I'd like to talk to you about taking care of your hair! A lot of you may have long hair, or are wanting to have long hair. I will be giving advice on how to getting long hair, and on how to take care of your hair!
As you may know, that I do have long hair myself.
As you can see from the photo above, is a picture of my long hair. Sorry if the picture doesn't look the best, I did take it with my iPhone after all...
Basic info about EVERYONE'S hair
Alright, so I am pretty sure that you all know that hair is made out of keratin proteins. For those who do not know what keratin is, is basically what hair is made out of... I know, I'm repeating myself, but it's simple! Everyone has different hair types, but no matter what-- everyone's hair is made from keratin.
For people who want to grow out their hair, or already have long hair, but isn't AS healthy as you want it to be, you'll want to follow these tips.
Tip #1
GET REGULAR TRIMS!
For all who do not know about this, but if you don't cut at least half an inch of your hair off every 4-6 weeks, you will find that your hair is just getting really damaged, dried and looks like it is going to break off at the ends. For those who heat style their hair like me, you all know about those awful split ends! You will probably see those dumb products that companies advertise like the joico k-pak
split end mender, tresemme split end sealing serum, and much more is obviously a bunch of mumbo jumbo!
These products contain adhesive glues, and what not that basically just "stick" the split ends together and then they either wash out of the hair when you shampoo it, or just stick there and build up and build up more and more every time you apply it onto your ends, and in the end your hair will break off. Cutting those split ends is the only way to remove those split ends permanently. Now you will find that after a month or so, your ends will become split and dried again. If you heat style your hair, you know this will happen no matter what products you use. You can use all of the products in the world on your hair, and it will not prevent split ends from occurring.
Tip #2
Don't wash your hair as much!
You don't have to wash your hair every single day just to keep it clean. It's good to have those natural oils come from your roots and make it's way down to the shaft of your hairs. Our body does not produce these natural oils for nothing. I wash my hair max 2-3 times a week! You don't need to wash your hair more than that! If you dye your hair red like me, you will know what I mean. Washing your hair strips it of its natural oils, which lubricate the shaft of your hairs and thus prevent it from drying out.
Tip #3
DO NOT USE SULFATE SHAMPOOS!
For those who do not know what sulfates are, sulfates are basically "cleansing" agents used in laundry detergents, dish soaps and a lot more household cleansers. They basically foam around oils, and dirt etc and then carry it away when you are rinsing your hair out under the water in the shower. They cut through grease very efficiently. Dish soaps are LOADED with sulfates! SLS, SLES, ALS, ALES etc. Shampoos mainly have water as their first ingredient, and then the second ingredient is usually "sodium lauryl sulfate", "sodium laureth sulfate", "ammonium laurl sulfate", or "ammonium laureth sulfate" Sodium lauryl(eth) sulfates are bad for your hair and scalp mainly because the particles are really small that they are able to slip through your scalp, and irritate your scalp and entering your nervous system causing your scalp to shed, and flake.
This makes your scalp become dry because of it. Ammonium lauryl(eth) sulfate shampoos basically are the same, except the ammonium particles are MUCH bigger than the sodium particles which is good because they do not penetrate your hair as easily as the sodium lauryl(eth) sulfate shampoos. Either way, both ingredients are not good for your hair. Some say that sulfate shampoos cause your hair to fall out, and are known to cause HAIR LOSS!
Hopefully this picture above will let you all know that if you continue to use a sulfate shampoo, it will make your hair really bad in the future!
Tip #4
Use sulfate free shampoos!
Personally, I don't use live clean but almost all of my friends who care about their hair do! I use a different shampoo that's called "One n' Only" argan oil moisturizing shampoo meant to protect your colour treated hair, and also moisturize your hair and scalp!
Live clean I've heard also does the same, but I cannot guarantee that because I have not tried it yet. After I finish my one n' only argan oil shampoo, I will definitely use the live clean brand next!
Anyways, I will not digress anymore. Sulfate free shampoos are SO much more gentler on your hair and scalp because they don't have sulfates! Sulfates strip your hair of its natural oils and if you have colour treated hair, it will strip your hair of the dye too! People who dye their hair red beware of not using sulfate free shampoos! Use a sulfate free shampoo!
If you use a sulfate free shampoo, your hair and scalp will definitely thank you! Another brand I am highly aware of are: Pureology, and Sudzz.
All sulfate free shampoos are meant for colour treated hair unless the package says so otherwise.
You probably will find that sulfate free shampoos don't suds up as much as a sulfate shampoo. This is because the sulfates are what make those rich, foamy, lathering suds! Don't worry, your hair is sill getting clean from the sulfate free shampoo. You just wont get those rich suds.
Again, I will also try out the pureology shampoo next and do a review on it later on!
Tip #5
Use good conditioners, and do a deep conditioning mask once every week!
This is important people!
I currently use the AG conditioner, which apparently seals the cuticle and infuses your hair strands with rich vitamins and proteins which will help keep your hair in good shape.
I also use the matrix biolage deep conditioning treatment once a week, and I leave it on for a good 5-10 minute while I am scrubbing down my body in the shower. Removing those dead skin cells feels awesome because you're removing all that dirt, and maybe tanned skin cells from while you were outside!
Anyways, after that I rinse it out well and then I squeeze out my hair gently and then put my hair up into a towel turban, and let it stay in there for about 1 hour? Maybe more, maybe less. I don't know. I just know that I keep it on for a long time.
Tip #6
WASH YOUR HAIR IN COLD WATER!
Everyone should know this.
Washing your hair in cold water from the shampooing to the conditioning to the deep conditioning stages will make your hair a lot shinier! Cold water, just like conditioner closes the hair cuticle causing the cuticles to lay flat, and in turn create a larger surface area for your hair to reflect the light, thus making your hair a LOT more shinier.
When you wash your hair with warm or hot water, it damages the hair cuticles by opening them up, and when your hair cuticles are open, it allows moisture, from the air to enter your hair shaft which isn't good especially because it will lead to frizz, and if you straighten or curl your hair, and not use any silicone or any finishing product on your hair, the cuticles will open up again, thus ruining all that time you spent doing your hair. Bad hair days aren't good. Just saying.
Tip #7
Transparent hair dyes!
I did a transparent hair dye treatment on my hair today, and I will post the link to my blog here.
A lot of people who want shine that is OUT OF THIS WORLD, should definitely use this. You can buy them at your local drug store... my other post has everything you need to know about the transparent hair dyes.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading my post. I hope you will take all of this into account. I will post tutorials on how to make your own DIY hair mask, and trust me the results the hair masks do to your hair are phenomenal. Treat your hair as if it is a baby! Because if you don't take care of your hair, it will look dry, damaged, dead, and lifeless!
Good luck and enjoy everyone!
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