Have you been searching for a way to get healthy and shiny hair? Then, we have the ultimate guide for you. There are many different ways to get healthy and shiny hair, and we will go over each one in this article. From using natural products to going on a diet full of protein and iron-rich foods, there are so many different things that can help your locks be their healthiest!
Healthy, shiny hair starts from within
To get healthy hair, sometimes it’s best to start from the inside out. An improved diet can make a noticeable difference to your hair’s appearance and feel. In addition, you’ll need to consume the right vitamins and minerals to increase new hair growth and strengthen your hair’s structure.
Think lean protein, dairy, vegetables, and fruit for hair growth. Oily fish like salmon are excellent sources of omega-three fatty acids which can help to reduce inflammation in the scalp that could cause hair loss. Vitamins A, C, and E are needed for healthy skin cells, so try including them into your diet too! There’s also zinc and iron to help with blood flow which will encourage hair growth.
Fruits like papaya, pineapple, and oranges are packed full of vitamin C and biotin (vitamin H), both of which contribute towards shiny, healthy locks! There are different foods you can eat to help give your hair the boost it needs to be the talk of the town.
Take care of your scalp health first
When we think about our hair health, it is essential first to consider the health of our scalp. The scalp’s health has a direct influence on the appearance and feel of the hair. Even with a good diet, you will never have healthy hair if you don’t take care of your scalp. Here are some ways you can pamper your scalp to have healthy and shiny hair:
Scalp Exfoliation
Almost half of respondents to a study conducted by AllThingsHair chose scalp treatment as their preferred hair treatmentScalp exfoliation is the process of removing dead skin cells from your scalp. You can do this by using a mixture containing oil and sugar or trying an all-natural remedy like apple cider vinegar mixed with water. Whatever method you choose, make sure to massage it gently into your scalp for five minutes before washing off thoroughly. By using this method, your hair will feel softer and look shinier
Scalp Massage
A scalp massage feels great, but it also improves blood flow to the hair follicles, encouraging healthy hair growth. You can use a mixture of argan oil and lavender essential oil as your base for any DIY scalp massages you decide to do at home.
Oiling Hair
If you use an oil such as olive, argan, or coconut oil to massage your scalp and hair, it will help moisturize your strands while preventing dandruff which can lead to thinning locks over time. It also helps with dry ends that split easily! You can apply this to your tresses after washing or at night before bed.
Scalp hydration
If you don’t correctly hydrate your scalp, it can lead to dry and brittle hair, which is an open invitation for frizziness. The fix? A few weeks of apple cider vinegar rinses done once a week will leave you with soft, shiny locks that are less prone to breakage, split ends, and frizziness.
Choose the right products for your hair type
Hair products and styling agents that aren’t right for your hair can cause significant damage to it.
There is a wide range of hair care products available, so choosing the right product can be confusing. So how do you choose the right one? First, you must determine your hair type. Only then can you choose the right product.
Aside from the apparent categories such as straight, wavy, and curly several other factors also play a role in identifying your hair type, including your hair’s porosity and scalp moisture.
Hair porosity is a measure of how easily your hair can absorb moisture. Hair with high porosity has an open cuticle (the scales on the surface of the hair strand, which overlap like roof tiles) that allows water and other molecules to pass in and out quickly. In contrast, low-porosity strands have tightly packed cuticles that make it difficult for these molecules to enter.
Porosity is related not only to hair type but also to the shape of individual strands. Therefore, even chemical treatments such as coloring or bleaching can impact your hair’s porosity over time. For example, untreated Caucasian hair tends to be high-porous while African-American hair is typically low-porous.
Once you have figured out your hair type, you should research and look for hair products appropriate for it.
Hair products are designed to have different purposes, so you must choose the right ones for your hair type. If possible, look for a product line made specifically for your needs. For example, if your strands tend to be dry or frizzy, opt for moisturizing shampoos and deep conditioning treatments.
Shampoo less frequently
Daily hair washing will definitely not get you going on the path of shiny hair. Quite the opposite, in fact!
Every time you wash your hair, you strip away the natural oils that are there to protect it. This will make your hair dry and damaged over time which can lead to breakage or split ends. Therefore, you should wash your hair every other day at most. If your hair is very oily, then try cleaning it every third day or even less frequently than that.
There are plenty of dry shampoo options on the market that will help you extend the time between shampoos. Dry shampoo absorbs the oil in your roots and leaves a fresh scent behind that lasts for several hours.
Give your hair a final rinse with cold water
Cold water seals the cuticles of your hair, giving it a shiny appearance and retaining moisture. Closing down the cuticles has more than one advantage. On the one hand, it locks the moisturizing ingredients and water within the hair strand, and on the other hand, the cuticle layer will prevent the hair from frizzing. Additionally, closed cuticles allow light to reflect more effectively from the hair, resulting in a more radiant shine.
Avoid towel drying
The towel’s thick absorbent fibers cause more harm than good when rubbing against your wet hair. Its thick fibers can cause excessive hair loss and breakage. Instead, gently squeeze the water out of your hair to decrease breakage.
Since your hair is at its most fragile state when it is wet, you must treat it with as much care as possible when you are drying it. Towel drying your hair can hurt the health of your hair.
The good news is that you do not need to avoid towel drying altogether. Just try using a different type of towel or changing the way you dry your hair. Among all the ways to dry your hair, air drying is considered one of the healthiest.
Give the heat styling tools a rest
Heat styling tools can give you the appearance you desire, but they can also damage your hair in the process—resulting in breakage and drying your hair.
You want to avoid this!
Instead of using a straightener or curling iron, try braiding your hair before bed instead. This is an easy way to get beachy waves without the use of any heat-styling tools. If you aren’t the braiding type, try using a sea salt spray for texture or a light hold product while your hair is still damp. This technique will give you an undone, natural look without any heat styling whatsoever.
Switch to a boar bristle brush
Boar bristle brushes are gentle on hair and distribute oil throughout the cuticle evenly.
The bristles of a boar bristle brush are generally longer than those of synthetic brushes, allowing for better grip when brushing through wet or dry hair. This can help with breakage, split ends, and detangling, especially in curly hair types.
Boar bristles are made up of approximately 70% protein, which can help to strengthen the outermost protective layer of the cuticle, resulting in healthier-looking locks. The high ion count in boar bristles also helps attract negative ions that lock moisture into the cortex of hair strands, promoting a healthy sheen.
A boar bristle brush can help to distribute natural oils along with your entire head of hair, resulting in shiny and healthy-looking locks. The pressure applied by brushing with a boar bristle brush also stimulates blood flow to the scalp, speeding up cell turnover and encouraging growth.
Use A Leave-in Conditioner
A leave-in conditioner is a hair product intended to be applied after shampooing but before drying, which restores moisture and shine to dry, brittle, damaged hair. The oils help the hair’s cuticle to align in a way that makes it shinier and smoother. These types of products add volume and reduce frizz, which is excellent for curly hair.
They work to do the following:
- Prevents split ends
- Adds shine to your hair
- Helps tame flyaways and frizzy hairs
- Softens dry, brittle, or damaged strands that can be caused by sun exposure, over-brushing, or using heat-styling tools
- Improves manageability
How to Use: A leave-in conditioner should be applied from the bottom of your hair and worked through to the ends. Make sure it is distributed evenly throughout your mane, but avoid putting too much near the roots as this can cause greasy-looking locks.
Use a lightweight hair oil
Lightweight hair oil is a product that coats the hair in a thin layer of oil, helping to smooth it and reduce frizz. It also helps to nourish dry strands, which shampoos and blow-drying can strip.
These oils are suitable for any hair type but are especially great for people with curly or dry hair because they coat each strand without weighing them down. Lightweight hair oils are also great at sealing in moisture. They can be used on wet or dry hair, so you only need to use them when convenient for your schedule.
Some of the best ones to try are:
- Grapeseed oil
- Argan oil
- Jojoba Oil
- Marula Oil
- Avocado Oil
Each of these oils has a slightly different benefit depending on the type of hair you have. Argan oil is a popular option because it contains vitamin E and fatty acids, which help to strengthen hair strands. Grapeseed oil has been used for centuries by people with very dry skin, so you can be sure that it will do the trick when your hair begins to feel brittle or frizzy. Jojoba Oil works great on all hair types, but it has a very similar make-up to the natural oils your scalp naturally produces. Finally, avocado oil is popular because of its high vitamin E content, making it great for nourishing damaged hair and leaving you with an irresistible shine that can’t be beaten.
Use a heat protectant
A hair heat protectant is a type of product used to safeguard your hairstyle from the damage caused by using heated styling tools. Heat can cause rapid damage to your hair, including breakage and dryness, so it’s crucial to prevent this before it happens.
The hair heat protectant will act as a shield between the heat source and your hair so that the heat only reaches the strands of hair while still protecting them.
Heat protectants are often made with silicones, which give hair a smoother feel and protect against breakage. You can find many types of heat protectants on the market today, including sprays, serums, and creams.
It would be best if you used a heat protectant every time you style your hair with heated tools, including curling irons and straighteners. The best way to use this product is by applying it before using the hot styling tool so that the product can take effect as soon as possible.
Use a nourishing overnight mask
Nourishing overnight hair masks are luxurious and can take up to two hours to work. Typically, they’re applied the night before, and the following day there is a noticeable difference in the hair. These masks add much-needed moisture to dry hair and help it achieve a vibrant shine. Of course, the best overnight hair mask for you is ultimately dependent on your hair type, but these methods will always leave your hair feeling hydrated and healthy.
An overnight hair mask is a great way to add extra moisture back into your hair. Overnight masks are perfect for summer when you’re exposed to the sun, pool water, or chlorine daily, and it may be necessary to give your locks an added boost of hydration. These treatments can also help repair damage from coloring or heat styling and help your hair look shinier.
Use Hair Dye with Care
It is a well-known fact that hair dyes are one of the most harmful hair products. This is because they contain many chemicals that may cause different types of damage to the hair. Even though there are other options, such as henna or natural dyes, chemical dye is still widely used because it’s easy and quick to apply. However, people should know how to use hair dye with care for their hair health protection.
Hair coloring products may cause a lot of hair damage, including:
- Hair breakage
- Dryness
- Itchiness and irritation of the scalp
Hair dyeing should be done with care to avoid these unpleasant effects. The first step is to follow instructions carefully: make sure you use the hair dye in correct proportions for your hair type (for example, if your hairs are thin or very thick). Also, pay attention to timing: you should leave the dye on your hair for a shorter time than recommended. After coloring, you must use a conditioner and go easy with heat tools or chemical treatments (such as relaxers).
Get regular haircuts
Maintaining healthy and shiny hair requires regular trimmings – every 10 to 12 weeks. Trimming your hair is the best way to keep it in top condition.
Trims will remove split or broken hairs and unruly ends, giving you a clean cut across all layers of your hair. It also stimulates the scalp by opening up pores, allowing for better blood circulation that brings nourishment to the roots. This gives you longer lasting hair color. Trimming can also help you attain a particular style that is more manageable for your hair type and desired look.
A good haircut will make your ends healthier, making it easier to manage them.
Sleep on a silk pillowcase
Beauty sleep just got a new meaning.
A silk pillowcase allows your strands to maintain moisture throughout the night, which can help prevent breakage and uncooperative frizz. Silk also prevents the buildup of dirt, dust, and oils that can clog your pores and cause breakouts beneath the surface of your skin.
Other benefits include less hair loss, fewer tangles, and the prevention of split ends.
Conclusion
Hair is one of the most critical parts of our appearance, but it can also be one of the more frustrating aspects to manage. It’s hard to get healthy hair without putting in some work. But, whether it’s restoring moisture, getting rid of breakage, or just taking care of your ends, there are a lot of things you can do to keep your locks looking and feeling fresh and beautiful!
