How Healthy is Your Hair

No matter what kind of hair you have, take care of it and it will return the favor.

As hair is one of the first things people notice about you, you want it looking its best. If you suffer from split ends, breakage, greasy hair, or dry and brittle hair, there may be some things you can do to improve your hair’s overall health and appearance.
When you’re ready to make your hair look like it just spent the day in a hair health spa, try these tips.

Avoid Manmade Shampoos

While all shampoos are manmade (that’s right - you won’t find any trees that have shampoo-bottle leaves), some are a little more manmade than others. When choosing a shampoo to use on your flowing locks, go with something rooted in nature. Manmade chemicals may do a great job of ridding your hair of dirt and grime, but they tend to strip your hair of the oils needed for optimal health. More natural alternatives help preserve needed oils, while getting rid of the stuff you don’t want or need.

Grab the Boar by the Handle

Brushes made with plastic bristles are relatively cheap and tough. However, if you want to help your hair be its healthiest, you should know that plastic bristles are the enemy of healthy hair. Instead, go with a brush made with natural boar bristles. If you’re going to be brushing your hair out while wet, grab a boar-hair brush with rubber-toothed bristles. Otherwise, go all with all-natural boar bristles to help your dry hair maintain its strength and luster.

The Washing Dilemma. Ask 10 stylists how often people should wash their hair and you’ll probably get 10 different answers. The most common trains of thought are to wash hair only two or three times a week to avoid drying out your hair and scalp or to wash every day with a gentle shampoo. As no one seems to agree on the frequency you should shampoo, find out for yourself. Using a natural shampoo, wash as frequent as necessary to have clean, healthy hair that is neither excessively greasy nor frustratingly dry.

Bye-Bye, Barrettes

Want to get your hair up and out of the way? Be sure to do it in a manner that doesn’t damage your hair. Though barrettes are extremely easy and convenient to use, they can pull your hair, causing it to lose some of its good health. For a hair-healthy alternative, go with claw clips or hair bands or loosely braid or twist your hair behind your head.

Color Properly

Not content with your hair’s natural color? Feel the need to change it to make it better match your skin tones or personality? Though it is healthier for you to never dye your hair, you can help your dyed hair stay its healthiest by taking two steps. First, dye your hair every month. It will be more expensive than the three-month schedule you may be accustomed to, but more frequent dying (as long as it’s the same color each time) allows your stylist to leave chemicals on your head for a shorter amount of time, as there will be less loss of coloring to be corrected. Second, hold off on washing your hair for three days after dying it, and use shampoo that has been proven to not strip color from hair. These two steps will give your new color plenty of time to safely saturate your hair.

Enjoy Your Meal

As important as what you put on your hair and how you style it is what you put in your mouth. Believe it or not, a diet deficient in a certain vitamin or mineral can spell bad hair day for months on end. To ensure you have the best possible hair, eat plenty of beans, dark green veggies, nuts, poultry, salmon, whole grains, carrots, and low-fat dairy products. In other words, get plenty of variety in your diet and do your best to avoid an excessive amount of useless sugars and fats.