Well-groomed hair looks beautiful. But how do you actually keep your hair groomed & healthy?
Here are several tips & tricks to take good care of your hair:
- Shoulder-length hair is on average about two years old. If your hair reaches your waist, your ends can be up to six years old. During this period, they incur damage no matter how careful you are. Therefore, treat your hair like a piece of fine, old lace.
- Brush your hair as follows: Working in small sections, start combing the ends and move towards the roots piece by piece. Tangles are a drain on your hair, and it is better to avoid them.
- Avoid rubbing your hair as much as possible. Prevent tangles by not sleeping with your hair loose. If you do like to do this, you can use a satin pillowcase. Hair rubbing against chairs, walls and your clothes can damage and reduce shine. Wear your hair braided or put up when you can, to avoid daily friction and damage. Because for extremely damaged hair, only scissors will help!
- Use elastic bands without a metal piece. Firstly, the metal piece reduces elasticity, but it can also damage your hair.
- Wash your hair every day or once a week? That is different for everyone. You know best when it is necessary. If you are used to washing your hair every day, use a very mild shampoo. Too many cleansing substances in your hair will damage its natural protective layer.
- Use good quality hair products that are suitable for your hair type and that actually do something for your hair. Always use a conditioner and take your time to let the product soak in before rinsing it out with water. If you have no patience for a conditioner that you have to rinse out, go for a 'leave in' product that you apply to towel-dried hair after shampooing and do not have to rinse out.
- Disentangle your hair completely before washing it. Once all the tangles are gone, use a brush with fine hair to remove all the loose hairs. This will reduce the chance of tangles during washing (and your drain will be less likely to clog).
- Give yourself regular scalp massages to stimulate circulation and hair follicles.
- Don't gather your hair all on top of your head when you wash it, you're asking for tangles.
Apply the shampoo only at the roots and wash your scalp. Then you can add some water to spread it more easily towards your ends, or you can also just rinse the shampoo without massaging it into your lengths first. This is because the foam runs over your hair as you rinse, cleaning your hair sufficiently without being too degreasing and drying. This way, you avoid the oily roots/dry ends phenomenon.
- An even better method is to apply conditioner to your lengths first. Then apply shampoo to your scalp, and wash it. This way, you take care of the ends and they are protected from the detergents in the shampoo. After massaging the shampoo into your scalp, rinse out the conditioner and shampoo together.
- Use conditioner after every wash, even after the above method! Use this mainly on your ends and length. If you have a dry scalp, you can apply conditioner all over your hair, otherwise it's best to stick to the length alone. Gently detangle your hair while the conditioner is working and while you rinse it, this will make your hair easier to detangle after washing
- If your hair is very coarse, or highly curly, or if you haven't followed the advice above and your hair is damaged, you can use a leave-in conditioner on top of your regular conditioner that you do rinse out. You can also use a small amount of your favourite conditioner or a few drops of oil. Be careful with this though, your hair can easily look greasy again. If you have too little, you can always take a little extra.
- You can also just use conditioner to "wash" your hair. Instead of degreasing your hair like shampoo does, conditioner loosens all the dirt from your hair, allowing you to simply rinse it out.
The main thing you need to take care of is to use enough conditioner and leave it on for at least 10 minutes, massaging your scalp and rinsing carefully.
- Rinse your hair with as cold water as possible. This will close the 'hair cuticles', making your hair less likely to tangle and break, but at the same time it will also give you smoother, shinier hair. You might not believe it, but you'll get used to it, and it will perk you up nicely!
- Give your hair an intensive treatment at least once a month, even if it is healthy. If your hair is dry or damaged, you can do this weekly. For this, you can use a hair mask or a nourishing conditioner that you leave in your hair for quite some time.
- Instead of rubbing your hair dry with a towel, gently pinch and dab your lengths between the towel, or wrap your hair in a large towel
- If you decide to grow your hair out, it is better to cut off the existing damage to your hair. When damaged hair is not cut off, it can cause the hair to break off, causing it to split again. So, to have healthy long hair, it is better to start with healthy hair.
- Trim your hair regularly. If your hair is damaged, the damage may continue to go up. To avoid this, it is better to cut the damage immediately when it occurs.
- If you want to keep your current hair length, you can cut an inch or an inch and a half every month (this is the average growth rate). If you want your hair to grow long, you can cut it 1 - 1.5 centimetres every three or four months.
- If your hair starts to show damage, you should cut it more often. Damaged hair does not grow longer but it breaks off. In time, the damage only worsens.
- Avoid chlorinated and salt water. Wash your hair with shampoo as soon as possible after swimming. Minimise the drying effect by wetting your hair completely with plain water before swimming so it can absorb less chlorine or seawater, or you can also apply a conditioner to your hair and put it up or braid it, this way your hair remains more or less protected during swimming.
- If you spend a lot of time in the sun, it is best to use a conditioner with a sun factor, or cover your hair with a scarf, bandana, cap or hat.
