What can I put in my hair for healthy hair? How do I keep my hair healthy?
Whatever hair type you have, keeping it healthy and looking great means a regular hair care routine and being kind to your hair. Hair is easily damaged, and overuse of heated tools, hair products and even not keeping it trimmed can add to dry, brittle hair and hair that loses its shine and bounce.
To help you keep your hair in perfect condition, we've compiled a list of our top twenty hair care tips and hacks. Some you may already know, some you may have never heard of before, but all are fantastic and effective ways to keep your hair looking healthy.
1. Use butter for dry hair
If your hair has become dry and brittle, then plain butter will bring back the shine. If you take a small lump of butter, massage it into your hair and then cover your hair with a shower cap and wait for about half an hour before shampooing it out again, then the butter will penetrate deep into the hair and replace the lost moisture.
Another natural ingredient that works in the same manner, is mayo.
2. How to shampoo without getting tangles
Another one of the great tips for healthy hair is, instead of washing your hair with a circular motion, which most of us do, scrub the shampoo into your scalp and then run your fingers through your hair to the tips. If you use a circular motion when washing long hair, you will get lots of tangles that will be difficult to get out.
3. Avocado and mayonnaise for frizzy hair
This is the perfect natural remedy for frizzy hair, which is guaranteed to tame the frizz and make your hair look shiny and beautiful. Mash up half a cup of sliced avocado with about three tablespoons of mayonnaise into a paste.
Apply the paste to the full length of your hair and leave it for around twenty minutes before you wash it out again. Your hair will be nourished and will look very shiny, especially if you do it regularly, at least once a week.
4. Don't dry your hair with a towel
Hair really doesn't like rough treatment, so dry your hair gently and don't rub too hard with a towel. If you have time, then let your hair dry in the air, or ditch the towel and gently pat it dry with a tee-shirt instead. A tee-shirt won't make your hair frizz anywhere near as much as rubbing with a towel will.
5. Try a beer shampoo
Beer is made with hops, which are filled with the vitamins and minerals that hair loves. Conditioning your hair with beer may be one of the oldest hair-care suggestions, but it's still one of the most effective. Massage some beer, preferably a dark beer, into your hair and let it sit for half an hour, and then rinse out with lukewarm water.
6. Use a blast of cold air to set your style
Here is another one of the great tips for healthy hair: when you are styling your mane with a blow dryer, give it a final blast with the dryer set to the coolest temperature setting. That will set your style more firmly, and it will last for much longer.
7. Use a clarifying shampoo
After a while, you can get a build-up of product residue that clings to your hair and makes it heavy and lifeless looking. You can easily bring back the natural shine and bounce to your hair by using a clarifying shampoo once a week. Clarifying shampoos remove the product residue and will leave your hair looking clean and natural again.
8. Avoid very hot water
Here is another one basic yet important tips for healthy hair: avoid very hot water. A steaming hot shower feels great, but it won't be doing your hair any good at all. If you want to have a hot shower, then protect your hair with a shower cap and when you do shampoo your hair, use only lukewarm water.
Very hot water will strip all the natural oils from your hair and leave it dry, brittle, and more susceptible to damage.
9. Baking soda will remove product residue too
If you don't have any clarifying shampoo, baking soda is a good way to bring back your hair's natural shine. All you need to do is to add a tablespoon of baking soda to your regular shampoo and wash and rinse your hair as you usually would. The baking soda will remove all the chemicals left behind by the various hair products you have used.
10. Detangle your hair from the ends up
If you tug at your hair with a brush or a comb, from the roots down, you are more likely to break the hair or even pull it out by the roots. So another one of useful tips for healthy hair is this: to detangle your locks, work from the tips of your hair up to the roots with a wide-toothed comb and gently pull the tangles out, bit by bit.
11. Put the bounce back into hair with apple cider vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a wonderful natural ingredient that is often used in tips for healthy hair. Give your hair a final rinse with a solution of water and apple cider vinegar, and it will put the bounce and shine back into lifeless and dull-looking hair.
Shampoo and rinse your hair as normal, first, and then give your hair a rinse through with a one to one water and apple cider vinegar mixture. One more rinse, after about five minutes, with warm water, will take away the smell of vinegar from your hair.
12. Condition hair with olive oil
This is another one of old but great tips for healthy hair. In fact, olive oil has been used as a hair conditioner for centuries. If you have dry, brittle hair, then try warming half a cup of olive oil gently in a saucepan and then after checking the oil is not too hot, apply the warm oil liberally to your hair, wrap it in a towel, and leave it for 45 minutes before shampooing it out.
13. Turn down the temperature on heated tools
Your heated tools and hair straighteners could be damaging your hair, so turn down the temperature to a minimum, and they won't dry out nor damage your hair quite so badly. Alternatively, try using a heat protection product on hair to limit the damage caused by heated tools.
14. Treat a dry and itchy scalp with lemon
Squeeze the juice out of half a lemon and mix it with two tablespoons of coconut oil, then massage it into your scalp, and it will help to cure a dry, itchy scalp almost immediately. You can also use a rinse of a tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with one glass of water to cure dandruff. If you use the rinse regularly, your dandruff will disappear in no time at all.
15. Be very gentle with wet hair
Here is one of the fundamental tips for healthy hair: always be very gentle with wet hair because when your hair is wet, it is three times weaker than when it is dry. That's why you should never tug at wet hair with a brush, or you will break it. Gently detangle with a wide-tooth comb first, and then you can use a brush safely.
16. Condition your hair with eggs
Eggs are brimming with the very same nutrients that dry hair needs to reinvigorate it and bring back the shine. To use egg to condition your hair, you need to beat one whole egg, mix it with half a cup of plain yoghurt and a tablespoon of sweet almond oil, and massage it into your hair and scalp.
Leave the mask on your hair for about twenty minutes, and then wash it out with cool water. Your hair will thank you.
17. Don't wash hair every day
Your hair does not need washing every day, even if you think it does. If you wash it daily, your natural oils will never get a chance to get back into your hair, and your hair will become dry and frizzy. It's a good idea to wash it every two to three days.
When you first stop washing your hair daily, you might feel that your hair is too greasy, but in just a week or so, your hair will find its natural balance again, and that oiliness will go away.
18. Improve the effectiveness of anti-dandruff treatments with salt
If you want to make your anti-dandruff shampoo work faster, gently rub some sea salt mixed with olive oil into your scalp before you use the shampoo. If you rub salt well into your scalp, it will exfoliate the skin and lift the dry flakes so that the shampoo can get straight to work where it's needed.
19. Use honey on your hair regularly
Another one of great tips for healthy hair is to use honey hair masks regularly. Honey is a great natural ingredient that will moisturise and nourish your hair beautifully. Honey is what is known as a humectant, which means that it will help hold moisture in your hair.
It is also an anti-fungal, so it can help to clear up dandruff and other fungal infections. To gain the maximum benefit from honey, mix three tablespoons of honey with one mashed avocado (or half a cup of plain yoghurt) and massage it into damp hair; leave it to sit for approximately twenty minutes before you wash it out with warm water.
This hair mask will nourish your hair and add shine.
20. Protect your hair from the weather
Protect your hair from both the sun in the summer and cold, dry winds in the winter. Extreme weather and pollution in the air can cause your hair to lose its lustre and become damaged.
If you know it's going to be very cold or very hot, cover up and wear a hat. As is the case with most things, prevention is far better than a cure.
Caution:
If you have any open wounds or bruises on your scalp, then avoid using homemade hair masks during the period of healing. Also, make sure you are not allergic to the ingredients of natural hair treatments and test them before using them.
What are your favourite tips for healthy hair?
Stay beautiful!