How you know your hair needs hydration?
Does your hair feel like straw in the summer? Is it all frizzy and static in the winter? The diagnosis of your hair troubles is simple: a lack of hydration!
Dry, dull, lifeless hair is frustrating and in order to get rid of it, your hair needs to be hydrated; it is vital for your scalp health. Read on to find out how you can hydrate your hair, get and keep it soft, lush and full of life.
Hair Hydration 101
Whatever hair-type you have - thin or thick, coarse or smooth - it needs hydration.
Sometimes a lack of hydration is caused by not enough natural oil being secreted, which leads to a dry scalp. For people who have dry hair, this can be due to hereditary or genetic factors but the slowing down of oil production is often just a part of the ageing process. In any case, the only way to combat this is to keep your hair properly hydrated.
In some cases, the moisture in each strand of hair can evaporate easily due to the structure of the hair and its three layers. If the inner layers of the hair strands are exposed, moisture often escapes and then comes endless split ends and hair breakage. Read more about how hair gets damaged here.
How to hydrate your hair
Choose the Right Products
Go for shampoos that have natural oils like coconut, olive and almond. Other natural ingredients like fruit extracts, aloe vera, shea butter, and glycerin will do wonders and revive your dry hair. Jojoba seed oil in particular is arguably one of the best natural ingredients for hair as it locks moisture in the hair shaft.
Shampoo in Moderation
Did you know that washing your hair too frequently will only dry it even further? Use shampoo that is formulated specifically for dry hair. Avoid sulphates, silicones, and parabens as they can be drying to your scalp and strip your hair of its natural oils and moisture!
Proper Conditioning
Don’t be shy with lathering conditioner onto your hair for thorough hydration. In fact, leaving in your conditioner before shampooing actually helps too! Once again, be sure to avoid harmful ingredients that only hinder your hair’s hydration balance. Opt for deep conditioning ingredients such as phytessence wakame (a super fruit blend) and our good friend jojoba oil.
Read here to learn more about the benefits of these ingredients. These natural and active ingredients plus essential oils should definitely do the trick!
That’s a “No” from me (and your hair)
Heat is not your hair’s friend
Who doesn’t love styling their hair? Curling or straightening it whenever and however you like can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, although we love how our hair looks after styling it with heat, our hair really hates dehydration. Hair straighteners, curling irons, heated rollers, and blow dryers are all gizmos working at high temperatures that remove the natural moisture from your hair, so if you suffer from dry hair you should definitely give them a rest!
Avoid over-processing your hair
Over-processed hair is essentially the brittle, porous hair you get when there is excessive use of chemicals and/or heat. Too much colouring and bleaching will only make your hair worse. Try using ammonia-free colouring whenever possible and chemical-free products to straighten that frizzy hair.