What?! This Is the Most Googled Hair Question
We all turn to search engines like Google (ahem, owned by Alphabet, in case you didn’t hear) to answer our most pressing questions, including hair and beauty tips + tricks — how else would we have found out about the Swiss Army Knife of hair clips? According to a study conducted by Joico Haircare and Lab42, the number one most-searched hair question among 18 — 49 year old females in the US was, “How do I get healthy hair?” It’s not surprising that women are curious about and dedicated to achieving locks that not only look good from the outside but are healthy on the inside, too.
The survey went on to reveal that having healthy hair was more important to the women surveyed than sporting a cute outfit (66% more important), having a toned bod (54% more important) and having a white smile (47% more important). Feeling confident thanks to knowing you’re having a bangin’ hair day made 70% of the respondents feel happier, while 60% claimed to feel more joyful. Basically, having healthy hair is everything, y’all. With all this healthy hair talk, we wanted to make sure you were in-the-know on a bunch of different ways you can achieve totally healthy hair — which, in turn, will make you happier and/or more joyful, right? ;)
1. Avoid using hot toolsas much as possible: Hot tools can cause serious damage to your hair, so limit your use when possible. There are a bunch of no-heat hair hacks that can leave you with a killer ‘do but won’t wreck your locks, so even if you think you need to use a straightener or curling iron, think again! Don’t forget that you can also skip the heat by prepping the night before and waking up with awesome hair.
2. *Don’t* wash your hair everyday: You will seriously notice an improvement in your hair if you stop stripping it of its natural oils on the daily. While it’s important to have hair that’s not disgustingly greasy and gunked up, it’s also important to give it a break a couple times a week from product (including shampoo + conditioner). Use dry shampoo the night before and you’ll also get some added volume, texture and body with your ‘dirty’ hair! You may also find that styles hold longer when your hair isn’t freshly washed.
3. Step away from the hair dye: There are a lot of other options for switching up your hair color that don’t involve harmful dyes. You can use a wig (open your mind to wigssssss!) or hair chalk if you’re going for a super edgy look. Or you can just consider growing out your natural color! Not only is hair dye is super harmful to your hair, but remember, it takes forever to grow out a bad dye job, so really think about your longterm goal with your hair the next time you consider dyeing it.
4. Give your scalp some love: Your hair grows from your scalp and all, so it’s super critical that your scalp is healthy, too. Pay special attention to your scalp because if it’s clogged with product, buildup, etc., your hair won’t grow quickly (or healthily). People are doing some crazy stuff to their scalps to get great hair, but you should focus initially on making sure it’s super clean by using a clarifying shampoo every so often. Make sure to give you scalp a nice massage each time you wash it, too, so it stimulates hair growth — just ask B+C man bun expert Sean about his daily scalp massages as he grows his hair out.
5. Mask it UP: After daily wear and tear, your hair needs some TLC in the form of a deep conditioning mask once a week-ish. There are a ton of DIY hair masks you can make that will inject serious moisture into your thirsty locks. Just make sure you don’t overdo it and stay away from the scalp — keep the mask on the shaft and tips of your hair only! Adding a mask to the roots of your hair can leave behind lots of build up and could end up weighing your hair down, which is probs the opposite of what you’re going for.
Moral of the story is that your hair’s health should come first and foremost — prioritize it over causing damage in order to achieve that perfect look. While it might be annoying at first, skipping out on some styles could leave your locks in better shape than they’ve ever been.
What tricks do you have for maintaining healthy hair? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
