Our Healthiest Basic Hair Tips

It’s not easy to keep your hair healthy and looking its best. You have to take care of it every day, including washing it, styling it, and maintaining it. If you don’t do it, your hair will start to look tired and greasy.  Even worse, for some, as they get older, hair starts to fall out and takes longer to grow back, causing problems with styling your hair and avoiding having it look thin. But if you follow these hair care tips, you can keep your hair looking its best even in the harshest conditions.

Washing your hair

Obviously, washing our hair is number one thing to make it look better. But the frequency at which we wash our hair is also essential- as it’s often damaging to wash our hair every day. Generally, it’s recommended by experts to wash the hair every 2-3 days with a mild, paraben and sulfate-free shampoo. This helps remove any built-up products and dirt that may have been on your hair beforen without adding anything yucky or stripping natural moisture. Add a conditioner to keep your hair feeling soft and shiny - a favorite tip of ours (if conditioner feels too heavy) is to start with conditioner and then shampoo after.

Styling your hair

While a few, thoughtful products can definitely protect your hair, product can also build up n our hair and eventually leave it looking dull or oily. We like to stick to 1 or 2 products and leave it at that. Heat protectants and/or a smoothing oil are our go-to’s, with Olaplex Bonding Oil being the current favorite.

Heat protectants help stop heat-based equipment like straighteners from damaging the hair each time we use them.  A leave-in conditioner is also great, and doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg (like Herbal Essences Leave In Conditioner which works for all hair types) to add some volume and life to your locks.

Protecting your hair from the sun

Sun exposure can damage hair follicles, make hair dry and brittle, and lead to hair loss. Sun exposure can cause your scalp to dry out, leading to hair thinning. It can also lead to the growth of skin cancer (even on your scalp), so it is vital to protect yourself from it! To protect your hair from the sun, make sure you have an effective sunscreen covering all your hair. You can also wear hats and sunglasses when you’re outside.

Protecting your hair from heat damage

As mentioned above, styling heat can wreak havoc on our strands, especially when used regularly. In fact, one of the biggest ways to help hair regain some of its luster is lay off the tools for a hot minute (pun intended). Or, go for a hairdryer with low wattage or a hairdryer with protection features - and skip the hottest setting. Additionally, a hair straightener with low wattage or a hairdryer with ceramic or tourmaline plates (again skip the hottest setting) will help quite a bit. Lastly, make sure your hair is FULLY dry before applying too much heat to avoid serious structural damage.

Taking care of your hair with a healthy diet

We know, we don’t want to hear it either. But one of the main ways to look after hair is with a healthy diet that contains various nutrients targeted to help keep hair healthy and looking great. This includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, proteins, natural fats, and low-fat dairy - and not to over-consuming processed foods or sugary drinks. Luckily, we kind of dig the dietary suggestions when it comes to hair.

Keeping your hair hydrated

One of the most important things we can do for your hair is to keep it hydrated. We know, this sounds insane. But what you drink can actually affect your hair - drinking plenty of water and avoiding alcohol for a short period of time can make an actual visible difference! But it doesn’t stop there. Harsh chemicals in hair care products can cause a lot of damage and dry it out. Just like your bod, keeling alcohols and other moisture-stripping chemicals away from those strands will help keep them plump and shiny.

Stopping hair loss

While hair loss is a common problem for people of all ages, and is more common in men than in women, it still affects women for a variety of reasons, including vitamin deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, and just general aging stuff. Not to mention external factors, such as stress. When we’re under pressure, our perspective isn’t the only thing that becomes dry and brittle - our hair feels it too. This makes it easy for the hair cells to break down and die, which leads to hair loss. Another common cause of hair loss is a lack of sleep, believe it or not. We need at least eight hours of sleep per night to keep our hair healthy in addition to the rest of us. If we don’t get enough sleep, our hair can become greasy, oily, and brittle at the same time - kind of like our personalities.

Many treatments and medications are available in drug stores and so forth that can stop the hair-loss process and even help your hair grow longer. These medicinal treatments can help hair remain as healthy and full as it’s always been, with medication such as finasteride tablets or Minoxidil - more commonly known under the branded name Rogaine. Saw palmetto, pumpkin seed oil, and reishi mushroom are also some great options.