Improve Your Dry Hair

Have you reached the point where you are ashamed of your dry hair? Many people have discovered, much to their chagrin, that the more they do to their hair, the worse its condition gets to be. All the heat styling that we do to keep up with the latest styles, plus the over processing that comes from trying to make our hair look different from the way it does naturally by perming and colouring can really do a number on our hair, and make it resemble a bale of straw more than a carefully coiffed do.

Dry hair can be caused by many things. Often, our sebaceous glands do not produce enough natural oil to nourish our hair and lubricate it from the roots to the ends. Shampooing too often can strip away these precious oils, leaving our hair vulnerable, and with a dry and dull look. Outdoor living can also cause us to have dry hair. The hot sun and salt or chlorinated water in the summer are all very drying to the scalp and hair. Wind is also drying, either in summer or in winter. Besides these environmental hazards, our hair also has enemies inside as well. During cold weather, the heat inside our homes and businesses will often dry out our hair terribly.

What can we do to help our dry hair? For starters, deep conditioning will improve the appearance of dry hair, and will help it to bounce back from some of the abuse it must take. Since very few people are going to do without their curling irons and hair dryers, or their perms and hair colour, the obvious thing to do for dry hair is to put moisture back into it on a regular basis. Fortunately, you have many options available to you that will help to make your dry hair sleek, shiny, and soft instead of dry, fly-away, and brittle.

Of course, you can go to a salon to get a hot oil treatment for your dry hair, and you can also purchase these oil treatments at any drugstore. But, why go to that expense when it is so easy to take care of treating your dry hair right at home? There are several items you can probably find in your kitchen right now that will do a brilliant job of making your hair manageable again.

Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small glass dish in your microwave. Careful don't get it too hot! We want to help to add moisture to your dry hair, not cook it! Once the olive oil is warmed, work it through your hair, paying special attention to the ends. Next, wrap your head in a warm, damp towel that you have also heated in your microwave. Hint if you don't have a microwave, you can heat the olive oil in a pan of water that you have simmering on your stove. You can heat the damp towel with your hair dryer!

Keep the towel on your head for at least 30 minutes to give the oil a chance to soak into your hair. Your hair usually has a moisture content of around 10%. When hair becomes dry and straw-like, your hair's moisture level has fallen due to the reasons we discussed above. When this happens, the hair is unable not only to attract moisture, but also has trouble retaining moisture. Without moisture, we have dry hair! This is why hot oil treatments, done every couple of weeks, can help your dry hair look good as new again.

Now, it's time to take off that towel. Shampoo your hair with a mild shampoo. You may need to lather up a couple of extra times in order to get out all of the excess oil this depends totally on the individual head of hair! Once it is shampooed out, dry and style your hair as usual. Can you tell the difference? Enjoy your lovely hair!