Often
The first step towards getting natural and gorgeous hair is to avoid wetting it too frequently. Note that the water will cause the cuticle layer of your hair strands to swell and rise up. When this happens one too many times, then you start to experience breakage.
It is advisable to skip a day when washing your hair. This prevents too much swelling of the cuticle and keeps it looking fresh. Also use a dry shampoo to remove sweat and grease from your hair.
2. Make Use of a Pre-Shampoo
This is a smart way to protect your hair when washing. A pre-shampoo seals the cuticle layer meaning that even when wet, it will not absorb as much water and rise. Secondly it prevents friction between hair strands when washing. The benefit of this is that it helps prevent fraying of the edges.
By using a pre shampoo every time you wash your hair, you will find that your hair becomes much healthier over time.
3. Check the Quality of Your Shampoos
Many of us want to naturally gravitate towards hair products that contain sulfates. However many of the shampoos also contain detergents that are meant to remove grease and dirt from your hair. However the downside is that they can also strip your hair of its natural color.
When shopping for a shampoo, what you want is one that contains proteins that nourish your hair as well as repair the damage in your hair.
4. Don’t Forget the Conditioner
By understanding how conditioners work, you will begin to view them from a whole new light. Conditioners coat the hair, softens it and cause it to look shiny. They also protect the hair from excess heat. This is why you should leave as much conditioner residue in your hair as you can after washing. You can do this by allowing the conditioner to stay on the hair for 5 minutes before rinsing.
This is especially important when you are drying your hair using a blow dryer. When shopping for a conditioner check the ingredients and look for things like polyquarternium or methicone. These provides the best heat protection.
5. Don’t Forget the Hair Spray
By now we have established that you absolutely need to avoid excessive heat exposure to your hair. Using the conditioner is one thing but you can also double up with the hair spray.
However keep in mind that for the hair spray to be effective, it needs to be distributed all over your hair. The best way to do this is how hair stylists do it. Pull strands of moist hair and spray it with hair spray up and down. Do this multiple times over your head. Lastly use a comb to distribute it and you should experience the full benefits of the hair spray.
6. A Clever Way to Dry Your Hair
Now that we all the more educated, we know that the longer our hair is exposed to heat, the more damage it will experience. Therefore anything that you can do to dry your air without heat from blowouts is much welcome.
A clever way to dry your hair is to blot it with a towel as opposed to rubbing the towel on the hair. This method allows for maximum water absorption. Then follow up by using the same method with paper towels to absorb even more water.
7. Use Your Cotton T-Shirts
Compared to that towel, your cotton T shirts are gentler on your hair. They will not cause the cuticle to stand and become rough. Due to that, you will need less effort in combing your hair. What’s more, the hair maintains its natural feel and look.
8. Cooling Your Hair
After a blowout, you may find that your head feels hot. This is because the heat is still cooking your hair. Once you are done, press the cold air button on your dryer to cool down the hair. Do not forget that the goal is to minimise the time your hair spends under heat so use the blow drier only for as long as is needed.
9. Air Drying
A creative way to dry your hair is to leave it damp overnight. Simply make two loose braids and go to bed. By morning, you will have healthy looking dry hair. What’s more, if you have straight hair, you will have beautiful wavy locks in the morning.
On the other hand, if you have curly hair, these will help loosen the curls making your hair more manageable.
10. Do Regular Scalp Treatment
Over time, your hair follicles will catch dirt and grime which starves and chokes the hair of much needed nutrients. In the long term you will experience hair thinning as some of the hair follicles become inactive.
A great way to deal with this is to get weekly scalp treatments. This unclogs the air follicles and results in healthy growing hair.
11. Make it Shine
A great way to provide a healthy look to your hair is to use dry oils. These will provide a natural looking shine. This is unlike with some shine sprays and serums which look unnatural and can be recognised from a mile away.
Dry oils work by smoothening the hair cuticle. As a result your hair look much healthier.