You desperately want that long, luscious hair that every gorgeous girl on social media seems to have. You spend hours every day curling or straightening your entire head just to look a little more like them. As much as you like the way it looks, you run your hands through your hair and your entire chest fills with disappointment, as it just feels stiff, brittle, and drier than hay.
We know that our hair needs to always look good. But, we forget it needs to feel good too. Don’t worry though because today, we bring you 13 fantastic natural hair care tips that will help you maintain healthy hair.
Start Off These Natural Hair Care Tips by Eating Right
We are what we eat, right? Right! Taking care of our heads doesn’t only involve what we put on it and how many times we wash it or cut it. It all starts from within.
If we eat poorly, as in, not enough fruits or vegetables, our hair won’t absorb any of the nutrients it needs to obtain that shiny, thick look we desire. We need to include a healthy dose of greens and fruits into our diets, not to mention, drink loads of water. Hydrating ourselves makes a huge difference to our locks.
Other foods that are great for nurturing our hair are fatty goods like salmon avocadoes, eggs, sweet potatoes, etc.
Include these in your day-to-day diet and guarantee you’ll start to notice some pleasant changes in your locks.
Vitamins Are a Plus
Apart from having a healthy diet, we can give our hair that extra boost with a good supply of hair vitamins designed to nourish our strands with all the nutrients it needs. That way, in case one day you haven’t had your daily dose of healthy goods, take a vitamin and you’re set!
There are many positive attributes to hair vitamins. They stimulate growth, produce more shine, increase the thickness, prevents the hair from aging, creates new hair follicles, etc. The list can go on and on so, it’s something you should look into.
Before You Shampoo, Pre-Shampoo
You see, when you shampoo your hair, you tend to strip off any natural, healthy oils your hair accumulated. Your hair needs those oils for it to be healthy. In order to prevent that, you pre-shampoo.
In other words, you grab a little bit of coconut oil or olive oil, whichever works best, and lather it through your strands. In a way, by doing this, you’re protecting your strands and preventing those natural oils to be stripped off for when you actually shampoo.
This can also give a big boost to the effectiveness of the products you’ll use.
Apply Conditioner and Leave It In
This is especially useful for those whose hair is a little more dry than usual or has dried out due to all the dyeing. Purchase a leave-it-in conditioner, preferably one that has Keratin. Let it sit for a good while, until your next wash.
People who have overprocessed hair or extremely burnt and dried out hair will benefit greatly from this tip. Not only does moisturize your hair, but it creates a sort of barrier against heat and other kinds of environmental damage. And it makes it easier to style your hair afterward.
It’s recommended to repeat this process once a week.
Heat and Hair Don’t Get Along
We all love the different kinds of styles we can create thanks to our flat iron and curl irons. Used once in a while can be great and a lifesaver at times. In the long run, it just gradually burns our hair, giving it that brittle texture we hate.
So try to avoid it. As difficult it can be, it’ll be worth it. Find different styles that don’t require heat. Your hair will be grateful for allowing it to breathe.
If you do style your hair using heat, always apply heat protectant spray for protection. This shouldn’t only be done when using a flat iron. This can also be done whenever you’re going to be exposed to the sun, such as when you go to the beach or go for a walk at the park. Sun exposure can really damage the strands of your hair.
Hot Boiling Showers Are a No
Hot showers are nice but not too hot, especially for our hair. We want a hot enough shower because that way, our hair follicles open up and allows the shampoo and conditioner to soak in a lot better.
If it’s way too hot, then the water can dry out your scalp and make it brittle. It weakens it and makes it predisposed to breakage. Keep the water a tad bit warmer than room temperature.
Quick Cold Rinse
This makes a massive difference and only takes a few seconds. All you need to do is right before heading out of the shower, change your water temperate to really cold and keep your hair under the showerhead for a few seconds as it soaks in the cold water.
What happens is that the cold water will close all the pores and hair follicles, sealing in the moisture which creates a shiny look once it dries.
Make Your Own Conditioner
Many ingredients in your kitchen can contribute a lot to the health of your hair. One of them being an egg. Eggs contain positive benefits that could enrich your hair, helping in growth and the dryness of it. Or dicing onions and mixing it in with your shampoo has been proved to help with hair growth.
Look up different homemade hair recipes that you could use on your head. Things like lemon juice, honey, avocado, and even mayonnaise have proven to be great hair aids. Plus, it’s affordable.
Massage Your Scalp
A few years ago, something called “the inversion method” became highly popular due to its results. It involved massaging your head gently using your fingertips while your head was facing down. This helps the blood to circulate with much more ease, making it easier for hair to grow.
Even if you aren’t doing the inversion method, massaging your scalp normally still does the job.
Protect Your Hair Even at Night
While cotton dries out your hair and absorbs the moisture it shouldn’t, wrapping your hair in a silk cloth or even a t-shirt, it’ll help seal all the moisture and healthy oils into your strands of hair. You’ll also avoid the friction of your hair against your pillow which means you’ll have less frizz in the morning and fewer chances of breaking.
It’s also been proven that sleeping with a protective wrap helps your hair from thinning and reduces tangles, making your job in the morning a lot easier.
Change Your Pillowcase
If wrapping your hair up in a silk case doesn’t seem comfortable enough to you, then change your pillowcase. A cotton pillowcase soaks up bacteria and unwanted oils a lot easier than a silk pillowcase. Plus, it transfers to your hair and skin, causing damage and friction. A silk pillowcase will allow you to sleep on a cleaner surface and won’t give room to friction, which means no more frizzy hair in the morning.
Air Dry
Even though a hairdryer probably isn’t as damaging as a flat iron, you still want to avoid them if you’re trying to recover your hair’s health. Letting your hair dry naturally helps it to retain moisture as well as preventing any breakage during the classic drying-with-a-towel process.
You also save a lot of time!
Cut Your Ends Often
When you trim your hair, you get rid of any of the damage it may have suffered over the past few months. Trimming your hair won’t make it grow any thicker or faster. However, it will make it grow healthier, as you’re regularly eliminating the ruined bits of your hair. It also reduces frizz.
Implement These Natural Hair Care Tips
These natural hair care tips might sound like a lot to remember but the changes are small. No doubt though, you will definitely see a difference. Start putting them into practice and with time, you’ll notice how much your hair has improved.
You’ve learned some great new tips to care for your hair but check out more of our other articles that can be useful.
