A lot of people compliment me on my hair and ask me how I keep it in such good condition. So I thought I’d let everyone in on my "secrets". Yes I used air quotes then aha.
First of all. Give your scalp some love! Wash your hair, it’s so important! I know loads of people say washing your hair a lot is bad for it, but it’s really not. Washing your hair exfoliates your scalp, your scalp needs this, it stimulates hair growth and unclogs pores. I wash my hair every other day, sometimes every day if I’ve done exercise (which is hardly ever) or have been in the sea. I recommend washing your hair at least twice a week. And if you're a twice a week kinda person, do what the shampoo bottle says, wash, rinse, repeat. The first shampoo washes your hair and the second shampoo is supposed to do what the bottle says. Also if your hair doesn't lather this means it's still dirty. I know, gross.
Second, dry shampoo, I know everyone loves the stuff but it’s really not that great for your scalp! Imagine waking up in the morning and your face being oily. You’d wash it! (Well I hope you would anyway.) You wouldn’t pick up some face powder and just powder it until it’s not shiny. That’s exactly what you're doing to your scalp. Try and use it once a week instead of every day.
Heat! Putting heat on your hair every day will damage it. It’s easier said than done because I do blow dry my hair straight every time it’s washed. But I try to stay away from straighteners. They just cause split ends.
Colouring your hair. I used to colour and bleach my hair all the time, any and every colour, at home and in the salon, I didn’t care what I was putting on it. When I was younger I had really healthy long red hair but got picked on all the time for being ‘ginger’ so when I got to an age where my mum would let me colour it, I did! I colour it to within an inch of its life! My hair became really damaged and started to have a huge build up of dye, to the point where I had to have it all cut off. Literally all of it! You should see my passport photo. Growing out all that colour was definitely the best thing I’ve done for my hair. It’s so much healthier! Not everyone likes their hair colour so this is quite a difficult one, but try to look after it, maybe try semi permanent instead.
Getting your hair trimmed. So I’m the worst for this! I hate getting my hair cut, I’ve got very thick hair so a lot of hair dressers don’t seem to cut it right. But trimming your hair at least every 6 months to just cut off all those split ends is so good for it. And even if the hairdresser gets annoyed about you only getting the smallest amount off, don’t worry, you’re the paying client! Or if you're like me you could always trim it yourself, or not!
Go over to my Cruelty Free Hair list to find some great products. Because cruelty free hair is kinder hair!
Image by Olivia bossert