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Weekly Beauty Advice: Your Best Healthy Hair Care Tips
Let’s admit it, everyone wants healthy happy hair. Vibrant hair can give your entire look a boost.
Check out these healthy, happy hair care tips. They’ll help support healthier hair from roots to tips. And best of all? You won’t have to break the bank (or even leave home).
Hair Care Tips Without The Need For A Professional
Just as you have a solid skincare regimen, it makes smart beauty sense to have a hair care routine as well.
So, what can you do on a weekly basis for healthier, stronger, more brilliant hair? Here are some easy tips.
1. Don’t Wash Your Hair Too Often
Washing your hair is necessary, but shampoo can strip your hair (and scalp) of its natural oils, leaving it dry and brittle. You don’t need to wash your hair with shampoo every day. In fact, many experts suggest that washing your hair every three days may be the most optimal – depending on your hair type and lifestyle.1
If you have thick hair, you may need to clean it every couple of days. But if you have color-treated hair or very dry hair, you might be able to go longer between washes. If you work out a lot, or if you use a lot of hair products, you may need to wash hair a little more often.2
Tip: Dry shampoo is the perfect solution to help extend hairstyles between washes. Spray a little at your roots, and use your fingertips to massage into the hair.
2. Heat Styling: Be Cautious And Kind
Hair dryers can be your best friend when it comes to hairstyling, but all that heat can be incredibly drying. This can leave your hair brittle and frizzy. Be kinder to your hair, and try to regularly dry your strands without a hairdryer.
You can:
- Use an old t-shirt or a microfiber towel to dry your hair. These methods are much gentler on the hair which may help keep ends smooth.
- Apply a good leave-in product to help smooth your ends.
Tip: After applying your leave-in product, braid your damp hair, then let it completely dry. Braids will give you perfectly styled waves, without the extra effort.
3. Hydration Is Key For Healthy Hair
Healthy hair is hydrated hair. When hair is well hydrated, it styles easily, has a natural shine, and looks amazing. So, how do you keep your hair well moisturized?
A nourishing hair product like a deep conditioning treatment or a hair mask is key. The best part? You can easily make your own DIY conditioning hair mask at home using products you may already have.
Tip: Here are a few easy, nutritious, DIY ingredients for deep conditioning hair masks. You can also add your favorite essential oils to these recipes for a beautifully fragrant aroma.
- To make hair stronger, use an egg
Eggs are packed with protein, vitamins, and fats. Egg yolks are also high in biotin, a B- vitamin that may potentially support healthy hair growth.3,4
Apply a cracked egg to clean, damp hair. Pop on a shower cap and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse and shampoo as usual.
- To boost hydration use coconut oil
Coconut oil is full of antioxidants, vitamins, and essential fatty acids.5 It’s deeply nourishing and completely natural.
Apply ¼ cup of coconut oil (warm it if it’s solid) and apply to either wet or dry hair. Pop on a shower cap and leave it for an hour. Or, better yet, sleep in it overnight. Rinse and wash hair as normal.
- For less frizz, try jojoba oil
Jojoba oil is also rich in vitamins and minerals, and it’s a wonderful source of deep moisture. It forms a thin coating on the hair shaft, helping to control dry or frizzy hair. It’s also lighter and less greasy than coconut oil and won’t promote excess sebum production. So, if you have an oily scalp, don’t be afraid of jojoba oil.6
The easiest way to use jojoba oil is to mix it in with your shampoo or conditioner. Or you can apply a little to split ends when your hair is dry.
- For shinier hair, use olive oil
There’s a fair chance you have olive oil in your home right now. Olive oil is rich in antioxidants and vitamins, as well as squalene – a moisturizing substance found in your hair’s natural sebum.7,8 It’s a top fix for dry, split ends during the week.
Gently warm the olive oil and apply to the ends of your hair (or your entire scalp). Leave it for 10 – 20 minutes, then shampoo as normal.
- For a luxurious treatment, use milk and honey
It sounds like something luxurious Cleopatra may have bathed in, and why not? Milk and honey both have terrific nourishing properties for the skin or hair.
Lactic acid in milk is viewed as a great cleanser, while honey brings moisture. Honey is considered both a natural humectant (moisture-attracting) and an emollient (smoothing properties).9
Take a couple of Tablespoons of warmed milk and mix with enough honey to form a paste. Spread the mix evenly over your strands. Leave for 20 -30 minutes, then use your shampoo and conditioner as normal.
4. Clarify Your Hair, The Natural Way
Product buildup can leave your hair looking dull and lifeless. But you don’t need to buy an expensive clarifying shampoo to cleanse your hair.
Tip: Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a natural clarifier, so it can help remove product build-up on the hair follicle. It also has natural yeast-fighting properties which make it perfect for dandruff.10
As ACV is still very much a vinegar, you should always dilute it. Grab a plastic cup and fill it with about ⅕ cup ACV and then top up with water. Shampoo as normal, then slowly pour the ACV mix over your entire head. Let it sit for a minute, then rinse and condition as normal.
5. Don’t Skimp On Shampoo
If you’re going to splurge on any hair care item, let it be shampoo. Why? Well, shampoos can easily strip the hair of moisture, leading to dry and damaged hair.
Some shampoos are too oily for thin hair, while others are not moisturizing enough for thick, curly hair. Look for a shampoo that’s specialized for your type of hair. The same goes for conditioners.
Tip: Seek out more natural shampoos that are both sulfate- and paraben-free and contain naturally-derived ingredients. These shampoos may not foam as much as you’re used to, but foaming does not equal a clean scalp. Foam signifies that sulfates are present.
6. Lay Off The Hair Extensions
One of the great hair trends for a woman’s hair is hair extensions. Hair extensions can provide you with magazine-ready hairstyles without much fuss. Unfortunately, they can also cause a lot of damage with extended wear. In the worst cases, extensions can even cause hair loss.11
Extensions certainly aren’t worth sacrificing your hair health. So, what can you use instead?
Tip: Embrace your natural hair again and have a few go-to styles up your sleeve for when you want to look a little fancier – without extensions.
Chignons, messy buns, french twists, loose braids, halo braids, and even a funky headband can naturally glam up your look. Or get your stylist to cut some bangs to make your hair appear thicker and draw focus to a different part of your hair.
Say Hello To Healthy, Happy Hair
DIY beauty tips can inspire a whole new world of creativity when it comes to flourishing hair (and a healthy scalp) – without the expense that a new array of products can bring. Embrace your new routine as you would your skincare routine, and you’ll notice healthier hair in no time.
Finally, don’t forget that a regular visit to your stylist for a haircut is still a great way to keep your mane looking its very best.
Sources:
1. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/gallery/how-often-should-wash-hair
2. https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/gallery/how-often-should-wash-hair
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5582478/
4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10524353/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796020/
6. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/beauty-hair/news/a36363/best-oils-to-fight-oily-skin-and-breakouts-yes-really/
7. https://www.allure.com/story/diy-beauty-uses-for-olive-oil
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6253993/
9. https://www.vogue.in/content/hair-care-tips-diy-at-home-hair-mask-recipes-for-dry-hair
10. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/a30786071/apple-cider-vinegar-for-hair/
11. https://www.allure.com/story/just-how-bad-are-extensions-for-your-hair
