In the olden times, women generally had to brush their hair 100 times each night before they went to bed. It was their belief that this led to healthy and shiny hair. The reason for doing that was that the brushing of hair helped to distribute the oils that had gathered on the scalp. A quotation from Decorum, a book on etiquette which was published in 1879 :
“The hair should be brushed for at least twenty minutes in the morning, for ten minutes when it dressed in the middle of the day, and for a like period at night.””
In this modern times, seldom one would spend time brushing 100 times before they go to bed. However, it is good habit to brush the hair at least twice a day as this would create stimulation at the scalp, increase blood circulation and that helps hair growth.
Massaging the head when shampooing for about a minute while washing hair is another option for those who are not fans of brushing their hair. Rinse and repeat if the hair is greasy. This workout will definitely aid in having healthy hair because of the increase of blood circulation to the head.
Hair is prone to breakage when it is wet. Use your fingers to gently untangle the hair knots after shampoo. Instead of using the hair dryer to dry the hair, towel dry the hair to about 80% dry, then use a brush to brush the hair.
Always start at the bottom of the hair to untangle the ends of the hair so that there would be lesser breakage. Applying a leave-in conditioner will help to untangle hair easily. Towel dry the half instead of using the hair dryer to blow dry the hair.
Frequent use of hair straighteners, curling irons and blow drying will damage the hair. The secret to healthy hair is to use hair protecting product on the hair to protect it from damage. Styling products could dry the hair, thus so not apply it directly on the scalp but on the hair strands. Do not set the temperature of the heat styling tools at high temperature as it would cause the hair to become dry and brittle.
If the hair is pulled back in a pony tail or bun tightly, it an lead to breakage as it stretches the hair strands. Leaving the hair down on weekends might be a good change to the routine. Let the hair loose and flow naturally to prevent damaging the hair. If you really need to pull back the hair, consider using hair pins which is friendlier to the hair.
Avoid from colouring and dyeing the hair frequently as most hair dyes contain ammonia. Ammonia destroys the tyrosine, which is a protein that regulates the production of melanin, in the hair. Too much ammonia would also thin the hair and depletes the hair of moisture. Thus if one needs to colour the hair, always opt for ammonia-free dye to protect the hair.
Washing the hair with the ideal temperature helps to keep the tresses healthy and shiny. Most of us use warm water to shampoo our hair. Hot water and warm water robs the hair of the vital moisturising agents. Best to use cold or cool water.
I hope the tips are helpful to keep your tresses looking healthy and shiny all year long. There are also easy and effective home made remedies to minimise hair loss which you might want to check it out here.
