We all know the struggles of striving towards healthy hair and maintaining it while keeping it stylish. Finding that common ground between changing your look, whether it is bleaching it blonde or getting dreads put in while retaining the moisture in your hair and keeping it healthy can be challenging. Questions arise such as “Do I keep straightening and curling my hair or should I get a keratin treatment or get my hair permed?” The struggle is all too real, so here are my top tips on how to keep your hair looking gorgeous and turning heads.
1) Always use protection
Like STDs, your hair, and your gorgeous scalp, can be prone to several problems without proper protection - such as your hair drying out, being prone to infections, an excessive amount of dirt build-up, split-ends being formed and so on. Looking at the different types of exposure: the sun dries out your hair and can even cause sunburns, sweat causes problems like split ends and dandruff, chemical treatments in your hair combined with the scorching sun can cause color fading and extreme hair damage. This being said, wear a hat. Use a leave-in conditioner with SPF. Trim your hair regularly in order to keep your hair in optimum condition and eliminate the risk of split ends. If you’re going to change the color of your hair, do it a couple months before summer to avoid those harsh sunrays bleaching your locks. My personal favorite – give your scalp a little at-home spa treatment and use some warm coconut oil on your roots.
2) Wet hair is fragile hair
Did you know that when hair is wet, it can stretch up to about 50% of its original length? If this hair is unhealthy, it can easily break at some of the weaker points along this length. Here is why this is: when your hair is wet, the proteins in each strand – the keratin, form hydrogen bonds that are weaker than when dry. This causes your hair strands to be more susceptible to damage when harshly handled. If you already have unhealthy hair, doing simple things to it when wet – such as brushing it, tightly braiding it, taking it out of a ponytail or putting it in one, running your fingers through it, and so on, are likely to see hair fall and breakage. Some tips are not to wait until your hair is wet to brush it out. That being said, if you are going to brush your hair when it is wet – use the right hairbrushes with soft boar and nylon bristles. Brush your hair gently. When drying your hair, pat gently and squeeze with a towel. Your hair may take longer to dry as opposed to shaking it vigorously, but you will avoid yanking and roughing out your delicate hair. Do not put your hair up in a tight braid or bun when it is really wet. Your hair elasticity changes when it goes from wet to dry and you can risk breaking the strands as they shrink. Instead put it in a loose braid or use pins or a clip.
3) Do not apply too much heat on your hair
We have all heard this one. I am as guilty as the next millennial in straightening my hair one too many times a week or curling it – because like we don’t realize the longer you count to 15 seconds in your head using that curler, the faster that beautiful curled lock is being damaged! Did you know your hair can withstand up to a temperature of 450 degrees Fahrenheit before getting damaged? Heat damage is permanent – it can never be completely reversed, but you can treat heat damaged hair. The reason this is the case is because when you damage your hair with excessive heat, the disulfide bonds in your hair strands that give your hair its strength are broken. Some tips to prevent heat damage to your hair is to first and foremost understand your natural hair by looking at its softness, elasticity, thickness, and so on. Your hair should tell you whether your texture and elasticity can handle heat. Moisturize your hair before heat styling to ensure that your hair cuticles are closed and coated for the smoothest hair styling. Using heat protectant should help with the same concept by creating a barrier between your hair and the heat you are applying to it. Of course, finally you should reduce heat exposure. Work on using no-heat styling methods that can have great results with minimum damage or limit your heat styling methods to once a week.
4) At home hair masks
Do you know that so many simple ingredients in your kitchen can boost your hair health in so many ways? If you have dry hair, combine a teaspoon of honey, an egg, and apple cider vinegar and apply on your hair for at least half an hour before washing it out. If you have dandruff – combine two tablespoons of coconut oil, four teaspoons of white sugar, five drops of peppermint oil and two drops of tea tree oil and apply in sections of your hair while wet by gently massaging it in for a few minutes. Then let it sit in your hair for the rest of your shower. This should dissolve the dead skin cells and acts as antifungals, antimicrobials, and antibacterial. If your hair is dull, apply equal parts of honey, apple cider vinegar and coconut oil to damp hair and leave on for half an hour before washing out. This is useful when you have color in your hair as well. If greasy hair is your issue – combine an egg white, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Smooth this mixture over your hair from the roots right till your ends and leave on for half an hour minimum before washing. If your hair is damaged, mix half an avocado, an egg, a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of honey. Then apply on wet hair and let the shower steam go to work for at least 20 minutes before you wash it out.
Following these simple techniques will keep your hair beautiful and healthy! Remember to minimize the heat, protect your head, use natural ingredients in your DIY hair care remedies, be kind to your locks and know what works best for your hair!
Refer https://www.umihair.com/