To care for your hair in the right way, you need to have access to the right knowledge. Fortunately, you will find 5 of the most pressing hair care questions answered below.
How often should you wash your hair?
Are you in the habit of washing your hair every day? If so you could be doing more harm than good, the reason being that washing removes the natural oils and can strip condition and color from our hair.
That is why it’s best to leave at least a day and night in between washes, and where possible go even longer. Then you give the natural oils a chance to act on your hair. Of course, leaving our hair unwashed can be problematic in that we may find we have more oil than we’d like.
Although some strategies can help us get around this. The first of these is to use a dry shampoo product that is designed to soak up any excess oil and help our hair appear clean. Additionally, relying on up-dos when our hair isn’t freshly clean can be a great way of looking our best, without having to wash it every day. The bonus is that hair that is slightly oily is often easier to style and set than freshly washed hair.
How can we encourage hair growth?
Long hair is on-trend right now, the longer the better! Yet not everyone finds it easy to grow their hair to such extreme lengths. This is because several factors influence the rate at which our hair will grow. The first of these is genetics, with some people just having a faster growth rate than others.
However, the good news is there are some actions we can take to maximize the chances of fast hair growth. These include taking the best care of hair possible, which means getting regular trims and using intensive treatments like masks once a week.
Nutrition and general health can also play an important role when it comes to hair growth speeds, with food that is high in protein, iron, and vitamins encouraging keratin production which leads to heather, stronger, and in many cases faster hair growth.
Some people even choose to use supplements to enhance their hair growth, and there are many on the market with this specific purpose in mind.
What is the best way to dye your hair?
These days there are so many ways to add color to your hair. Yet the damages that dying your hair can do is something we all must consider. Indeed, there is a range of options that are suitable for coloring your hair which you can read about below.
Bleach
Not strictly a hair dye, bleach is designed to strip the color from your hair, making it lighter so it can be toned, or dyed over the top. Bleach is the harshest color treatment you can do on your hair, as with that in mind, having it done professionally is the safest.
Permeant Dyes
Hair dyes come in all sorts of colors from light blondes, and browns, to reds and dark mahoganies and blacks. They contain pigments that permeate the hair cuticle and are known to be harsh and tend to strip a great deal of moisture from the hair.
Semi-permanent dyes
A healthier option when changing your hair color is to use a semi-permanent dye. This is because they contain less harsh chemicals and so do not have such an extreme effect on their hair.
There are two semi-permanent dye options to choose from, gloss and glaze. Gloss lasts longer because it gets deep into the hair past the cuticle. However, glaze lasts about half the time of gloss. It doesn’t penetrate the cuticle either but just adds a top coat of shine and color to enhance what is already there. Before you make your final design it’s best to read more about the differences between hair glaze versus hair gloss online. Although because it’s harsh, a glaze can be one of the most healthy options when dying your hair.
What can be done to deal with dandruff?
Before we consider how to reduce dandruff, it’s vital to understand precisely what it is. Put simply, dandruff is dry skin on the scalp that flakes off causing white flecks to appear on the scalp and shoulders.
The good news is that by addressing the issue of dry scalp skin you can vastly improve if not eradicate dandruff. Indeed, there are two important steps in the process. The first is to remove the dead and dry skin cells that are already present on the scalp, something you can do with an anti-dandruff shampoo or a special scalp washer made from silicon. Just be sure not to scrub too hard as this can further irritate your skin.
Once the scalp is clear of dead skin cells, making sure that you alternate between clarifying and moisturizing shampoos and conditioners can help you avoid its return. Also by alternating between these types of shampoo you can avoid the hair loss that is often associated with using only sulfate free products. Regular use of anti-dandruff shampoo, for example, once a week is also recommended.
How to choose the right products for your hair?
If you are anything like me, the sheer volume of hair products on offer can be overwhelming. After all, how do you know whether the latest ones will work for your hair or not? The good news is there are four factors that you can consider when choosing products to use in your hair that will help you pick the ones that are the most effective.
The first of these factors is texture. This relates to whether your hair is fine, medium, or thick. For fine hair, volumizing shampoos can work well, while for thicker hair types smoothing is better as this can help make your hair more manageable and easier to style.
Curl
Did you know that there are 4 types of curls, with the latter three splits into subcategories of A, B, and C? Type 1 hair is straight, type 2 is wavey, type 3 is curly, and type 4 is coily or kinky. The funny thing is that many people believe their hair is a lower-numbered type when it’s more curly. It’s just that they aren’t looking after it in the right way.
Indeed, the curly girl method is designed around this to encourage the natural wave in our hair to come out, something that relies heavily on correctly moisturizing our hair. Indeed, when looking for products, the curlier your hair is the more moisturizing it will need, with many people even conditioning before as well as after they shampoo.
Oiliness
Oiliness refers to how greasy our hair gets over a short space of time. At one end of the scale, you have people with very oily scalps, and at the other dry scalps. Of course, neither is ideal, and choosing the right product to strip the oils or moisturize the scalp when necessary can help keep your hair looking and feeling its best.
Porosity
Last of all, when choosing products it’s important to consider the porosity of your hair. Porosity, however, is probably one of the least understood characteristics of hair.
Essentially porosity means how open or closed the cuticles of your hair are. High porosity means the cuticles are open and so the shaft of the hair can both absorb and release more moisture. Low porosity on the other hand means the cuticles of your hair are smoother and more closed, which means it loses less moisture but it’s also hard to add moisture when it’s dry.
If you are unsure about the porosity of your hair you can perform the test in the video below.
Also, do note that most products don’t state whether they are designed for low or high porosity hair. With that in mind, doing some additional research online on sites like Pinterest can lead you to the best options for your specific hair type.