Healthy Hair Habits

Take Lukewarm Showers

Taking piping hot showers, while they can certainly feel good, will strip all of the natural oils out of your hair making it look dry and also more prone to fizziness and split ends but while you may think that the answer would then be to take a bracing cold shower, this actually won’t help you a lot in the long run either. If the water in your shower is too cold, the capillaries in your scalp are going to narrow and constrict meaning that blood flow in the area will be lesser and therefore, your hair won’t be receiving the nutrients it needs. So, the easiest solution is to find a happy medium and shower in water that’s lukewarm.

Look For Sulfate-Free Products

The issue with most cheaper shampoos is that they’ll contain compounds called sulfates. You’ll usually see these in the ingredients list under names like sodium lauryl sulfate, for example. The main point of these ingredients is to make shampoo foam more and create more suds because naturally, we feel that if a product is sudsing, it’s doing a better job of cleaning things, it’s just a natural human impulse. In addition to creating more bubbles though, these sulfates are going to take the natural oils out of your hair, which as we’ve already discussed, isn’t a good thing. Your hair will end up dry and brittle as such, finding a shampoo that’s free of sulfates and naturally cleanses and strengthens your hair is going to be your best bet.

Sometimes, these sulfate free shampoos can be a bit more difficult to find but your barber will probably have some ideas for you. In particular, you’re going to want to look for certain ingredients like hydrolyzed wheat protein, amino acids, and vitamin E. Also, the occasional use of a clarifying shampoo will get out any built-up hair product that you may have gotten in your hair over time.

Don’t Shampoo as Often

Most men probably shampoo their hair every time they take a shower but this simply isn’t necessary. Even shampoos that are free of sulfates are going to take the natural oils out of your hair more quickly. As such, even though it probably is important that you maintain a daily showering routine, just rinsing your hair with water is going to be more helpful than shampooing every time. Most barbers recommend that you only shampoo your hair two to three times a week. Furthermore, if you’re using quality styling products, most of them are going to be water soluble so you won’t need to worry.

Use Conditioner

When you shower, conditioner is designed to moisturize and protect your hair and also soothe and settle down its cuticles which are the rough shingle like edges around the central hair shaft. Men with curly hair are going to benefit especially from using conditioner daily as smoothing down these cuticles of curly hair will help it look its best. So the best way to care for your hair in the shower is to rinse it with lukewarm water and apply conditioner on a daily basis and occasionally, to use shampoo a few times a week. Here’s a related point, if you’ve ever heard the old saying “rinse and repeat”, don’t actually apply this knowledge in the shower. Just one application of conditioner and of course, of shampoo is going to be more than enough for your hair without drying it out.

Be Gentle When Toweling Off

While it’s tempting to want to get your hair dry right away and do this by aggressively scrubbing with your towel, doing this to wet hair which is more vulnerable is probably going to lead to excessive breakage. Therefore, using the towel with a bit of a softer touch and working in the natural direction that your hair grows is going to be better for it in the long run.

Avoid Blow-Drying

Not only will the hot air from most blow dryers lead to more fizziness and split ends, but it’s also going to dry out your scalp. If you do want to use a blow dryer to add some more volume to your hairstyle, using one that has a cool setting is going to be your best bet. Overall, though, just letting your hair air dry will be healthiest.

Go Easy on Styling Products

Using products to add more life to your hair or just to do something different with it than it would naturally is a great way to change things up and enhance your look. Still, if you use too much product, your hair is probably going to look matted down or otherwise, unnatural. Therefore, experiment a little bit to find out what the right amount of product is for you and then don’t use too much.

Keep Your Hair Natural

What we mean by this is excessive perming, coloring, straightening, and so on is just going to excessively damage your hair. Of course, men are probably less likely to have these procedures done but even so, only do them every so often if you’d like to experiment and to keep your hair healthy, avoid undergoing these kinds of hair procedures.

Use Right Tools in The Right Ways

Hair is naturally delicate so it’s important that you know how to style it without doing any damage. For example, because wet hair is more susceptible to damage than dry hair, you shouldn’t use a hairbrush when your hair is wet. The hair strands can get tangled in the many bristles of the brush and can get pulled out more easily.