Dry hair is the most common hair problem for women no matter your hair type or texture. When your hair is dry, it might be brittle, fizzy, dull and hard to style. Let’s run through some main causes and how you can reduce the dryness of your hair.
Causes of dry hair
Dry hair develops when your hair doesn’t retain enough moisture. It can affect men and women of any age and develop more when you get older.
There are a variety of factors that lead to dry hair, the three main factors that contribute are
Bad hair care habits: bad habits that get your hair dry include washing your hair often, using harsh hair products on your hair or too much heat styling without protection.
Environmental conditions: some environmental conditions that can cause dry hair could be spending a lot of time under the sun or wind or frequently swimming in chlorinated or salty water. Weather is also a factor, the cold weather dries the air and it strips the moisture out of your hair, makes your hair dull, brittle and sadly, prone to split ends.
Physical health: in some cases, dry hair is a result of genetics, a side effect of medications or underlying health problem that affects your hair’s healthiness.
Whatever the root of the problem, the solution all comes down to how to moisturise dry hair, keep it healthy with the best products and practices.
Here are our simple and easy-to-follow remedies for you that can make a significant change on your hair healthiness.
How to fix dry hair
Tip #1: Shampoo less often
If you shampoo your hair too often, you may wonder why your hair is so dry.
Daily shampooing can strip your hair of its protective oil called sebum. Sebum is a vital oil produced by your skin with the main purpose to protect the skin and hair from drying out. Try to wash your hair three times a week at most to maintain healthy sebum levels and prevent drying and use a dry shampoo in-between washes.
Browse a collection of dry shampoo online
Tip #2: Conditioning your hair each time
Unlike shampoo that strips dirt away from hair, conditioner adds in the moisture and helps reduce cuticle splitting and flyaways. Gently apply it to your hair, focusing on the tips and rinse out with warm or cool water.
If your hair is extremely dry, you can also apply hair serums or leave-in conditioners to add lustre and softness. These are especially great for curly hair, which is more prone to dryness.
Browse collections of hair serums and leave-in conditioners online.
Tip #3: Apply hair mask
Adding to your routine, try using a super-moisturizing hair mask once or twice a week. Look for rich, creamy formulas with ingredients like argan oil, biotin or keratin. You can keep it on your hair overnight to give more time for the formula to seep into your strands.
Browse a collection of hair mask online.
Tip #4: Let your hair air dry
Blow-drying your hair regularly causes heat damage and will dry out your hair. Let your hair air dry as often as possible. When you have to style your hair with a dryer, try to use the warm or cool setting instead and keep it several inches away from your hair.
Tip #5: Avoid heat-intensive styling processes and use heat protection styling products
Heat styling tools like curlers, straighteners, hot brushes - do wonderful jobs on our hair styles and looks but they also do a lot of damages on the health of our hair. Using them too often can lead to dry hair and breakage. If you can, try to limit the use of heat styling tools as much as possible. If you need to use heat styling tool every day, you should prep your hair with a solid heat protectant spray to prevent damage.
Browse a collection of heat protectant spray online.
Tip #6: Avoid frequent chemical styling - waving, straightening, or colouring
Processed or chemically styled hair - like perms/waving, straightening, or colouring - puts a lot of stress on your hair. If you get a hair chemical treatment often you may notice the texture of your hair becomes much drier and brittle.
That is why your stylist may recommend spacing out these appointments. Limiting it is the best way to prevent dry and damage hair.
Tip #7: Use natural hair products
Many products promise to give us healthy hair in their packaging and in their commercial advertisement, but they contain ingredients that do the opposite.
Look out for the ingredients before you buy anything. Make sure it has ingredients like Keratin, argan oil, morocco oil, coconut oil, or Vitamin E.
Stay away from shampoo and conditioners with these following harmful ingredients:
- Sulphates: found in shampoos, it creates a lather that cleans your hair, however, it strips away hair’s natural oils also and leave it dry.
- Silicones: found in conditioners, these build up in your hair and make it look dull.
- Alcohols: found in styling products, it takes moisture from the hair and scalp and contributes to dryness.
Browse a collection of natural haircare online
Tip #8: Eat a healthy diet and try vitamins
Provide yourself with a healthy diet with rich Omega-3s fatty acid (fish, seafood, nuts and seeds, plant oils) and antioxidant (berries, dark chocolate, beans, broccoli, spinach) which are well known for keeping your skin and hair healthy.
Adding Biotin, Vitamin A, C, D and E to your routine is definitely another way to give your body more of the nutrients it needs for healthy hair.
Tip #9: Get regular trims
Get your hair trimmed every few months to get rid of the dry and damaged ends, keep it healthy looking with the beautiful new growth.
Tip #10: Protect your hair from sun and other elements
It is important to protect your hair just as you would do with your skin. If you are planning on being outside all day, wear a hat in the sun and a swim cap to protect it from chemicals when you go to the pool. When you get out always comb through a leave-in conditioner or hair serum. Look for styling products that contain a UV filter.
Browse a collection of haircare with UV filter online
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