10 Quick tips to maintaining healthy hair

Mane Magic: 10 Quick tips to maintaining healthy hair

Angela Goh

14 Sep 2016

updated the Wednesday, September 14, 2016

1/10
Only brush when your hair is dry
Though it's hard to resist getting rid of those kinks while your hair still wet and slippery, doing so could actually be doing more harm than good. When it's wet, hair is more susceptible to damage, so a tough brush could be breaking strands and creating more split ends than necessary. If you notice a buildup of loose strands on your brush after brushing wet hair, try doing it dry.
2/10
Untangle from the bottom
While brushing from the top down seems the easiest way to get rid of tangles, it's actually better to start at the bottom and work your way up. By getting rid of tangles lower down the strand, you reduce the risk of breakages caused by your brush getting caught in multiple knots on the way down. It sounds counter-intuitive, but your hair will love you for it.
3/10
Use a diffuser
It's time to fish out all those bits and pieces that came with your hair dryer from the box in the cupboard. While high heat from the dryer is the quickest way to get your hair dry, a steady, unbroken stream on one part of your hair isn't great in the long run. Using a diffuser on the dryer spreads the heat out evenly, so you're not forcefully drying out a small section of your hair.
4/10
Use a heat protectant product
Running a straightener or curler through your hair each day seems harmless enough, what with how great it makes you look, but all that heat can scorch your hair over time. Using a heat protectant spray or product before a heat styling tool goes a long way in making sure strands aren't damaged or losing too much needed oils.
5/10
Soak your hair before swimming
It's no surprise that all of the chemicals in pools strip your hair of essential oils and causes long-term damage. Rather than cancelling your next pool party, try jumping in the shower and soaking your hair before diving in the deep end. Your hair will absorb the fresh water from the shower, leaving little room for the heavily chlorinated water to do its damage.
6/10
Avoid sulfates and silicones
Sulfates are present in many shampoos to help it lather up and coat your hair, while silicones are found in conditioners to give them a silky smooth consistency. Despite how widespread they are, many swear against them when it comes to healthy hair. Sulfates are known to cause irritation to your scalp, and can even fade hair colour. Silicones, while less studied, supposedly prevent nutrients getting into the hair shaft.
7/10
Condition ends, not roots
Keeping your hair silky and smooth with conditioner is certainly no problem, but where you apply the conditioner matters. Try concentrating on the ends, since that's where dryness can cause the most damage. Avoiding the roots is also recommended, so as to not cause an excess of oils where your hair scalp naturally creates them.
8/10
Avoid excessive dyeing
It's nice to keep it fresh and change your hair colour from time to time, but think about what those chemicals must be doing to your precious locks! It's best to leave it as long as possible between colouring sessions to minimise the amount of damage the chemicals can do. If you really must dye it often, try to keep the colour changes simple, and if possible go from light to dark rather than dark to light.
9/10
Wash it less
If you can get away with it, try to wash your hair every few days, rather than every night. Excessive washing can strip out the necessary oils in your hair, making it more prone to breakage and split ends. In some cases, stripping the oils away can even make your scalp produce more oil than necessary, giving you that unwanted oily look and feel. Beware that a change in washing frequency can wreak some havoc on your oil for the first few days, but it will quickly even out and return to normal!
10/10
Use a silk pillow
If you keep waking up to a pillow covered in broken strands of hair, it might be time to switch to a silk pillowcase. The slippery surface has less friction, so as you toss and turn in the night your hair won't get snagged and snap. As an added benefit, the silk can help prevent wrinkles! If you can't find a silk pillowcase, wrapping a silk scarf around your head at night works wonders too.

Keep the split ends at bay and make sure the frizz isn’t here to stay!

Been putting up with way too many “bad hair days” the last few months and have no idea what you’re doing wrong? You might be making a few little mistakes here and there that could build up into a huge big mess of frizz, brittleness, breakage, and pesky split ends. Just because you’ve been using expensive, high-quality shampoos and styling products doesn’t necessarily mean your hair will be in its healthiest form.

From reducing the frequency of washes to the way you untangle your tresses with a brush, there are many methods to keeping your hair looking well-kept, beautiful and healthy. Head up to the gallery to pick up the tips and tricks that we’ve curated. You’ll thank us later.

Angela Goh

Photos: Getty Images

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