No matter what your hair type, check out the following simple do's and don'ts for healthier, happier and more manageable tresses and banish bad hair days forever...
1. Wash your hair two to three times a week, max
How often should you wash your hair? It's the perennial question of the hair industry and but experts seem to agree that cutting back is a good thing - and washing every day is a mistake, no matter how much you might crave clean-feeling locks.
Your hair's natural oils are designed to condition and protect your tresses, so when you shampoo daily, it strips these vital oils away.
It creates a vicious cycle of over-production of oils and a need to shampoo very often. Ideally, to keep your hair healthy, you only need to wash two to three times a week, max.
Don't over wash coloured hair
This is especially true for coloured hair, which can lose its sheen quickly with too much washing.
The biggest mistake people make is over-washing coloured hair.
Buy a good-quality shampoo and wash it every few days using styling products in between to keep it looking fresh.
Take into account your hair type and lifestyle choices
Of course, how often you need to wash your locks also depends on the type of hair you have.
The curlier your hair is, the longer you can go between washes. The straighter it is, the faster the oil wicks down, so that can make it oilier faster. If you have super straight hair, you may not be able to go more than two days without washing.
And lifestyle choices like going to the gym may also affect how often you shampoo your tresses. But even here, there are ways of cutting back - you could try simply rinsing your hair rather than adding in shampoo.
You may not be able to imagine not washing your hair after a workout (we totally get that), but you can can always rinse out sweat without shampooing. A water-only rinse will remove salt and sweat without stripping hair oils.
Invest in some good dry shampoos. And finally if you're aiming to scale back the amount of times you wash your hair per week, remember dry shampoo is your friend.
2. Avoid hot showers and shampoo your scalp, not your ends
Come shampoo time, many of us reach for a large dollop of the good stuff to scrunch into our hair, but there's a technique to good hair washing and overdoing things on the product front will do more harm than good.
Healthy, beautiful, shiny hair starts in the shower so make sure to use the right shampoo and conditioner for your hair type and level of damage.
The volume of shampoo you should use depends on the length and thickness of your hair, but a blob the size of a 20p coin is a good start on, longer hair needs a 50p-size dollop.
Aim for the scalp not the ends
It's not just how much shampoo you use, but where you apply it that counts.
Use shampoo on the scalp only - not on the ends of your hair. The shampoo will rinse down in the shower, but you don’t want to scrub the ends.
Massage your scalp to encourage circulation
Giving your head an invigorating massage as you shampoo is a good way to encourage blood circulation and helps to detoxify the scalp.
Having strong, healthy hair is the best way to make any hair look expensive. A lot of it is about properly shampooing and conditioning and taking care of your scalp - massage it well while washing to get circulation going.
Avoid hot water
Cool off in the shower. Blasting your scalp with extremely hot water will dry out your hair and create tangles that could result in breakage.
3. Towel-dry your hair before applying conditioner
Good conditioner is also crucial when it comes to thick, curly hair.
For curly, highly textured hair, always deep condition. No two minute conditioners here. Deep conditioning involves a conditioner that will add moisture and strength (protein) back to hair. You should use heat by either applying conditioner to hair while taking a shower and let it sit while showering or by covering the hair with a plastic cap and applying heat from an outside like a hair dryer.
Gently towel-dry the hair before applying conditioner
Make sure you towel-dry hair after shampooing and before you apply conditioner: excess water in your hair means the conditioner won't be able to penetrate the hair shaft and deliver the necessary moisture to keep hair looking healthy and shiny.
If you're short on time, at least squeeze out excess water - hair that’s saturated with water doesn’t have room to absorb anything else.
Avoid the roots and concentrate on the ends
Try not to put the conditioner on the roots, because that can cause your scalp to get greasy faster. It's also a good idea to think ahead and anticipate situations where your hair might dry out.
While you exercise, you perspire, which means that your hair gets damp with sweat that can actually make it dry. Before you hit the gym (especially during the summer, but this works year-round too) wet your hair and add in some conditioner from the mid-lengths to the ends. Rinse out the conditioner post-workout and you’ll be left with shiny, hydrated hair.
Avoiding too much sun helps too.
4. Brush your hair twice a day, from the bottom up
Healthy hair needs regular brushing but don't tear through your locks mindlessly.
For perfectly shiny, healthy and untangled hair, you need to brush your hair twice a day. Once in the morning and once before going to bed, for about a minute each time.
Don't be rough with your hair: treat it nicely and it will repay you by looking healthy and shiny.
Comb wet hair, don't brush it
When your hair is soaking wet, it is weaker, fragile and more susceptible to breakage. Try not to rough-dry hair with a towel, and instead gently press the water out. Also, do not brush your hair while it is wet. Use a wide-tooth comb, working from the ends of your hair on up.
Brush from the bottom up
Brushing from the roots causes damage – always brush from the bottom and work up.
Use different brushes for blow-dying and styling
At home, you should have a round brush for blow-drying, for styling and a tail comb to move hair around a little.
Keep your brushes clean
Filthy hair brushes that are covered in hair, oil and product build-up are breeding grounds for bacteria. Clean them at least once a month with a mixture of baking soda and lukewarm water. A toothbrush will help you to get into all those tiny bristles.To make sure your hairbrush lasts, look after it. Do this by regularly removing all of the hair that gets stuck in the brush. Clean once a month with warm water and a small amount of shampoo.
5. Use a low-heat setting for hair drying and point the nozzle down, not side-on
As a general rule of thumb, one of the worst things you can do for your hair is overheat it with excessive blow drying. If you want to avoid dry and damaged locks, you need to either rein in how often you use a hairdryer or pay attention to how you're using it and take care to apply heat protection products beforehand.
Cut back on heat-styling tools
Don't use heat-styling tools daily. Flat irons, curling irons and even blow drying can damage the hair shaft. Damaged hair is not able to retain colour the way that healthy hair can.
Styling doesn’t always have to involve a hot tool. If you give yourself a fierce blowout on Monday, rock it out on Tuesday and on Wed do a fab high ponytail. Making your style last a few days will really help prevent damage.
Use protective treatments
Add a pea-size amount of protective treatments from the mid-levels to the ends of your hair to seal in moisture and smooth the cuticles down before you head out into the cold.
Do use leave-in treatments to blow dry your hair, it will protect and moisturise your hair every day.
Wait before blow-drying your hair and use lower heat settings
Try not to blow-dry your hair immediately after shampooing. Ideally, you should allow your hair to first dry for 15 minutes under a towel turban. This saves effort and also cuts down on the hair exposure to the blow-dryer.
If at all possible, don't use the high heat settings of your blow-dryer. The air stream should feel comfortable on the back of your hand.
6. Try castor oil, hair oil and dry shampoo
Just like applying facial oil can help regulate oil production on your skin, hair oil can do the same for your scalp. There’s no need to go crazy with applying oil, but don’t be afraid to use oil if you have oily hair. It’ll actually help to regulate how oily your scalp is, because your hair won’t feel as though it needs to naturally overcompensate for dryness.
Hairspray is to hair what salt and pepper are to food. Once sprayed, you’re finished.
Yes, it can be sticky and overwhelming, but find a medium-hold hair spray to start with and spray it into your hands and then run your hands through your hair to smooth down the frizz.
Sources:https://www.stylist.co.uk
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