12 Must-know Habits to Keep Your Hair Healthy

Everyone wants healthy, shining and dense hair. While some are naturally blessed with it, others get affected due to factors like medication, age, genetics, illness and environmental damage. Even though you shed your hair every day, there is hope to reduce hair fall and revive it by adopting a few healthy hair habits.

Keep reading to know how to keep hair healthy through 8 simple habits!

If your hair care routine is causing it to break and get thinner, it is time to change it. Follow these habits for healthy hair as they are easy to adopt and hold promises of great hair days ahead.

The first step to caring for your hair is not using the right product but how to brush it right. No matter what texture your hair is, take 60 seconds out of your daily routine to untangle them, especially before you shower. It is important because when you brush wet hairs, they break due to increased vulnerability. Moreover, it improves your hair’s look, lustre and health.

Benefits of Brushing Hair Daily

• Brushing distributes natural oil from your scalp to your hair ends, improving shine.
• Combining exerts a gentle pressure on your scalp, which massages and stimulates it. This, in turn, improves blood flow in the scalp and promotes hair growth.
• It also helps remove all the loose hair strands. On average, we lose 100-150 hair strands daily and brushing helps eliminate them.

Other Tips on Hair Brushing

Make sure you are not over-brushing. Combing once a day is enough. More than that can stretch and make your hair weak leading to breakage.

Another important habit to adopt when searching for how to maintain healthy hair is using a shampoo that is sulphate free. Sulphates are detergents mixed in shampoo that make your hair follicles weak, thus making hairs susceptible to breakage. So, using a sulphate-free shampoo, gently massage your scalp for better growth.

Benefits of Using Shampoo

• The shampoo helps fight dryness and oiliness. While some are manufactured for dry hair, some are for oily scalp. So, choose your product wisely.
• It relieves itchiness and irritation by calming your nerves through gentle scalp massage and removing pesky flakes.
• It helps remove redness which mainly develops due to exposure to harsh chemicals. However, it is not an issue in sulphate-free shampoo.

Other Tips on Using Shampoo

While not washing your hair damages it, over-washing leads to more severe effects. On average, you should wash it every 2 to 3 days or when it becomes greasy, itchy, or flaky.

Conditioning your hair every time you wash it is equally important, or condition it at least once a week. However, while doing it, do not apply it to your scalp. The best way to do it is to apply it to your mid-shaft and the ends, then work your way up to the scalp. Also, give it one minute before you wash it off.

Benefits of Using Conditioner

• It nourishes your hair to improve smoothness and shine.
• If you are suffering from a flyaway problem due to static electricity and dry weather, regular conditioning can help you get rid of it.
• Hair ends often become brittle, dry and frayed, which results in split ends. Conditioning helps here by rejuvenating and nourishing it.

Other Tips on Using Conditioner

It is not healthy to condition the hair every day. You should only apply it after shampooing, i.e., two or three times a week. Overusing it can weigh down your hair resulting in breakage.

The heat of curlers and straighteners used to achieve different hair looks can be a reason behind their breakage. In addition, regular flat ironing can also result in hair damage, dryness and split ends. So, as a tip for healthy hair, avoid heat as much as possible. If not, keep the temperature below 400-degree or use a ceramic one. Also, invest in a flat iron that contains the plate’s material and allows heat distribution.

Benefits of Avoiding Curlers & Straighteners

• When straightening, the smoke that comes out is the moisture of your hair evaporating. By avoiding or reducing the temperature, you could retain it.
• Heat makes your hair more susceptible to breakage. However, by reducing it, you are protecting it.
• Straightening or curling often robs your hair of natural oils in the scalp resulting in dullness. So, by avoiding it, you could maintain its nourishment.

Other Tips on Using Curlers & Straighteners

At times when you need a hairstyle, make sure to apply a hair protectant before applying heat to your hair. Also, for aftercare oil, your hair regularly and condition it once in a while.

Another effective tip on how to keep the hair healthy is scheduling regular hair spa sessions to revive its nourishment. Hair streamers help hydrate your strands and improve blood flow on the scalp. As a result, it boosts your hair growth. Other steps will involve shampooing, putting on hair masks and massaging, each having its respective set of purposes.

Benefits of Getting a Hair Spa

• Hair spa cleanses your scalp deeply, which opens clogged pores and rejuvenates your hair from its root.
• Massages during the hair spa treatment enhance the scalp's flow, bringing nutrients to the follicles. As a result, you get firmer hair.
• Hair spa balances the pH levels of your scalp, promoting healthy hair and fighting dandruff.

Other Tips on Getting a Hair Spa

If you have coloured your hair recently, talk to your therapist before scheduling for a hair spa. This is because there is a chance the colour might fade.

Sun can play a big role in damaging the hair by oxidising and drying it out. So, it is best to cover it before stepping outside. The best way to do this is by investing in a hat or scarf to cover it. You can also put it in a loose bun or use SPF products. This will also prevent it from getting brittle, broken, or forming split ends.

Benefits of Protecting Hair from Direct Sunlight

• You can avoid discolouration of your hair by protecting it from direct sunlight.
• If you avoid exposure to direct sunlight it helps protect your hair from thinning and causing frizziness.

Other Tips on Protecting Hair from Direct Sunlight

While it is good to protect your hair from direct sunlight for a long time, it also requires a certain amount of sun exposure to replenish the scalp with vitamin D. So. Make sure to maintain a balance between both.

While it is tempting to skip haircuts in the desire to make your hair grow faster, one must stick to the habit of trimming for healthy hair. This is important because skipping it can lead to breakage and split ends. Also, it might sound unbelievable that avoiding trimming your hair also leads to length retention. So, make it a habit of making an appointment at the salon every 8 to 12 weeks.

Benefits of Getting Regular Haircuts or Trims

• Trimming your hair will detangle it, thus reducing the breakage and thinning of hair.
• You can get rid of split ends regularly, giving a thicker-looking aspect to the tip of your hair.

Other Tips on Getting Regular Haircuts or Trims

If you do not wish to trim the hair every 8 to 12 weeks, try its alternative, i.e., hair dusting. It is a borderline microscopic haircut that will dust only the ends of your locks to give them a freshly-cut look. So, you don’t lose any lengths.

While it is tempting to skip haircuts in the desire to make your hair grow faster, one must stick to the habit of trimming for healthy hair. This is important because skipping it can lead to breakage and split ends. Also, it might sound unbelievable that avoiding trimming your hair also leads to length retention. So, make it a habit of making an appointment at the salon every 8 to 12 weeks.

Benefits of Easing Up the Tension

• Forming a high and tight ponytail can cause constant friction of your strands, leading to fraying and breakage. So, by avoiding it, you are protecting it from falling off.
• Loosening your hair will also avoid the long-term problems associated with hair follicles. So, your hair grows at the right rate.

Other Tips on Easing Up the Tension

Sleeping in a ponytail can be more harmful than throughout the day. It is because tossing around in your sleep causes constant friction with the cushion fabric, which puts extra stress on your follicles. So avoid it or swap your cushion fabric with a silk one.

When you have shampooed or conditioned your hair using lukewarm water, always finish by rinsing your hair with cold water. This is because applying anything hot to your hair, whether water or a hair appliance, can dry out your strands. In addition, there are attached benefits to this habit for healthy hair, too, like:

Benefits of Rinsing Hair With Cold Water

• It closes your hair cuticle and makes your hair strands look smoother.
• The habit also helps maintain moisture by locking the opened pores and sealing your hair colour.

Other Tips on Rinsing Hair With Cold Water

This also does not mean you should eliminate applying warm water to the hair as it has its purpose, like getting rid of dirt and dust. However, avoid boiling water.

Benefits of Using Silk Pillow

• Dermatologists have also said that sleeping on silk pillowcases keeps your hair free of dandruff.
• The fabric also keeps the hair hydrated so you can maintain the moisture content in your hair.

Other Tips on Using Silk Pillows

If you are going to invest in a silk pillowcase, buy one with a high momme of 22 or more. Momme is the unit for fabric weight. In contrast, you can also look for Mulberry silk. It is a type of silk similar to Egyptian cotton.

While many hypes about skin, hair, and nail supplements, they are not always effective. Not to mention the dietary supplement industry has not set any regulations for these sectors. So, if you want zinc, biotin and protein for your hair, it is best to get them through food and not pills. Moreover, even if you do, take it in a controlled way.

Benefits of Avoiding Hair Supplements

• It minimises the chances of over-consuming nutrients that can fill the body toxicities, further increasing hair fall.
• There is a lack of research on these products, so we might not know what effects they may create, will it be positive or negative.

Other Tips on Hair Supplements

If you see different signs of over-consuming nutrients like iron and zinc, stop consuming hair supplements immediately. Symptoms of excess iron are abdominal pain, GI bleeding, and metabolic acidosis. In addition, symptoms of excess zinc are vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea.

This point is especially applicable to those with curly hair. You can develop a lot of frizz by rubbing your wet hair with a towel. Instead, develop a habit for healthy hair by using an old t-shirt in this situation. Further, you can also squeeze and blot the water out using this t-shirt. Not to mention this method also keeps the hair cuticle smooth and flat.

Benefits of Using T-Shirts to Dry Hair

• Unlike towels, t-shirts do not have rough grooves. So, it allows the water to sink and slide over your hair rather than roughing it up.
• In addition to absorbing water, towels also soak up your hair's moisture. So, using a t-shirt saves your hair from stripping away its moisture.

Other Tips on Using T-Shirts to Dry Hair

Some people prefer applying hair products before wrapping them up to dry. If you are one such person, you can run some mousse or hair cream through the strands and then wrap it up with the towel. However, leave it for 10 to 15 minutes to dry, then style your hair.

Hope you now know how to keep your hair healthy. Follow the life-changing ideas discussed above. With proper care, you will soon be able to notice the difference yourself.