How to Get Healthy Hair

How many of us have ever looked at a woman and thought "I wish I had her hair". We all want healthy, soft, beautiful hair don't we? Hair that doesn't frizz, hair that stays in place. It sounds like an unrealistic goal, but it is actually achievable! You can get beautiful, strong, soft hair by following a few simple guidelines.

Washing:

So many people do not realise the damage that can be done to the hair during the process of shampooing and conditioning. Whilst the hair is wet, it is at its most fragile, the cuticle is opened by the warm water, thus making it more vulnerable and prone to damage. Movement of the wet hair should ideally be minimised, as it is the movement which causes the cuticle to be pulled and rubbed in the wrong direction, often resulting in dry looking frizzy, broken hair.

Brush your hair before you was it, this will mean that not only will you avoid pulling at your hair whilst trying to shampoo it, the conditioner will not have to work so hard at untangling your hair and it will penetrate the hair more deeply.

When you shampoo your hair, shampoo the roots gently and allow the shampoo to run down the rest of your hair as you rinse, the rest of your hair will be gently cleansed, without being damaged by movement.

When it comes to conditioning, after you have rinsed off your shampoo, wrap your hair in a towel for about a minute, this will help to remove any excess water, which will dilute the conditioner and reduce its effectiveness. Apply your conditioner and leave on for at least five minutes then rinse.

Most hairdresers will also recommend that once a week, you should wash your hair, apply conditioner and leave your hair wrapped in a towel for at least half an hour. The warmth of the towel helps the conditioner to penetrate deeper, this also helps to stimulate hair growth.

Drying:

Your hair should be at least 70% dry before you go anywhere near it with a hairdryer, gently pat it with a towel until you have removed a good deal of the water. Apply your heat protection products. Use a wide toothed comb or a natural bristled brush to style the hair and keep the dryer on the lowest heat setting and make sure you use the concentrator nozzle.

Heat protection:

Heat protection is absolutely essential if you want healthy looking hair, it not only protects against heated appliances, but also against UV rays, which can do a considerable amount of damage to hair. Many people think that if you don't use hair straighteners, you don't need heat protection products, but you need to use them, even if you only use a hairdryer. You will however need something more intensive if you use both a hairdryer and straighteners.

Never straighten your hair when it is wet, any excess moisture left on your hair will literally boil, so you will have boiling water on your hair, which is going to do some serious damage. This is a mistake that so many women make and they then wonder why they have dry, parched hair.

Brushing:

The old wives tale that you should perform 100 brush strokes per day on your hair is nonsense, all this will do is tear and break the hair. You should try to minimise brushing and use a brush or comb with wide spaces bristles.