Repair Damaged Hair
Is your hair dry and dull? Do you have split ends and frizz? Hair is damaged easily, but it takes time to repair it. The good news is you can use the following techniques to restore its health to make your hair look better. Rescue damaged hair and practice habits that will keep your hair healthy.
Contents
Steps
Rescuing Damaged Hair
- Get a trim. Be careful about this. Hair stylists are the cause of most hair damage. You must use hair scissors that are right for your hair. If your hair has a straw-like texture with split ends, the first thing way to restore its health is to get a trim. Cutting your hair will immediately make it look fresher and restore its body.
- To check if your stylist is using extra sharp scissors, get them to cut into a wet tissue. Inspect the cut - if you see torn tissue fibers, find another stylist.
- Cut off as much as you dare. Hair is more damaged toward the tips, since that part of the hair has had more time to be affected by heat, chlorine, and other sources of hair damage.
- Ask the stylist not to blow dry your hair or use any styling products. These will further damage unhealthy hair.
- Stop using heat. Now that your hair is freshly cut, treat it very gently until its health is restored.You may only use heat if you use heat protective spray.That means blow dryers, curling irons, or straightening irons.
- Air drying your hair is less damaging than using a blow dryer. Let your hair exist in its most natural state.
- If you must straighten or curl your hair, use a more gentle method, like rollers or hair wrapping, to achieve the look you want.
- Stop dying or processing your hair. Bleaching the color from your hair, then adding chemicals to dye it another color is extremely damaging. Bleaching or dying hair can lead to hair breakage, hair loss, and bald patches.
- Permanent curling or straightening are also damaging and should be avoided.
- Deep conditioning treatments meant to restore your hair's moisture may actually contain chemicals that are bad for your hair.
- Straighteners and Hairdryers infused with Keratin and Argon oils will help keep hair healthy. Remington have some hair styling tools that will help maintain healthy hair without compromising results.
Starting to Use Healthy Products
- Use sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner. Shampoo and conditioner made with natural oils and herbs will repair your hair. Shop in a health food store for natural products made with ingredients that restore moisture to dry, damaged hair.
- Avoid shampoos and conditioner made with sodium laurel or laureth sulfates. These are industrial cleaning agents in many soaps and shampoos; they strip hair of its natural protective oils.
- When you begin using natural shampoo and conditioner, your hair may look slightly oily. That's because your body has grown used to overproducing the oils necessary to maintain healthy hair. Ride it out. After a few weeks your body will be used to producing the right amount of oil again.
- Use natural styling products. Most hair sprays, gels, mousses and other styling products at drugstores contain chemicals that damage your hair in the long term. Avoid these and instead shop at health food stores for styling products made with ingredients that are good for your hair.
- You can make your own hairspray using citrus fruits as a great natural alternative to chemical-based sprays.
- You can make your own hair gel using a simple mixture of water and gelatin, or even a vegan alternative using only water and flax seeds.
- Treat your hair with oil. You can use olive oil or egg oil. and other natural oils to add moisture back to your hair. Simply massage the oil into your hair, let it sit for fifteen minutes, then rinse it out with lukewarm water.
Practicing Long-Term Maintenance
- Don't wash your hair too often. Washing your hair every day dries it out, since it doesn't give your scalp the chance to produce the oils your hair needs to stay healthy. Try washing it two or three times a week instead.
- Style your hair in an updo or with a hat on the last day before you wash it.
- Use dry shampoo or a little baking soda around your roots and bangs to absorb your hair's oil.
- Wash your hair with lukewarm or cool water. Hot water damages hair, but cool or cold water causes the hair shafts to lie flat, giving your hair a shiny, glossy appearance.
- Wear a swim cap in the pool. Has a stylist ever asked you if you're a swimmer? Chlorine causes damage that builds up over time. Always wear a cap when you go swimming.
- If you go swimming without a cap, make sure to wash out the chlorine with a good natural shampoo.
- Don't sit in the sun after swimming without a cap, because the sun's rays will compound the damage done by chlorine. Wash it out before you sunbathe.
- Stay in good general health. Like other parts of your body, hair is affected by what you eat and drink. Get plenty of water, vitamins and essential nutrients.
- Omega-3 fatty acids are good for hair and skin. Eat salmon, walnuts, flax seeds, and other sources of this beneficial fatty acid.
- Eating spinach, kale, carrots, and avocados improve the health of your hair.
Tips
- If you need to blow dry your hair, keep it on the lowest heat setting. If your blow dryer has a cool blast setting, use that instead.
- Hats and scarves protect your hair from the sun and air pollution, and keep you looking chic between shampoos.
- Supplements promote healthy hair growth.
