I love thick, long and luscious hair – it simply looks alive and healthy. Unfortunately, a lot of men and women simply do not know how to get their hair this way. Unsurprisingly, the “magical cure” involves nothing more than several changes which are easy to do. Here are several ways you can use today to help your hair not only grow, but look dramatically healthier and last longer.
1. Regular Conditioning
If you have frizzy hair and have never contained it, consider buying (and using) a moisturising conditioner. Moisturising conditioners seals, primes and protects our hair from everyday damage for a long time.
2. Heat = Bad
Split ends, frizz and breakage happen to a lot of ladies (and some men) because heat damages hair. Period. Therefore, it makes sense to stop using heating tools (such as dryers). If you must absolutely use one, though, then please lower the temperature.
3. Wet Hair Is Fragile
When hair is wet, our roots and the shaft are more susceptible to damage. Protecting wet hair from damage is a delicate matter – that can be solved with TLC. How? By massaging shampoo into your hair with your fingertips, in a soft and slow manner. Treating your hair harshly results in breakage. Bad news. What’s also bad news is, since wet hair is fragile, you must stop brushing immediately after showering. Stop hair breakage and frizz by brushing when your hair is dry.
4. Cold-water Rinse
Hot showers are wonderful. I love them (sometimes I use up all the hot water – oops!). Problem is, hot water is bad for hair; additionally, heat makes hair look greasy. It’s alright to soap up and get your shampooing process into a fine lather, but make sure you rinse with cold or lukewarm water. This drop in temperature seals the cuticle – and “toughens up” your hair.
(As an additional bonus: cold showers are proven to boost our immune system, make our skin look and feel younger, and receive a great ball of natural energy. If you’re wary about taking a cold shower: don’t be. I have been taking cold showers—at the end of hot ones—for 7 days now and actually look forward to them. The torture is so worth it!)
5. Use Your Skin
Feel your scalp instead of your hair and notice how it feels. If your scalp feels dry, waxy, heavy (or worst of all: greasy)… then your hair definitely is, too. Consider other formula options that you may never have before – making the change isn’t expensive. Our skin is a great indicator of how our hair “feels”.
6. Use Conditioner Like A Pro
Do you want an unnecessarily-oily scalp? Then please, for the love of all that’s beautiful, stop lathering your scalp in your conditioner. By design, conditioners are meant to be used on the hair shaft – which is nearly 2 inches away from the scalp.
7. Protect Your Scalp
On the theme of scalps, your hair won’t look healthy (or grow, for that matter) if your scalp isn’t healthy. Aside from your shampoo and conditioner, do you “treat” your scalp to any other products? First, do this test: lift up a section of your hair at your crown; if your ends are thinner than the roots, this means your scalp isn’t being taken care of. You can take care of your hair by washing with essential oils a few times a week. Or better yet try this Coconut Oil treatment.
8. Hair Masks
As is the case with most things in life, your hair (and style) is all your own. Although we share the same problems with a lot of people, we all experience them in different ways. Hair masks are no different – as there are a lot of them suited for various hair needs. Please use the right masks for yourself; never settle for anything less than what’s right for you.
9. Pre-Shampoo
Did you know that pre-shampooing keeps your scalp from drying and cracking? One of the things you can do is condition your hair before you shampoo it. Conditioner, by its nature, seals and protects the hair from damage. However, it also does this for your scalp.
10. Say Bye-bye To Hair Ties
Scrunches’ (with a cloth) are far more effective—and prettier—for tying your hair, opposed to tight hair ties. When we tie our hair, we’re essentially pulling our hair back – leading to breakage. Scrunches’ are a lot gentler.
11. New Pillowcase
You and I both know that pillows are important. They’re even more important for maintaining our hair’s health – sateen fabric (like Wamsutta Sateen) is tremendously softer than regular cotton-woven pillows. (Finally, there’s a way to stop bed hair, mats, painful knots and ugly tangles.)
12. Less Shampoo!
Believe it or not, shampoo—while cleaning—strips away essential natural oils that keep our hair soft and healthy. It’s recommended you shampoo every other day. When you do shampoo, please be gentle with your hair and lathering up only at the scalp.
13. Clarifying Shampoo
Other than regular shampoo, invest in a clarifying shampoo as well. These “special” shampoos obliterate product build up (which does happen). All hair products, we all know, lose their effectiveness overtime. Clarifying shampoos fortify the cleaning and health-boosting properties of our products. Note: Use clarify shampoo once a month; anymore than that damages your hair.
14. Patience
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Gerard Butler didn’t get those abs in a week. A lot of us couldn’t ride without training wheels the first time we got on a bike. The point is: your hair will not grow longer or improve in quality just because you want it to – which you probably already know by now. These things take time. Don’t you remember that patience is a virtue?
15. Replace Your Towels
Millions of us (myself included) have been wrapping our hair up with bath towels for years. Which, while it dries our hair faster… often ends up doing more damage. This is because the woven fibers of towels “catch” our hair, and they’re yanked out (by tiny strands). Especially the ones around our face. Consider microfiber towels as a reasonable investment and excellent substitute.
(Plus, word on the street is microfiber towels are DEFINITELY more absorbent than regular bath towels. Microfiber cloths are even used as cleaning tools!)
Conclusion
Aside from hair products, having healthy hair starts with having a healthy body. It’s no shocker that the food we eat plays a vital part in our health – all the way from our skin and teeth to our hair. If you cannot purchase some of the products listed earlier, consider foods high in protein such as black beans (39g per 1 cooked cup), tofu (9g per 0.25 block) and oatmeal (6g per 1 cooked cup).