Your hair is said to be your crowning glory, and unfortunately feeling bad about your hair can affect your confidence. If you want to improve the health of your hair follow these tips so your tresses can look glossy and gorgeous all the time.

Avoid products that contain harmful chemicals

Some shampoos, conditioners and hair dyes contain plastics that coat the hair making it seem soft and shiny. However, this doesn’t improve the health of your hair, and can strip it of moisture, breakdown hair proteins and eventually cause damage.

It pays to look at the ingredients on the product label before you buy. Be wary of products that are labelled organic or natural, as they can be misleading (ingredients like petroleum are technically natural). If you are unsure about an ingredient look it up on the Internet. This site lists the ingredients to avoid in hair care products and why they are harmful.

Use a boar bristle hairbrush

A boar bristle brush (BBB) is fantastic for spreading the sebaceous oils from your scalp to the rest of your hair, adding shine and making your hair softer. A BBB also traps excess oils from the roots of the hair and removes them, stopping the oils from weighing the roots down. Because the sebaceous oils also protect the hair, using a BBB can help to seal split ends, prevent hair breakage, and reduce frizz.  

Brushing also massages the scalp, increasing blood flow (containing nutrients and oxygen) to the follicles and unclogging them. The increase in blood flow can also help hair to grow and prevent hair loss.

To learn how to use a BBB check out this video.

Massage your scalp

Scalp massage therapy also increases blood flow to the roots of your hair and can encourage healthy hair growth. A scalp massage can be very relaxing as it relieves tension in the scalp and make you feel as if all of the stress in your body is disappearing. Click here to learn how to massage your scalp by yourself.

Style your hair without using heat

It’s a great idea to only use hot hair-styling tools occasionally. Using heat on your hair everyday can make it frizzy and may eventually cause premature hair fall. Hairdryers, straighteners and curling wands are convenient and easy to use, but there are plenty of heat‑free ways that you can style your hair. 

Use a hair mask regularly

Give your hair and scalp some TLC by using a mask once a week. Hair masks can soften and hydrate your hair, add shine and condition the scalp as well. There are many effective hair masks that only require natural ingredients that you can find in the kitchen. They are not only cheaper than a salon treatment, but also better for the environment (chemical‑laden products can be polluting when they are washed down the drain). Here’s some inexpensive homemade hair masks to get you started.

Sync your haircuts with the lunar cycles

You may be familiar with gardening by the moon, but how about getting a haircut to coincide with a moon cycle? Some people believe that following a haircut lunar calendar can improve the appearance of your hair and leave it in the best possible condition. If you want to assess the method for yourself, check out these lunar charts which show 5 dates each month for getting your hair trimmed according to your particular goal.

Do you have any natural hair care tips? Tell us about them in the comments below!

Further reading: Natural ways to treat hair loss