1. Supplement Your Way to Healthy Hair
On top of a varied and balanced diet, taking mineral supplements such as zinc, biotin and selenium can also make a big difference to hair strength and health. Increasing your vitamin C intake (through both diet and supplements) is another easy way of boosting collagen repair to achieve a healthy shine.
2. Wash with Care
Over-washing hair can do more harm than good. Aim to wash hair no more than once every two days, and make sure that you are using a shampoo that is suited to your hair type. Coarser hair types will need a shampoo that minimises frizz, while straight or oily hair needs just a gentle shampoo. Shampoos with glycerin and collagen can aid in restoring moisture to dry or brittle hair, and a shampoo containing amino acids will treat any damage to dyed hair.
3. Stop Stressing
Hair loss, particularly as we get older, is a common complaint for both men and women. The main three causes of hair loss aside from androgenic alopecia (or pattern baldness) are telogen effluvium, trichotillomania and alopecia areata. All three of these can be linked to high stress levels. In cases of telogen effluvium, high stress levels cause the hair follicles to deactivate, meaning that hair falls out during washing or brushing. In the case of alopecia areata, it is the body’s immune system (which can be weakened by stress) that attacks hair follicles, causing hair loss. Meanwhile, for sufferers of trichotillomania, the urge to pull out hair from the scalp or eyelashes as a coping mechanism, is often rooted in extremely high stress levels. Taking time to de-stress through relaxation techniques and exercises such as yoga will not only be good for your mental wellbeing, but could also benefit your hair.
4. Turn Down the Heat
Many of us rely on our hair dryers or straighteners to manage unruly tresses, however, this can often do more harm than good. Ultimately, heat styling is one of the most common causes of brittle, damaged hair. If you must blow dry your hair, do so on the lowest heat setting and aim to use hair dryers, curling tongs and straighteners as a treat rather than an everyday necessity. When you are using heat styling tools, make sure that you always use a protection spray or serum to minimise the damage.
5. Embrace the Grey
Most people will start to see a few grey hairs by the time they are in their 30s, and by 50 it is likely that many people will have a full head of grey. However, it is still possible to hold off some of the signs of hair ageing and keep your locks in good condition at any age. Melanin production decreases with age, meaning that hair starts to lose some of its healthy shine and absorbs more harmful UV rays, making it weaker. By using restorative shine enhancing shampoos and limiting UV exposure with a sun hat, you can make sure that your hair retains some of its youthful shine.
6. Nourish Fine Hair
If you have already started to experience hair thinning or baldness, do not worry. There are a number of medications readily available to treat male pattern baldness, and your GP or dermatologist will be able to advise you further on possible treatments to address all types of hair thinning. At home, you can use products enriched with keratin—a protein found in hair—to help restore a lustrous head of hair.
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