There are a few things you can do on a regular basis that will improve the overall health and appearance of your hair, as well as a few things you can avoid. In general, here’s a few standards:
Hair Maintenance:
- Brush your hair: Yep, the good old fashioned hundred strokes. This stimulates blood supply to the scalp, removes dead skin cells from the scalp before they can get infected, and distributes sebum over the hair shaft for moisturizing and protection. It is best to brush your hair with a wide-tooth comb. This is gentle on the hair so it will reduce breakage and split-ends.
- Massage your scalp: Before you stop to groom and brush your hair during the day, make a point of doing a quick scalp massage first. You can even do this while washing your hair.
- Give your hair a break: Unless absolutely necessary, it is not healthy to wash your hair everyday. This strips your hair of its natural oils and causes it to dry out. Try to avoid using heat on your hair, or at least cut back the amount of times you do. Don’t use products every time you wash/style your hair; your hair needs to breathe.
- Conditioning Treatments: Unless you have very fine, limp hair, get into the habit of applying a deep conditioning treatment to your hair once a week. Deep conditioners are not the same as daily conditioners, and homemade preparations work really well. Coconut oil is especially good for hair conditioning. Brush your hair, wash it lightly, and then towel dry. Apply your deep conditioner and then wrap your head in a heated towel to open the hair cuticle and allow the conditioner to soak in. Leave for 10 minutes to half an hour. Then rinse thoroughly in warm water to remove the conditioner residue that remains, then cool water to close the hair cuticle. Rinsing your hair in cool water can be a little uncomfortable, but it can do amazing things for the appearance of your hair. It closes the hair cuticle close to the shaft, which increases shine and manageability, and helps to keep hair strong. A mixture of cool water and lemon juice is even better for shine and strength (a half of a teaspoon of lemon juice in two quarts of cool water is sufficient).
- Haircuts: Get into the habit of getting your hair trimmed when it needs to be. Again, this reduces split ends and keeps excess weight off your hair (which can cause breakage). It is best to trim your hair every 6-8 weeks for damaged/hard to manage hair. If your hair is pretty healthy, trim or cut it once every season.
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