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Five Ways To Improve Your Overall Hair Health

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

No one appreciates a bad hair day. Honestly, they’re the worst. Your hair is just a big ball of grease, it won’t stay up right and your sad attempts at trying to put it into the “effortless” messy bun turns into a bird’s nest. That’s why taking care of your hair is so important.

To avoid anymore bad hair days, below are some tips that will help you refine the way you take care of your hair:

  1. How Frequently Should You Wash Your Hair?
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Function of Beauty

This topic has been heavily debated. Some women wash their hair every single day. Other’s swear by washing it every other day. Few go weeks without washing it. So, how often should you really be washing your hair?

The truth is, it relies on your hair type. Since everyone’s hair type is different, it responds distinctively to how regularly you wash it.

Another factor to consider is what type of shampoo brand you’re using. Consider using brands that have less cleansing ingredients and more simple ones. Those types of shampoos help avoid that oily scalp you might get from washing your hair too often.

In addition, those with thin hair tend to wash their hair more to stimulate more texture and shine. Compared to thicker hair, it doesn’t need as much washing as it possess more texture naturally.

So, if you’re someone who falls into the thinner hair category, you should get adjusted to not washing your hair as regularly even when it may be lacking texture. A simple solution if you’re have a greasy hair day is using dry shampoo. Some great brands to use are Batiste and R+Co.

2. When Should You Cut Your Hair?

This tip is very self explanatory. Every women knows when they’re due for a cut. If you can’t part ways with your long hair, that’s what a trim is for.

As long as you’re cutting off those spilt ends, this will automatically enhance the health of your hair. You want to try to cut your hair every eight to 12 weeks. This creates the perfect window for your hair to grow at a healthy pace and sustain its shape.

3. Avoid Using Too Much Heat

This one is definitely harder to follow than others. It’s nearly impossible to avoid using hot tools for styling, since our everyday lives call for days where we must curl our hair to look some what presentable.

However, limiting how much heat you’re using on your hair is important. There are tons of products that are great heat protectants. Moroccanoil Perfect Defense heat protectant spray is a highly recommended brand to use before styling with heat.

Additionally, It’s no surprise that the best tool to use to style your hair is a hairdryer. Compared to a curler and straightener, it is less strenuous on the hair itself. If you use the right brush, you can mimic the perfect blowout.

4. Rise With Cold Water

Everyone yearns for their hair to have that effortless shine to it and the secret is washing with cold water instead of hot water.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to sacrifice your long hot showers. The only time you would have to lower the temperature is when you’re washing your hair.

Cold water closes your pores, allowing your scalp to remain cleaner for longer. As a result, this will make your hair less susceptible to grease and will stay shinier.

5. Healthy Diet = Healthy Hair

The correlation might seem distant, but it’s true. Your diet has a great effect on the overall health of your hair.

Avoid eating too much sugar, since a high intake produces large amounts of DHT, a hormone that generates hair loss.

Instead, aim to eat more whole foods that have plenty of nutrients such as vitamins and proteins. These are the necessary supplements to obtain the best and healthiest version of your hair.

Vanessa Hohner is currently a first-year student minoring in Journalism at Penn State. She loves all things writing and has a special place in her heart for reality TV.