Restore and Rejuvenate: How to Transform Damaged Hair

Restore and Rejuvenate: How to Repair Damaged Hair

Has your hair seen it all? It's never too late for a total transformation. Here's how to repair damaged hair with our favorite rejuvenating products!

A 2017 HairRx study of 1,000 women reveals that 68% of them are unhappy with their hairstyle! And 80% of the study's participants admit that their hair has a big say when it comes to their personal outlook.

Are you one of the many that are not exactly loving their current look? Do you have dry, brittle, tangled, or lackluster hair? Are you wondering how to repair damaged hair that is tainting your self-love?

Never fear, remedies are here! There are many methods for improving the look, feel, and shine of your 'do.

Sit back in that salon chair and check out our tried-and-true hair solutions.

The Signs of Hair Damage

Good hair has the power to change the course of your day. It instills you with confidence, ease, and excitement. It might encourage you to make the first move on a crush or nail a job interview.

A bad hair day has the exact opposite effect. A bad hair week, month, year? Unacceptable.

Here are common signs that your hair is crying out for help:

• It's always getting tangled
• It's always shedding or breaking
• It appears dull and flat
• You can see the split ends

Let's put it this way. If your hair has signs of damage, you can see it plain as day. So why is it happening?

Here's What's Causing Your Hair Damage

Hair damage, like hair itself, comes in all shapes and sizes. The amount of damage you suffer from can be a result of many things, from over-styling to over-brushing. You may even be damaging your hair more in an attempt to make it look better.

So, what are the most common causes of hair damage?

• Bleach, of any amount or occasion
• Frequent dye jobs, whether professional or box dye
• Chemical treatments such as perms, straightening, etc.
• Frequent styling
• Over-brushing, brushing hair while wet, brushing roughly
• Exposure to heat, such as during blow-drying or straightening
• Having tight ponytails
• Waiting too long between haircuts/trims
• Washing it too often, which strips your hair of natural oils, or washing too hard

Do you love dying your hair, straightening it every day? Then you can expect to see more damage than someone who leaves their hair alone.

It's easy to remedy most of the things on this list. You can take some of these measures to begin the healing process:

• Wear loose, soft scrunchies
• Use a heat protection product when styling
• Wash less often, and with sulfate-free shampoo and sulfate-free conditioner
• Dye your hair less often by using color-friendly shampoos
• Dye your hair within a similar hue
• Use a lower temperature on your dryer or straightener
• Air dry your hair when possible
• Brush hair only when dry, and do so gently
• Wash hair in a gentle manner
• Wear hairstyles that limit tangling

These are some quick fixes. But you'll still need to do more to reverse the signs and symptoms of damaged hair.

How to Repair Damaged Hair

Let's dive even deeper into the recovery side of things.

Here are some awesome methods you can use to treat signs of damage. Choose whichever best aligns with you and your abilities.

Oil Is Your Friend

Hair and natural oils are a great combination. Dry, damaged hair responds well to the nourishing properties of many oils. They rehydrate thirsty hair and work to smooth and protect hair cuticles.

Almond, coconut, olive, jojoba, and argan oils are a few that replenish. Oils such as olive oil are rich in vitamins and antioxidants. They can encourage new hair growth while also sealing in moisture now.

These oils can get put right on the hair follicle. To avoid a mess, and to encourage the absorption, wear a shower cap over your head while the oils soak in. The ends of your hair are the least healthy, so focus on them more than the roots.

Shea butter is also your friend! It provides moisture to dry and brittle hair.

Use Sulfate-Free Products

Sulfates in your hair products don't do much more than encouraging them to be soapy. In fact, they encourage your hair to be dry and brittle, stripping it of its natural oils.

Sulfates also strip your hair of color dye. This may cause you to dye your hair even more often. Consider a sulfate-free product especially if you've colored your hair.

Try Hair Masks

Hair masks are a fun, effective way to rejuvenate and restore your damaged hair. Masks are deep-conditioning treatments that help severely dry locks or over-processed follicles. They delve deeper than conditioner, penetrating the hair's actual cuticle.

Not only that, but they make your hair shinier!

Try using one once a week, then extending the time between as your hair gets healthier.

How Does Lifestyle Affect Your Hair?

Your daily routine may have greater effects on your hair than you'd think.

Do you swim often, exposing your hair to chlorine? Do you spend a lot of time outdoors in the sun? Do you have a healthy diet?

Here are a few lifestyle factors to consider, as well.

Protect Your Hair from the Sun

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Overexposure to the sun is bad for your hair, the same as it's bad for our skin. Protect your scalp by wearing wide-brimmed hats and using SPF.

Consider Your Diet

Believe it or not, a bad diet has negative effects on your hair, too. It can contribute to lackluster hair, and even dandruff or hair loss. And that's only some of the many negative symptoms of a poor diet.

Try adding some of these into your regular routine:

• Lean meat, poultry, and fish
• Dairy products
• Fruits and veggies
• Whole grain products
• Healthy fats

And as you've found out, some items in your kitchen can get used right on your hair. Eat your avocado - or try mashing it into a hair product. Mix 1 avocado with an egg and let it sit on your wet hair underneath a shower cap.

Use Swimmer's Shampoo

Try to find (sulfate-free) shampoos that promise to strip your hair of chlorine. Also, try to wash hair with cool water and swimmer-friendly shampoo after leaving the pool. You can also consider a hydrating shampoo to restore moisture.

Hair Today, Hair Tomorrow

No one should have hair that doesn't satisfy them. Now that you know how to repair damaged hair, take care of it while it's still on your head!

Here are 7 cute hairstyles to try on your restored, rejuvenated 'do!