Hair 101

A woman's hair is a crucial aspect of her beauty. Based on the natural flow and color of one’s hair, you are able to tell how healthy your inner organs are. I don’t know about you, but the healthier my hair is, the more confidence I have in myself. I feel that working out gives my hair a healthy shine, less split ends and even is a darker tone. Working out isn’t on everyone’s schedule, so I have a few tips that can help you achieve a healthy head of hair.

• Try to wash your hair with cold water. If you can endure a cold shower, you are on your way to healthier hair. Hot water is not good for your hair because the heat from the water will only damage your hair, causing more split ends. This is even worse when you have colored hair because it will lighten your color quicker than just using cold water. Of course I don’t suggest you to use cold water throughout your whole shower, try switching your water to be cooler than normal and if you can, pull off the showerhead and run the cold water through your hair.
• Wash your hair every other day. Try not to wash your hair daily because you are washing away a lot of nutrients in your hair. This prevents your hair from becoming thick and strong. I know it may be hard to not wash your hair every day because of the summer sweat, but you should try! Plan around your schedule and organize activities that require you to wash your hair in order to refrain from washing daily.
• Condition your hair. Conditioning your hair will prevent split ends and reduces tangling in your hair which makes it easier to take care of. Be sure to use the same conditioner as your shampoo. Many people do not think it makes a difference and tend to use a different conditioner because they haven’t finished a bottle. Try not to do this because when you use the same shampoo and conditioner, you are throwing more goods at your hair which will keep your hair balanced. If you don’t have conditioner or not the same kind, soak your hair with olive oil and use a shower cap to condition for 30 minutes or so prior to washing.  
• Condition from bottom up, not from the top down. When you condition your hair, you do not want to pop a blob of conditioner on the head of your hair. Being that I have long hair, I use a heck of a lot of conditioner and when I used to condition my hair starting at my scalp down, I ended up losing a lot of hair as well. I thought I was stressed, but it turns out that I was just washing my hair the wrong way.
• Do not comb your hair when wet. In general, a comb isn’t good for your hair because you are forcing knots to separate and tugging on your hair. When you run your comb through your hair, it may not be smooth and that is where the problem is. After you shower, your hair is sensitive when it is wet so combing your hair will only cause more split ends. I suggest running your fingers through them if you really want to straighten it rather than using a comb. If that doesn’t work, remember to use more conditioner at the ends next time—just remember to condition at the ends.
• Let your hair air dry. It is much better to let you hair dry naturally than running a blow dryer through it. Like I mentioned before, heat is extremely damaging to your hair which will cause more split ends. Therefore, it is important to not blow dry you hair too much. I don’t really blow dry my hair anymore, maybe once or twice in the winter because I’m dying to go to sleep and it’s just so cold that my hair takes forever to dry up. Yes, I don’t even blow dry in the winter. Just plan enough time to hang around before you sleep for your hair to dry up, sleeping with a wet head will only lead you to have severe headaches later on.
• Use cool wind to blow dry your hair. If you want your hair to dry quicker, I suggest using the cool option on your blow dryer. This will take a little longer to dry your hair, but it is better than the air dry method. Be sure to wipe your hair as dry as you can with a towel before blow drying. If it gets too cold for you, you can switch over the heat to low for a few seconds and switch back to cool air.
• Use a thermal protector before applying heat. If you must blow dry, straighten or curl your hair, remember to use a protective spray or gel that you can run through your hair to prevent any further damages. Heat is bad for your hair and when you’re constantly throwing heat at it, it will only damage your hair more and kill any life in your hair.
• Wear a hat. When you’re outside for a long amount of time try to wear a hat to protect your hair from the sun. If you have a scarf around your neck, throw it on your head. You may look like a fool, but it’s worth the look for flawless hair—especially the compliments.