Dry hair: how to take care of it? Which products to favor?

Dull, lack of shine, brittle, rough… Your hair is as dry as straw and you can’t understand why, or hydrate them properly? Follow our advice to take care of it and flaunt a radiant mane.

Dry hair is easily recognizable:

• they get tangled very easily,
• they lack luster and suppleness,
• they are rough to the touch and break easily,
• regardless that their ends are splitin other words, they duplicate each other.

The main cause of this capillary dryness is the insufficient production of sebum by the sebaceous glands of the scalp. Usually, this substance is responsible for moisturizing the hair and protecting it from all external aggressions: climatic conditions, UV rays, pollution, tobacco smoke, etc. When present in too small quantities, it alters the quality of the keratin (hair fiber) and hair cuticle (outer layer that surrounds the hair).

The disorder of the sebaceous glands can be linked to stress, hormonal upheaval, or even poor irrigation of the scalp. Other factors also come into play:

• the use of unsuitable shampoos,
• repeated chemical and mechanical treatments (colors, discolorations, brushings, straightening, etc.),
• excessively energetic brushing, accompanied by excessively hot drying,
• the atmospheric pollution,
• exposure to sunlight, sea water or chlorinated water,
• etc

Dry hair needs adapted and recurring care. The solution : repair, hydrate, and shinewithout skipping any steps.

Washing your hair too often can, in the long term, weaken the scalp, and therefore all the hair. In case of dry hair, we do not exceed one shampoo every three or four days. Objective ? Preserve hair quality and limit breakage. In the shower, avoid degreasing shampoos, which foam too much and damage the keratin. We also avoid rubbing too vigorously the scalp, which can react badly. The more adventurous can try a sebum curein other words, stop washing your hair for a month.

The hair dryer has its advantages, provided you do not use it too often! Indeed, the heat opens the scales, weakens the hair and generally gives an even rougher effect to dry hair (if there is no brushing). The ideal is to let your hair air dry, after wringing them with an absorbent towel, without rubbing too much. Another option: braid your damp hair and let it dry as it is, which limits the feeling of humidity. If you cannot do otherwise, apply a thermoprotective treatment on all of your hair before using the hair dryer and stay a good distance from the tip, ie 10-15 cm.

In line with the hair dryer, avoid heating appliances such as straighteners or other curlers. High temperatures can indeed damage hair scales. Let your hair breathe as much as possible. For an effect wavy natural, bet on more or less tight braids, let them rest all night and enjoy the result the next morning. As with the hair dryer, if you can’t live without your appliances, don’t skimp on thermo-active cares which, under the effect of heat, will release protective active ingredients and give your hair a shiny appearance.

To note : styling gels and other hairsprays often contain alcohol, which may dry out your hair even more because it dissolves fatty acids. Limit their use as much as possible, at least for the time that your hair regains its vigor, or bet on alcohol-free products, specially adapted to dry or frizzy, damaged or fragile hair.

The drying effect of repeated “chemical” coloring is well known. If your hair already has a dry nature, coloring it frequently will accentuate this aspect. If you stick to your adopted color, to minimize the damage, space out the applications as much as possible and bet on products with natural dyes of plant origin, less aggressive. Absolutely avoid ammonia.

If you tend to have damaged and brittle hair, it is better to cut your ends regularly: about once every three months. This refreshes the cut. If the forks persist all the same, do not hesitate to cut 1 to 2 cm every month. Thus, your hair will appear less damaged, and regrowth will start again.

On the shampoo side, we bet on a mild shampoo, for dry hair. When rinsing, to remove traces of limescale, you can also add a little lemon juice or a drizzle of cider vinegar. We then opt for nourishing conditioner.

In general, avoid products containing alcohol, which dries out, and silicone, which creates a film around the hair and prevents it from benefiting from moisturizing or nourishing agents. Finally, wring your hair in a towel without rubbing it and dry it in the open air!

On a daily basis, you can apply specific care oils on the tips, provided you do not have hair that is too fine, at the risk of weighing it down. There are also leave-in care for dry hair, which will act as a daytime moisturizer for your hair. They are applied sparingly on damp hair, after shampoo and conditioner, if you do not make a mask.

A hydrating mask once or twice a week restores shine, suppleness and hydration. We opt for a product rich in moisturizing active ingredients, such as a keratin mask, a mask with shea butter or avocado cream. Leave to rest for 20 to 30 minutes under a hot towel.to facilitate the penetration of the active ingredients, then rinse with cold water to tighten the scales of the hair.

• If the hair is very dry from root to tip, do not hesitate to leave the treatment longer, “Mexican style”, that is to say like a snail above the head, to be safe to apply everywhere.
• If only the lengths are dry, the mask is applied to the half-lengths and the ends. Then take care to rinse well from top to bottom, pinching the locks, to prevent the product from rising and weighing down the roots.

For really very dry hair, we can rely on vegetable oils, to leave on for as long as possible. We massage the lengths avoiding all the same the roots with the oil of your choice. The most nutritious:

• coconut oil,
• jojoba oil,
• olive oil,
• sweet almond oil,
• Argan oil
• and avocado oil.

Castor oil is also particularly recommended, as it boosts hair growth.

Aloe vera gel masks work wonders on medium to very dry hair. For reasons, this plant contains many minerals, vitamins, enzymes and amino acids beneficial. It is applied to damp hair, on all of the washed and towel-dried hair. We let it sit about ten minutesthen rinse thoroughly.

Dry hair lacking shine can only appreciate the benefits of fatty acids in shea butter. Better choose a pure one to benefit from all its virtues. Take a knob of butter and apply it from the tip to the roots, without depositing it on the scalp. For maximum efficiency, leave it on all night.

It is a well-known grandmother’s remedy. The egg yolk restores shine to the hair. The user manual ? Mix it with a tablespoon of olive oil to create a smooth texture. Then apply the mixture to your lengths and rinse after 10 minutes before you shampoo.

To protect your hair, watch your intake of essential fatty acids (omega 3 and 6) which provide hydration to the scalp and nourish the ceramides, which, together with keratin, form the hair cuticle and ensure shine. We favor vegetable oils (rapeseed, soya, nuts…), wild fatty fish, certain meats such as rabbit or goose. Also fill up with antioxidant vitamin E (vegetable oils, cereals, oleaginous fruits, etc.), which optimizes the blood supply to the scalp.

Also strengthen the raw material of your hair, keratin, thanks to a sufficient intake of sulfur amino acids (meet fish) and zinc (oysters, liver, shellfish, red meat). Finally, make cures of royal jelly, which promotes cell regeneration and revitalizes brittle hair.