It’s a basic human tendency to never be completely satisfied and content with what one has. The grass always seems greener on the other side. And one huge example is hair texture. Girls who have straight hair, long for curls/waves and some volume and vice versa, girls who have black hair want a change and colour them brown, girls with short hair desire longer and luscious locks and so on. Also, even after being totally aware of the negative effects of straightening, a lot of girls still resort to doing it on a very regular basis.
Since old habits die hard, we decided to get some effective tips for the above stylish category of women to keep the moisture, volume and softness of hair intact even after regular straightening.
#1. Start by applying hair protectants
Before you start to straighten your hair, make sure you use a good quality hair protectant, a serum or some moisturising agent on your hair. This will help reduce the damage that the heat will cause to your hair.
#2. Don’t use heating rods on wet hair
Using straightening rods on absolutely wet hair can cause your hair to become extremely rough, frizzy and in some cases, burn them too. Thus, let your hair dry under the fan or just blow dry them a bit before straightening. Make sure they are just 20-25% wet when you do so.
#3. Use generous amounts of hair care serums
After you straighten your hair, use a little hair serum or hair softener to lessen the effect of all that heat generated by the hair straightners. This is done because many a times, the temperature of these devices go up to a 150-180 degrees Celsius and that surely isn’t good news for your hair.,
#4. Oils to the rescue
Massage your hair with oil (coconut, olive or amla– whichever suits your hair type) at least twice a week. For better results, after you oil your hair, wrap it with a hot towel for 5- 10 minutes. Wash your hair thoroughly after an hour.
#5. DIY home made hair packs and treatments
Homemade hair masks work wonders on the scalp and help in improving the hair quality. Apricots, honey, egg white, curd, oats, aloe vera etc. are great natural ingredients to make these packs, and the internet is the best place to find pack ingredients that best suits your hair type.
#6. Hair spas
Sometimes, just oiling the hair isn’t enough to reverse the damage caused by exposing the hair to constant and high levels of heat. Hair spas on the other hand are quite effective. The application of hair repair serums followed by head massages and steam are the best pampering you can give your hair.
#7. Regular trimmings
Whether it is a myth or not, most people and hair dressers believe that split ends make the hair quality worse by the day and also stand in the way of hair growth. Regular interactions of the hair with chemicals and high heat cause split ends which is why you should get trimmings done every once in a while.
#8. Proper conditioning
Not only should you use a good quality repairing shampoo and conditioner regularly, but you should also apply leave-in conditioners to your hair that need to be applied after hair wash.
#9. Try to shorten the gaps between straightening
When you straighten your hair, try not to wash your hair very soon. You can use dry shampoos if you need the straightening to stay longer without washing. This will lessen the heat effect on your hair on a very regular basis.
So, all you need to do is give your hair some extra tender love and care by following these simple rules and you can help them stay softer and silkier. And apart from all this, try to lessen the use harsh chemicals and heat treatments on your hair as much as possible. You are beautiful as you are; all you need to do is to embrace that fact!
