Wishing you can turn your damaged hair and split ends into those gorgeous, shiny hair you see in commercials? After living in L.A. for a year, I learned tips to repair my dry hair quickly. Let me share some of the hacks that happened to work well for me!
The first tip is to re-evaluate how often you wash your hair. As a big germaphobe, I used to wash my hair twice a day (yikes!). It obviously stripped my hair of natural oil and dried up my scalp. After reducing the frequency to once a day and eventually to once in two days, my hair became much healthier. Of course, not every one’s hair is the same. I highly recommend trying out different frequencies of hair washing to see which one makes your hair the healthiest!
After washing your hair, the natural next step is to dry your hair. How you dry your hair dramatically affects your hair health! According to my stylist, blow-drying your hair is preferred over towel-drying, but both ways have worked for my hair when done properly! If blow-drying, I recommend keeping some parts of your hair (e.g. tip) slightly wet to prevent your hair from completely drying up. Also make sure not to blow-dry too close to your scalp so that your skin doesn’t get irritated! If towel-drying, keep your hair wrapped in the towel for at least 5~8 minutes (depending on your hair length) and avoid completely air-drying! Wrapping your hair in a towel will help retain some moisture and keep your hair from drying up too fast. I know it’s hard to resist the temptation to air-dry your hair and run to class, but taking 5 minutes to towel-dry can save yourself 5 weeks of hair recovery! Results may be hard to see in the first few days, but your hair can start looking much healthier in 1~2 weeks.
Now, some of you may like to use hair oil. I’m not a big fan since it makes you need to shower more (to wash off the oil), ultimately stripping moisture from your hair. But if it works on your hair, try it! I just recommend moderate use of hair oil—so make sure you keep track of how much you already applied and avoid over-applying. Some popular hair oil types are Moroccan Argan oil and coconut oil.
As a substitute for hair oil, I use use hair milk/lotion. It helps you lock in moisture in your hair while still giving it the ideal “soft and shiny” look. Applying the lotion on slightly wet hair will make it more effective since your hair will be able to absorb the lotion more and stay moisturized longer! I saw results immediately after applying the lotion, so this tip is good for a quick remedy.
If you really want to reset your hair, you can cut off your unhealthy hair, especially split ends. This will prevent the unhealthy hair from weighing down fresh hair growth and help you start a new hair journey! Cutting my hair during winter break helped motivate me to keep my hair healthier this quarter. Hair care requires patience and strong motivation—cutting off unhealthy hair may help give you that motivation!
Everyone’s hair is unique, and there is no single remedy that fits all. These recommendations were just from personal experience, so it’s best to find your own solution through trial and error! Try washing your hair less frequently, towel-drying your hair or even trimming off unhealthy hair and see which ones make your hair feel the best.