Hair do's and hair don'ts

Hey everyone! The other week I got an email from Madison Reed, a hair colour specialising company, to ask if I could give you all a few tips on how to and how not to care for you hair. Now, I'm not an expert on hair but here are a few tips that I follow daily (although, sometimes I'm a bit of a rebel and break the rules, but don't we all!?)

Styling:

First up is: don't blow dry your hair after every wash - surely everyone has been guilty of this at some point but this is something that should probably be avoided. Up until the other month, after EVERY wash I'd blow dry my hair because I'm lazy and hate waiting however, I stopped as I realised just how damaging that could be. When I stopped I also realised that my hair looks so much better when it is naturally dried as it isn't so frizzy. And... can I just clear up that there is no way that you can catch a cold by having wet hair! In fact, it makes no difference wether you dry it or not if you're going to get a cold then you're getting one and there's not much that can stop it!

Wear low/loose hair styles as often as possible - I know it may seem impossible if you go to school, like mine, and have loads of rules stopping you from wearing your hair down but nothing is stopping you from loosening it a bit and giving your hair a bit of a break! One tip that always works for me, if I'm going for a sleek look, is that if I put a tad bit of hairspray on the palm of my hands/brush and smooth it over, this will make the flyaways stick back down and leaves me with a nice, sleek look.

Don't use dry shampoo as a replacement for normal shampoo - Ok, I'll admit it I've been guilty of this a few times, where I've woken up in the mornings after falling asleep thinking it will all be alright in the morning and I won't need to do anything but then, when I woke up, realised that it wasn't the best move to take. The reason why you shouldn't ALWAYS use dry shampoo is because it stunts hair growth by clogging up the hair follicles, making them unable to breathe and grow properly. 

Brushing tips:

The next thing is: don't brush wet hair - This is because when your hair is wet it is basically like elastic and if you brush it then you are more likely to make it frizzy or break it. Although it's tempting, just don't do it. Although, you can use a wide toothed comb which isn't as bad for you hair.

Buy the right brush for your hair - To find the perfect brush, run the bristles along your hand and if it feels nice and smooth then it'll feel nice in your hair but if not, just keep on looking! There's a brush for every hair type! Here are some tips for different hair types:

• If you have thick hair, pick a staggered brush that will make it easier to detangle it when brushing. 
• For short hair, perhaps choose a small/medium barrel brush which would create small flicks to your hair, if you style it correctly when drying.
• People with medium/long hair should use a paddle brush (trust me, it's a saviour) as it makes hair smooth.

Don't keep on to old, broken brushes with damaged bristles - By keeping brushes with bristles that have frayed or bent, you are tearing your beautiful locks! After all, no one wants damaged hair from something that can be replaced so easily.

Washing tips:

Scrub your scalp gently when shampooing - Instead of scrubbing harshly, use your finger tips to massage all the dirt, oil and product build up out of your hair. When you massage your scalp, it is a lot more gentle but still exfoliates your scalp, just with out the harshness.

Don't forget to brush your hair before washing it - This is something I am terrible at doing, I think it's because I usually have my hair up and take it down 5 seconds before washing so I never really think about it. By brushing your hair before washing it, you are decreasing the amount of knots that will be left in you hair after the shower, when your hair is way more fragile.

Use cold water at the end of washing your hair - When you do this you are sealing the cuticles and locking the moisture in. This has to be one of my favourite tips because I feel that it actually makes a difference straight away.

And that's about it from me, as I said at the start I'm not exactly an expert in this hair stuff but I do try! If you want some advice on what hair colour you should try then you can check out this amazing quiz which really takes into account everything you want, to help achieve your perfect hair look! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and can take some tips from this post! 

From Megan x

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