Hey ladies! Did you guys catch my Instagram stories on how to take care of your hair?
No worries if you missed it! I’m outlining them for you here today. Please read my tips knowing that I am not a hair care professional. I also have thick coarse hair that is very slightly wavy. Thick hair is less prone to split ends. I’ve been obsessed with hair care since middle school, so these are the habits and tricks I’ve picked up from personal research to take care of my hair.
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Shampoo and condition first! Rinse with cold water
I always shampoo and condition first so that the conditioner can sit in my hair for longer than three minutes while I wash the rest of my body. When it’s time to rinse, I do so with colder water. The general rule is that heat applied to your hair is not good. -
Use SULFATE-FREE shampoo and conditioner
Does your shampoo have ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, or sodium laureth sulfate? These are NOT good.
Sulfate is used in harsh cleaners like detergent to cut through grease quickly. Your hair may get greasy but it’s not as bad as a dinner plate. A tender scalp and harsh chemicals are not a good combination.
Sulfate can irritate your scalp, cause your hair to fall out (resulting in thinning), and if you dye your hair, make it fade faster. All not good if you want to keep your hair healthy.
For those that are interested:
The brand of shampoo I use is from a company called Melaleuca. Their mission is to provide products made with natural ingredients and that are environmentally friendly. You can become a member at Melaleuca for a really affordable price and get natural products that are AMAZING! They offer other household goods like cleaning products, toothpaste/floss, makeup, etc.
You can buy their products even if you don’t pay to become a preferred member. But I’d recommend it because you get a significant discount on all their goods as a “preferred member”. -
Do not rub dry your hair with a towel
The friction caused by rubbing your hair dry with a towel will cause damage. To avoid this, I squeeze sections of my hair to get as much water out. -
Avoid brushing your hair
Brushing your hair can cause much more damage than you think! For this reason, I only brush my hair right after I’ve put conditioner in it or right before I’m about to curl it. -
Don’t blow-dry your hair
To avoid blowdrying I wash my hair at night and let it air dry. -
If straightening/curling your hair, ALWAYS use a heat protectant
I LOVE to curl my hair. To prevent damage, I always use a heat protectant spray from Tresemme which protects your hair from heat up to 450 degrees. -
Trim your hair
I check the ends of my hair regularly and if my split ends are more prevalent than usual, I take a pair of hair cutting scissors and trim ½ an inch to an inch off of my hair. I don’t want to spend money at the hairdresser every 6 weeks so I just do this independently!
Do you have any tips for hair care to share?
