How To Repair Your Damaged Hair

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There’s nothing quite as fun as dying your hair bright colors or using heat tools to create the style you’ve always wanted. All that fun creates a problem, though. It leads to damaged hair. If your hair feels dry to the touch, frizzes up, has split ends, or just seems to have lost its shine, the culprit is probably all that fun you’ve been having. Luckily, there are ways you can repair the damage and bring your hair back to life.

Switch To a Clarifying Shampoo

Your hair has something known as disulfide bonds. Hair disulfide bonds create your hair’s strength and structure and provide it with stability. The more heat you use on your hair, the more these bonds break, resulting in dry, brittle damage. Using a clarifying shampoo once or twice a week can combat the problem.

There are many benefits to using a clarifying shampoo. Most importantly, it removes the buildup of styling products, hard water, and even chlorine that gets into your hair and makes it feel heavy and gross. When that buildup is gone, it helps to “reset” your scalp, makes it easier for hair conditioners and treatments to penetrate the hair follicles, and adds volume. 

Use More Conditioner

Conditioner is your hair’s best friend. At a minimum, it’s important that you use a rinse-out conditioner during every shower and a leave-in one on damp hair after your shower. Look for products that contain plant oils and butters, which coat the hair and make it easier to manage.

If your hair doesn’t seem to respond to the conditioning treatments, take it a step further by using a hair mask once a week. The higher concentration of ingredients makes masks thicker, heavier, and more suited to repair serious damage.

Use Heat Protectant

In a perfect world, you’d stop using your hair dryers, curling irons, flat irons, and anything else that applies heat directly to your hair and causes damage. It’s not a perfect world, though, and you’re likely to want to continue to style your hair. The key is to protect it beforehand.

Use a heat-protectant serum on your hair. Doing so provides shine and keeps the hot tools from creating frizz. Apply the serum only toward the ends, though. If you put it too close to your scalp, your hair could look greasy. 

Get Regular Haircuts

When life gets hectic, one of the first things that fall to the wayside is getting a regular haircut. As your hair continues to grow, though, the split ends, frizzy edges, and overall lack of shine become more noticeable.

If you want to take care of your hair, stop skipping your regular haircuts. This doesn’t mean you need to go drastic all the time. A simple trim of the dead ends to freshen up your look is usually all you need. To keep yourself in check, set up your next appointment while you’re checking out during your current one, then add it to your schedule right away. You’ll be more likely to keep up with them this way.

Take Your Vitamins

Your nutrition impacts all parts of your health, including your hair. If you aren’t getting the right vitamins and minerals into your body, your hair is more likely to become damaged and stay that way.

When looking for vitamins to help hair health, choose products that include vitamin E, hydrolyzed collagen, and bamboo stems and leaves. Each of these provides strength, shine, and elasticity. 

Brush Responsibly

Too often, snagged tangles and rough brushing lead to flyaways and other problems that contribute to unhealthy hair. Fix the problem by investing in a high-quality brush and learning how to use it properly. The right brush will have soft, smooth bristles that are spaced out like they are on a comb. 

The worst brushing faux pas is doing so while your hair is wet. Wet hair causes the hair shaft to stretch, which leaves it more susceptible to breakage. If you must brush wet hair, use a brush made specifically for the task to lessen the risks. 

You deserve to have beautiful, shining, healthy hair. Keep these tasks in mind for repairing current hair damage and lessening the chances of causing more.