10 Healthy Ways to Care for Your Hair

Everyone wants their hair to look and feel its best. The first step in hair-care is your diet and the two most important things in your diet are iron and protein. The hair cells are the fastest-growing cells in the body but they are also the first ones to be affected you don’t eat right or suffer from deficiencies because they are not required for survival. Try and include iron-rich foods like leafy vegetables, fish, pumpkin seeds, beans, chickpeas, soybeans and cereals in your diet. You also need protein because that’s what strengthens your hair. Include complete proteins that are also rich in amino acids: like cheese, milk, soy, lentils, peas, quinoa and yogurt. 

It can be hard to keep track of all the things you should be doing to care for your hair. Listed below are some healthy ways to care for your hair.

Oil Hair Mask

This is a common way of promoting healthy hair growth. It is a very traditional way of ensuring a healthy-looking hair. It works by regulating the amount of oil produced by the oil glands in the skin of your head. The oil produced then moisturizes the hair and scalp. Try applying a little coconut, almond, or olive oil to your scalp and strands regularly. If you have thin/straight hair, apply an essential oil like coconut oil to your hair before shampoos and skip the regular applications. Argan oil hair mask helps to restore and prevent further breakage due to over-processed, dry, and damaged hair. This hair mask is infused with Argan Oil, Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Rosehip Seed Oil, and Vitamin E, which are known to help fortify and restructure hair that has been damaged by chemical treatments or heat styling. It aids in transforming damaged hair into shiny, healthy, lustrous-looking locks.

Conditioning Treatment

Good conditioner is crucial when it comes to any hair type but particularly thick, curly tresses.

For curly, highly textured hair, always deep condition. Deep conditioning involves using a conditioner that will add moisture and strength (protein) back to hair. You should use heat by either applying conditioner to hair while taking a shower and let it sit while showering or by covering the hair with a plastic cap and applying heat from the outside like a hairdryer. Use leave-in conditioners and try not to shampoo so often. Rinse it if you want to but don’t necessarily shampoo it. To make sure your hair really absorbs the conditioner, towel-dry hair after shampooing. Excess water will mean the conditioner won’t be able to penetrate the hair shaft and deliver the necessary moisture to get gorgeous, shiny hair.  If you’re short on time, at least squeeze out excess water.  

Give Your Hair A Break

Sometimes, the best thing for your hair is to just leave it alone. Your hair needs a rest from everything it endures during the week. Even brushing your hair too often can be stressing it out. Try using the weekend to let your hair recuperate. If possible, let your hair air-dry, avoid heated styling products, and keep it out of a ponytail or tight headband to avoid any unnecessary pulling on the hair shaft. Touching and styling your hair too much will eventually cause damage and breakage. In other words, sometimes you just have to let your hair chill a little.

Wash it Less Often

Some people might think that keeping their hair clean and conditioning it often are the best ways to keep it healthy. Greasy hair might seem like it’s a bad thing, but washing your hair less often can actually be better for it. To an extent, the oil your scalp produces is actually supposed to be there. The oil that you naturally produce is an important part of keeping both your hair and scalp moisturized. If you’re washing your hair daily, especially if you’re using a strong shampoo, you could be stripping your hair of moisture. How long you go without washing your hair depends on the texture and thickness, but you might find that over time you’re able to wash it less without dealing with too much grease. 

Get a Trim Regularly

When you’re trying to grow your hair out, or if you’re just happy with your current length, getting a haircut can seem counterintuitive. However, this is actually how you can help your hair continue to grow healthier. When the ends of hair get damaged and cause split ends, you can experience damage, which can prevent your hair from growing, since it will just be breaking off. By getting a trim a few times a year, depending on the length of your hair, you can prevent damage at the ends. Not only will it keep growing as it should, but getting rid of your split ends will make your hair look and feel better. 

Throw Out Your Towels

Sometimes, you can be causing damage to your hair without even realizing it. One way that many people are unknowingly harming their hair is by towel drying it. This is something that even people who are very conscious of hair health still do. Towels are incredibly coarse and can cause enough damage to your hair that it can become dry and frizzy from breakage. Hair is especially sensitive when it’s wet, so you have to treat it with the utmost care. Of course, drying your hair with a blow dryer will also lead to damage. Your hair can benefit from just letting it air dry. If you aren’t comfortable letting your hair totally air dry, there’s still a way for you to dry it without doing any damage. By taking an old t-shirt and drying your hair with that, rather than a towel, you can dry it without being too abrasive. 

Take Care of Your Scalp

You probably make an effort to take good care of your hair, but your scalp often gets left out of this. Hair tends to get all of our attention, while many people frequently ignore their scalp. If anything, the skin on your scalp might even be more important than the skin on the rest of the body, as it’s much more sensitive. Although you might never really see your scalp, you can’t have healthy hair without first getting a healthy scalp. It only makes sense to make sure hair is healthy right at the root to ensure that the rest of it is in good condition. Scalps should be kept clean, moisturized, and with a healthy PH balance, around 4 or 5. Poor scalp care can also lead to dandruff, which can be even worse for some than any other hair-related issue.

Use cold water

A warm shower at the end of the day is a relaxing treat for most people. Warm water is what many are most comfortable with and cold water can even feel like a punishment for some. Although you might not want to spend any longer in cold water than absolutely necessary, it can actually be better for your hair. If you enjoy a nice warm shower, you could be causing extra damage to your hair. Warm water can dry out your hair, which can lead to it becoming brittle and cause breakage easily. When you wash your hair in water that’s too warm, you could be stripping it of its natural oils and weakening the root. Coldwater can help close the pores in your scalp, which can make it harder for dirt and oil to get it, making your hair stay cleaner longer. The hair follicle will also close from the cold, which helps moisture stay in and keeps hair feeling smooth. Not only will cold water be better for your hair, but it can also be beneficial for your hair.  

Eat a healthy diet

Your diet can impact every aspect of your life, but many people don’t realize that it can also affect your hair. Getting all the essential vitamins and minerals is important for your overall health, which includes the health of your hair. A poor diet can even increase your chances of hair loss in the future. If you aren’t getting the nutrients you need through food alone, consider taking a daily vitamin. Vitamins A, C, D, and E, as well as biotin, can all help keep your hair healthy. Drinking enough water throughout the day, about eight 8-ounce glasses is another important part of keeping a healthy diet. 

Switch to silk pillowcases

Few people have perfect hair right when they wake up, and while this can happen naturally, your pillowcase might also have something to do with it. Sleeping on most regular pillowcases all night can be too abrasive on your hair, as well as your skin. To help keep your hair protected while you sleep, replace all of your current pillowcases with ones made from silk. Sleeping on a silk pillow case causes much less friction than many other materials, which prevents hair from breaking and getting frizzy. Like many things that can help you care for your hair, this change can also help improve your skin.