Hair Salon Hair Care Tips for Great Hair

Want salon-quality locks every day? Follow these simple tips for shiny, healthy hair

It seems there are hundreds of products available that will strengthen, cleanse, clarify, colour intensify or shine up a person’s hair, with prices ranging from just a few dollars to hundreds and hundreds. Yet gaining beautiful healthy hair is more a question of hair care and proper maintenance more than curing or trying to hide irreversible damage, and there are a number of simple techniques that every person can use to keep their hair looking and feeling its very best.

It is important to understand what kind of damage can be caused on the hair cuticle in order to know how to prevent it. Some of the most common signs that hair is damaged:

• Split ends
• Dry, brittle feeling
• Dull appearance
• Tangles easily

The cause behind all these different effects is simple; the hair cuticle has lifted from the inner cortex, resulting in a rough and broken strand that is damaged. So what are the common causes and what simple hair salon tips can you do at home in order to prevent any more damage occurring?

To begin with the issue of heating and styling irons and blow dryers are one of the primary sources of dry and damaged hair, yet they are a necessity in many people’s daily hair routine.  Obviously the best option is for hair to dry naturally but sometimes this is either impossible due to time or hair needs to be heated and styled into position.  Yet this doesn’t have to be a rock and a hard place for hair care, with many hair experts recommending that when using a heating tool that it is set on the lowest setting to minimize the damage caused.

Additionally you should not dry your hair until it is completely dry as this will overheat the hair follicles and lead to breakage and weakening of the cuticle. Dry the hair from a good distance away and until it is mostly dry then allowing to dry naturally.

There is also the way that you treat your hair that can impact on its health and appearance including:

• Use of hair clips and bands. When using certain hair clips and bands they will strip the hair of the outer cuticle or break the hair completely, meaning that proper hair items should be used in order to keep the integrity of the hair strands.
• Hard brushing techniques are also a likely cause breakage and damage with strong brush strokes often tearing the hair. What’s more you should never brush your hair when it is wet as it is even more susceptible to breakage then, using only a wide toothed comb or even your fingers.
• Towel-drying and excessive rubbing of the scalp and hair will stimulate the scalp and promote excessive oil distribution while making the hair itself frizzy
• Washing your hair too frequently will also have a negative impact as too much washing will dry out the scalp and strip the hair of its own natural, nourishing oils leading to dandruff or oily hair due to over production of these oils. It is also important to ensure that you have efficiently washed out all products, such as shampoo and conditioner, as if they are left in the hair they will make it appear dull and lifeless

There are also a number of environmental factors that will impact on the quality and health of a person’s hair including the sun, salt water or chlorine and cold weather. In each of these cases these elements are able to cause the hair cuticle to crack or flake under the stress of the chemicals or extreme temperature.

So now that we have covered all the things that can go wrong with your hair, what can you do to make it better and prevent breakage from happening?

• When it comes to protection from environmental factors, often the best treatment will be a clarifying shampoo or deep conditioning treatment to remove any build up of chemicals, dirt and grease.
• Keeping regular trims and your hair at an even length will eliminate the appearance of damaged ends and minimize the chances of a hair breaking as it will be stronger and thicker at the ends, where split ends occur
• Finally always use the right hair products for your hair type. The choices are between dry, oily, normal and combination hair. Each of these styles have a range of shampoos, conditioners, styling products and treatments designed to cater for their own limitations