Do you have dry hair? There could be a number of contributing factors. Maybe you’re genetically predisposed to not produce a sufficient amount of sebum, the substance that keeps hair moisturised. Or it could be your styling habits or some of the ingredients in your hair products that are stripping your hair of natural oils without you realising. Here are five tips for protecting your hair from drying out. If you’re still experiencing issues even after trying all these, it could be worth turning to a hair treatments expert such as Transitions Hair for some professional assistance.
1. Avoid Using Heat on Your Hair
Using a hairdryer should be reserved for those ‘absolutely necessary’ moments and, even then, on a warm setting instead of hot. Look out for heat guard settings; a lot of new hairdryers come with that handy feature now. Straightening irons should also be used only occasionally. Repeatedly using heat on your hair can lead to hair thinning or hair loss.
2. Use Tepid Water to Wash Your Hair
Excessively hot water will strip your hair of oils. Ideally, use tepid or moderately warm water, no matter how cold your winters may be. Wash your hair a few times a week, instead of every day. You may have heard that doing a final rinse with cool watermakes your hair smoother and shinier… it’s true!
3. Massage Your Scalp
Regularly massaging your scalp will stimulate sebum production and blood flow to the scalp. You’ll find that, as a result, the natural oils will be better distributed through your hair. Plus, it’s a good idea to use a once-a-week hair treatment, which seals the surface of hair strands with extra conditioning oils and will ‘heal’ damaged hair.
4. Use an Olive Oil Treatment
Olive oil has long been known as a remedy for dry hair. Mixing olive oil and honey is even more effective. Mix some honey into a half cup of olive oil then it rub into your hair, concentrating on the middle of the strands to the tips. Leave on for about two hours then shampoo and rinse as normal. Do this every fortnight or so for noticeably shiny hair.
5. Aloe Vera and Shea Butter
Either of these wonder ingredients are great on their own, but they’re even better together. If you can find a product that has both of these, definitely give it a go. If not, shea butter is a little harder to find by itself, so try aloe vera gel once a week. Either scrape the gel off two leaves or get a packaged gel from a health-food shop and rub into your scalp. After 30 minutes, rinse with warm water. You should see the results within weeks.
You don’t have to put up with dry hair that lacks lustre. There are plenty of ways you can repair the damage. Give these remedies a try and see which suits you in terms of effectiveness and degree of difficulty. Soon, you’ll be able to say ‘goodbye’ to brittle straw-like hair!
Image Credits: Pixabay.com
