When your hair is healthy, your scalp produces enough natural oils and moisture. Dry hair is when your hair cannot retain those oils, or your scalp isn’t generating enough oils. If your hair is damaged, it becomes frizzy, dry, and brittle. In other words, unhealthy.
So, how can you get dry hair healthy again? Let’s find out.
Why Does Hair Become Dry?
There are three contributing factors for dry hair: Environmental, hair routine, and medical conditions.
If you live in a dry and hot or cold and windy region, your hair is most likely dry due to the harsh weather conditions. Due to UVA/UBA rays that beam down your scalp, your hair suffers from dehydration. On the other hand, due to cold and dry air, your hair strands lift, making it extra challenging to keep moisture in.
Hair routines that cause dry hair are:
- Heat-styling or daily blow-drying
- Using damaging products that have sulfate and alkaline in the ingredients
- Washing your hair every day
- Dying your hair or adding extensions
- Wearing tight braids, ponytails, or adding stress to your scalp
Sometimes, an underlying condition can cause frizzy and brittle hair, such as hypothyroidism, eating disorders, and Menkes syndrome. Most medical causes indicate malnutrition.
10 Ways to Turn Dry Hair into Healthy Hair
Assuming you don’t have a medical issue that is contributing to unhealthy hair, there are many ways you can fix dry hair and prevent it from happening. However, if you have a medical condition, it’s a good idea to seek guidance from a trichologist or a dermatologist to reverse dry hair effects.
Here are 10 ways how to get dry hair healthy again.
Get a Haircut
While getting a trim may seem counterproductive, it’s not. You may wonder, why should I get a trim when my hair grows from the scalp?
Trimming your ends doesn’t promote hair growth. But you may notice the more split ends you have, the slower your hair will grow. Regularly trimming helps prevent split ends from moving up the hair shaft and creating more split ends, resulting in dry, unhealthy locks.
Getting a trim every few months allows your hair to restore balance and lock in moisture easier.
Change Your Diet
It’s proven that malnutrition results in unhealthy hair structures such as dry and frizzy hair. Vitamins such as biotin and iron supplements contribute to shiner, softer, and healthier hair.
Omega-3s and antioxidants in fish and green vegetables contribute to healthy hair because you strengthen the cells and proteins your hair generates to keep it hydrated.
A simple change in diet to get healthy hair can make all the difference in reversing split ends and preventing damaged hair.
Less Heat Styling
It can be hard not to use heat-styling tools to make your hair look and feel healthy but have you noticed the minute you wash your hair, and it dries, it goes back to its original damaging state?
Just as exposure to sun and UVA rays causes hair breakage and brittleness, heat styling products like blow dryers and hair straighteners cause damage by removing your hair’s natural moisture.
When your hair is dehydrated, it is more difficult to lock in moisture as your hair needs a significant amount of moisture to bring it back to life.
Rinse With Cold Water
Hot water opens your cuticles which is beneficial if your hair is itchy, oily, or dirty. But, it also contributes to dry and frizzy hair.
Cold water closes cuticles found in your hair, scalp, and skin, which helps seal moisture and protect your hair from environmental damage. Rinsing with cold water won’t cause frizz, but you may find your hair has become flat.
The best shower routine is to start your shower with warm water. After washing and conditioning, before rinsing out your conditioner, turn the water to cold and finish.
Don’t Shampoo Every Day
Shampoo strips your hair of essential natural oils necessary for locking in moisture and hydration. The best shampoo routine is only to wash your hair every other time you take a shower. To avoid breakage and split ends, condition your hair before leaving the shower.
Use Deep Conditioning Products
Leave-in conditioners, hair masks, and oil treatments are all great starts reversing dry hair and long-term damage to your hair shaft and cuticles.
When searching for deep-conditioning hair products, you’ll want to look for specific ingredients such as:
- Hydrolyzed silk protein
- Keratin
- Biotin
- Humectants
Sleep on Silk Pillows
Cotton fabrics soak moisture from your hair which is why you wake up with a tangled mess. Silk sheets and pillowcases are best for your hair because they don’t lock in the dirt, grime, and other damaging causes of your hair.
Silk pillowcases don’t strip moisture from your hair and won’t cause static or dehydration caused by extreme weather conditions.
Leave Your Hair Down More Often
When repairing hair damage, it’s best to let it flow naturally. Ponytails, dreads, extensions, and other tight-fitting hairstyles cause hair loss and bald spots due to the pulling from hair ties and stress.
Tightness on your scalp and hair causes split ends and hair loss, so try to avoid tight-fitting styles as much as possible.
Use a Bristle Brush
A bristle brush is specifically designed to pull natural oils from your scalp to your ends because it mocks the texture of human hair. The best way to use a boar bristle brush is to use a comb the night before you intend to wash your hair.
After using a comb, take your bristle brush and stroke a section of your hair at least five times before moving on. Once your entire head is brushed, wait about an hour or more to shampoo and condition your hair.
After your shower, avoid brushing your hair immediately; let it air dry. Once your hair is dry, use a wide-toothed comb to brush the knots.
Use Heat Protectants
Heat protectant products contain ingredients like humectants, amino acids like keratin, and antioxidants such as aloe to help protect your hair from heat. On a hot day, spray a heat protectant on your hair before going outside.
Wearing a hat may not be such a bad idea either. Look for protectants that contain the above ingredients so that your hair repair goal is not stunted by fake products.
How to Prevent Hair from Getting Dry
It can be easy to fall into the same hair routine and habits once you’ve restored your hair health. However, it is easier to damage your hair than fix it. Once your hair is at a naturally hydrated balance, you must follow a specific routine to prevent further damage or dryness.
To prevent dry hair, you must:
- Always use a deep conditioner and rinse in cold water.
- Engage in regular hair mask treatments.
- Let your hair air dry or pat it dry with a towel.
- Understand what causes dry hair, and do the opposite.
And, of course, don’t forget to protect your hair from the elements, use a silk pillowcase, and eat a healthy and diverse diet.
FAQs
Still, have questions? Here are five questions many people in your position have asked.
Can you repair dry hair?
Once your hair is damaged, it can be next to impossible to repair. It may take years to repair the damage caused to your hair. The only cure is following each step provided to you in this article long-term.
Sometimes, people have been known to shave their heads to start fresh.
Can your hair be dry and healthy?
No, your hair cannot be healthy and dry. If your hair is dry, it’s likely your hair is experiencing other problems such as frizz, breakage, and lack of natural-producing oils.
Can you take supplements to fix dry hair?
While supplements such as vitamin E, C, biotin, and omega-3s will help strengthen and repair your hair, don’t expect overnight results. It can take years to repair damaged or dry hair.
Does dryness mean your hair is damaged?
You can have dry hair that is not damaged simply because of weather and medical conditions. Or, you can have damaged hair caused by heat-styling and other processes you’ve done to your hair.
Most of the time, dry hair is the first sign of damaged hair, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your hair is damaged because it’s dry.
Which oil is good for dry hair?
Argan, jojoba, and castor oil is best for dry hair. Castor oil generates antioxidants, argan oil adds moisture and vitamin e for protection, and jojoba oil contains the necessary vitamins to add hydration and moisture back into the hair shaft.
Dry hair doesn’t always mean your hair is damaged, but it is one of the first signs leading to unhealthy hair. Luckily, there are many things you can do to fix, strengthen, and prevent dry hair from taking over.
With motivation and determination, your hair will look hydrated and healthy again by following the steps provided in this article.
