How to Look After Your Hair: 10 Hair Care Tips for Healthy Hair
Throughout history, our ancestors have gone to great lengths to look after their hair. From early Renaissance women using fat rendered from lizards and blended with swallow droppings, to the use of lard for styling our Elizabethan ancestors’ up-do’s, we have quite literally seen it all.
Here at Panasonic, keeping your hair healthy has always been our top priority. So, to keep your locks looking their best, we’ve put together a simple and effective guide around how to look after your hair.
1. Healthy Diet, Healthy Hair
Hair is an extension of our bodies, so eating a balanced diet of fish, meat, eggs and beans, is vital. Want to know how to thicken hair? Then healthy fats are top of the menu. Avocados, olive oil, and foods rich in omega 3’s such as flaxseed, yoghurt and cottage cheese are a must. Omega 3 supplements and those including horsetail and pumpkin seed extracts are also a great way to inject health into your hair.
2. Stay Hydrated
Sticking with the theme of ‘what you put in, you get out’, tip number 2 is to keep yourself hydrated by drinking pure, unadulterated water. Eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day (equivalent to about 2 litres) should suffice, though you’ll also need to take into account where you live, your climate, environment, health and how active you are.
3. When and How to Wash Your Hair
How often should you wash your hair? The short answer is it depends on your hair type and scalp health. A general rule of thumb is that if your hair is fine, you should wash it daily because generally, thin hair gets oilier faster. If, on the other hand, you have medium hair, you should wash it every other day or at least three times a week. Thick, coarse or Afro hair should be washed every two weeks, unless you do a lot of exercise, then once a week is best to help remove any build-up of impurities or clogged follicles in the scalp. Always use a sulphate-free shampoo and don’t forget to give yourself a good scalp massage.
4. Condition Correctly - Treat Yourself to a Mask
Take time out to give yourself a deep conditioning mask at least once a week as this will smoothen and hydrate your hair. This is especially important when using any hot tools on your hair, such as hair dryers and straighteners. After every shampoo, use a small amount of conditioner and always leave it in for at least a minute.
5. Brush Before You Wash
If you truly want healthy hair, never brush it wet; this is because, when hair is wet, it is at its most fragile. Brushing your hair before you wash it moves the natural oils down your hair and into the strands. Wait to blow-dry your hair until it is at least 60-80% dry and don’t use a brush for styling until it is almost completely dry. Choose your style of brush wisely and never use a plastic one.
6. To Blow-dry or Not to Blow-dry
At Panasonic, we know that blow-drying keeps your hair healthy and recommend it. For more tips on blow-drying your hair without causing damage, see our article, how to blow-dry your hair.
7. Trimming Your Tressels, Cutting Your Curls
No matter your hair type or length, you should have it cut regularly to keep it healthy, but how often should you cut your hair? The general rule of thumb is to cut your hair every 6-8 weeks if you wish to help it grow. This prevents split-ends and keeps it looking fresh. For short hair, it is usually every 2-4 weeks, or your hair starts to look overgrown. Mid-length hair is usually 8-12 weeks and for long hair, it is important not to leave more than six months between cuts as long hair is particularly susceptible to breakage. Regular trimming helps to prevent split ends and stops hair from tangling and snagging at the bottom. It also ensures that the curl patterns don’t lose or change their shape.
8. Scalp Massage
Regularly massaging your scalp will dilate the blood vessels under the skin, which in turn promotes further hair growth. It can also increase hair thickness by stretching the cells of the hair follicles. Massaging stimulates them to produce thicker hair, giving your locks a healthier look.
9. Silky Slumbers
Sleeping on silk may seem a little over-the-top when it comes to deciding how to take care of your hair, but silk’s smooth surface reduces friction, frizz and tangles. It is a cleaner surface to sleep on too. While cotton will strip out your natural oils, silk will lock moisture in, keeping the oils intact.
10. Breathe Deeply
We all know what stress can do to our bodies, so our last, but very much not least important bit of advice, is to learn to meditate. Keeping yourself, body and mind happy, will keep your hair shiny and healthy too.
And there you have it, our simple guide on how to keep your hair healthy. As with most tasks, the right tools make the job easier, so why not explore our range of innovative hair dryers and straighteners and discover the right product for your hair.
