How to take care of my long hair?

Question

I am an Indian female 25 years of age. I have approximately around 2 feet long dark black hair. I try to keep good care of my hair by keeping it clean and nourished. However, I have a very busy schedule and have to travel a lot across the country. This results in my inability to keep maintain my hair health. Is there a quick hair health guide that can help me take great care of my long hair?

Answer 1

Long hair has 2 major problems: physical stress and lack of moisture.

Physical stress means that the hair is bent and rubbed by any surface it touches, like your clothes, pillows or the back rest of the chair you're sitting on.

Braiding your hair is a very good (and traditional) way to keep the individual hairs in order and avoid stress as much as possible. Pinning your hair up so it doesn't touch your clothes is even better, but might not be feasible every day.

Avoid tying your hair too tight with a hair tie or a metal hair clip.

Use a comb or brush made of natural materials like wood or metal that don't charge your hair electrically. These charges not only make your hair stand up, they also charge up split hairs and might worsen the split every time you comb your hair.

Lack of moisture is a direct effect of the length of your hair. The natural oil produced by your skin coats your hair as well and slowly spreads from the root to the tip. But this process takes time and long hair is often washed before the natural oil reaches the tips.

To give your hair the same protection, you could rub a little bit of oil in it right after washing it. Don't use too much! Spread 2 - 3 drops of (unscented) oil on your palms and gently comb your hands through the tips of your hair. There are commercial products available that have a similar effect but come in a spray bottle so it's easier to spread them in your hair without getting oily patches.

The right hair cut can help you avoid split hairs. Never cut your own hair with "normal" scissors! Even though it looks like they cut hair just right, they actually squeeze the hairs and cause them to split easily.

A professional hair dresser should have much better and sharper scissors that cut each hair cleanly. Some hair dressers even offer cutting with "hot scissors" that are actually heated and seal the cut end so it won't split for a long time.

Answer 2

I am a male, not from India, with very short hair :)

However, I can share with you some small tricks:

1. The health of your hair is 99% related to the health of your body. Be balanced with what you eat, be sure to get the proper nutrients which help your hair - Internet is big, Google should be able to help.

2. Be sure to not use very hot water when washing. The hotter the water, the more oil the skin of your head will release. Result: you need to wash your hair more often.

3. Avoid to get it dirty :) While this is mostly a joke, it may still be useful. If you travel through areas with higher pollution (even simple dust on the country side may be enough), try to protect your hair: use a scarf, hat... which will keep the dirt at a distance.

Answer 3

good tips given already, but we do have a great way to better hair health by using products that are naturally and botanically based. i found this product a couple of years ago and it has changed my hair completely! Send me a message via email and I would be glad to send you the the link to to try the product for yourself. It all begins with scalp health! hope all is well. My email is [removed by community edit] put "hair health" in the subject line and I'll know it is you. ;-) Heidi