7 Natural Ways to Nourish Your Hair
1. The Perfect Shampoo
If your hair is normal, lucky you; you’ll want a shampoo that has a balanced blend of nourishing conditioners and cleaning agents. For oily hair, formulas that contain tea tree oil, ginseng, and green tea deep-clean and normalize scalp sebum to prevent excess oiliness. For dry or damaged hair, look for a moisturizing shampoo with ingredients like biotin, and argan, baobab, monoi, and shea oils, to add softness and repair damage.
2. A Targeted Conditioner
The trick with using conditioner is to add softness and shine without weighing hair down or leaving residue. For normal hair, you’ll want a formula that strengthens roots and nourishes scalp, without over-moisturizing. For oily hair, choose a lighter blend or one designed for clarifying; apply only to midshaft or ends of hair, not the scalp, and rinse well. Dry hair needs a super-emollient conditioner with moisturizing oils and ingredients like biotin and keratin to protect and repair damage, and a restorative hair mask once a week.
3. A Regular Detox
Styling products, minerals in water and everyday pollution build up on hair, leaving it heavy, dull and lifeless. Use a clarifying shampoo and conditioner on a regular basis to remove impurities and give hair gloss and bounce. And if you live in an area with hard water, consider a shower filter to remove excess minerals that weigh hair down.
4. Protection from the Elements
Shield your tresses from heat styling, sun damage, chlorine, pollution, and dry air with a leave-in conditioner; use a light, spray-on formula, and apply before blow-drying or styling. For extra protection, spritz hair with a spray sunscreen to protect hair and scalp from sun damage.
5. The Right Nutrition
If your diet is lacking in certain nutrients, you’ll see the effects in hair loss, slower growth, or dull, brittle locks. Collagen, the most abundant protein in the body, strengthens hair follicles and improves hair growth. Zinc, iron, biotin, and other B vitamins, and omega-3 fats prevent hair loss, nourish hair, and improve strength and shine.
6. Solutions for Troubled Tresses
Dandruff, dry skin cells that shed from the scalp, can be caused by eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, fungal infections, or sensitivity to harsh hair products; choose a shampoo designed to minimize flakes. Stress, hormones, or even too-tight hair styles can cause hair loss; loosen up those ponies and buns, and look for a product designed to combat hair loss. And perpetual frizziness is often a result of dehydration, drying shampoos, or lack of essential fatty acids in the diet; use a frizz-taming styling gel, and up your intake of water, healthy fats and nutrients like collagen.
7. Styling Products that Nourish
Hair spray, gel, wax, or mousse build body, sculpt styles, and add shine and control to any do. Be sure yours does double-duty, with essential oils, healing botanicals, and biotin to strengthen hair.
Written by Lisa Turner for Better Nutrition and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com. Featured image provided by Better Nutrition