Having healthy and strong hair is a goal for many, but what does that look like, how does it act, and how can you achieve your hair goals? Knowing some basics about hair health can help you design the best maintenance routine for your unique hair needs. Before you jump into the research, however, it is essential to know that there are different types of hair depending on the amount of natural curl and thickness of your hair. Knowing your hair type is the first step to determining how healthy it is and how you can improve that health.
What It Looks Like
Your hair has two primary parts: a sponge-like inner shaft and the shingle-like cuticle that protects it. Healthy hair is smooth and shiny because it has a cuticle flat against the post. Whether your hair is curly or straight, the overlapping shingles of your hair cuticle will lay flat against the core and reflect the light when your hair is healthy but will rise and snag against each other when your hair is unhealthy. This leads to excessive frizz in your hair, even in dry air, and more frequent tangles. A healthy head of hair will also maintain styles for longer during the day, remaining bouncy and full for longer.
How It Acts
Robust hair will frizz less often, have fewer tangles, have good elasticity and only slight shedding. It is natural for your hair to shed, and experts say that only about eighty to ninety percent of your hair grows at any one time. This shedding results from each follicle’s life cycle, which will extend for a couple of years and then fall out to start again. When your hair is healthy, and the cuticle is flat against the shaft, each follicle will lay smoothly against the other, resulting in less frizz and fewer tangles.
The elasticity of your hair is how well it bounces back from movement and is present no matter how straight your hair is. The more elastic your hair is, the healthier it is because it is less likely to break or tangle. You can best test elasticity by seeing how long your hairstyle remains full and bouncy on a typical day. You can also try a curl when your hair is wet to see how well it bounces back after you extend it.
How To Achieve It
Improving the health of your hair starts by setting goals representative of your hair type and preferred style. You can record these goals along with the starting stats of your hair in a journal to chart your progress over time and remind yourself of which routine changes are beneficial and which are not. Once you know where you are going with your hair health, it is crucial to determine how healthy it is and what steps you need to take to achieve your goals.
For most people, starting a hair health journey means investing in the right products and routines. You want shampoos, conditioners and other products which hydrate your follicles and improve scalp health. You also want to avoid heat and chemical styling processes and reduce the temperature of your water when washing your hair. If you need heat for styling, invest in a heat protectant to use on your hair before styling it. Excessive heat and chemicals like hair bleach will dry out and damage your cuticles, leaving your hair feeling like straw.
Having a healthy head of hair means repairing and maintaining the cuticle to give you shining and smooth hair, which is easier to maintain and will break and frizz less often. To achieve this, you must first determine what type of hair you have, what is causing the most damage and what you can do to stop or counter that damage. This usually means investing in products designed to heal and hydrate your hair, tracking your goals and progress, and avoiding heat or chemicals in styling your hair.