Hair tips on washing and conditioning your hair properly.

Cleaning your own hair is not rocket science, but you’d be surprised at how many things we do wrong in our hair care routines, especially when it comes to washing and conditioning. I battled with horrible hair habits throughout high school and ever since then, I have been trying to make a conscious effort to take care of my hair the proper way. I can proudly say that my hairdresser told me she is really impressed with the health of each hair strand and the overall care I put into my hair routine. Here are a few tips on washing and conditioning your hair, so that you can have hair that other girls envy:

Washing
1.Try not use shampoo that gives your hair a “squeaky clean” feeling. Your hair relies on natural oils to keep it moisturized and strong, so stripping each strand with harsh shampoos will definitely do more harm than good. After shampooing and rinsing your hair, run your fingers through your hair. If your hair sticks to your skin or it is difficult to pull your fingers through, then it might be time to find a good shampoo brand.

2.Once you find the right shampoo and you apply it, don’t wash it out straight away. There are some really good ingredients in shampoos and they are there to help, but you most probably rinse it away far too quickly. Wash your hair like you normally do but leave the shampoo in your hair for about 60-120 seconds before rinsing. This way your hair can soak up all the good stuff. I saw a big difference in my hair from following this simple step.

3.Don’t scrub!! It gives me chills when I see how some people scrub their hair when washing it. Something you might have not known is that there are tiny little oil glands in your scalp, and when you scrub, these oils glands get stimulated to secrete oils. Then you’re left with oily hair that you will have to wash every single day. Shampoo has enough cleansing ingredients; there is no need to ‘scrub away the dirt’.

Conditioning
1.I have read a few articles about how you should condition your hair, and most of them say you only need to apply conditioner to the ends of your hair to prevent split ends and blah blah blah! However, I disagree. Yes, you may get some amazing ‘body’ to your hair, but that’s only because your roots will be frizzy. I believe that it’s the root of each strand that you need to condition and moisturize, otherwise how else do you grow your hair to be healthy and strong? I always apply conditioner from root to tip of every hair strand to ensure there are no weak, dry and brittle sections.

Read hair conditioners reviews here.

Post care
1.Never… I repeat, NEVER rub your hair dry with your towel! This causes spilt ends, it breaks fragile hair and it causes a horrible frizzy mess. Rather lightly squeeze all the water out and pat dry with a towel, and leave the rest to drip dry. Follow this by blow drying with a bit of Argan oil or other hair treatments.

2.Always try to brush wet hair with a comb. Wet hair is a lot more fragile than dry hair, so rather opt for a soft comb brushing in sections to minimise breakage. See it as bottom (ends), middle (the length of your hair) and top (your roots). Brush in that order to easily detangle knots that may break.

Want to know which hair brush to use on your hair?

Having a healthy hair routine is a big lifestyle change, so rather start off with one of the tips above; master it and then move onto another. Trying to do everything all at once is far too stressful.

What is your worst hair care habit?

Article by: Claire Mitchell http://www.beautybulletin.com/blog-directory/our-bloggers/miss-claira-bella