Secrets (or not) to gorgeous and healthy hair.

First of all let's make clear (and I know I will make a lot of girls sad right now but it is the truth), once your hair is damaged you cannot "undamage" it. No matter what shampoos and conditioners and stylists promise you you CANNOT mend damaged hair. With that being said let's specify a bit who does unhealthy hair look and feel like.

Unhealthy hair obviously is the hair that has split ends. Split ends is an obvious damage and you have to cut it off. So...
TRIM YOUR HAIR OFTEN AND GET RID OF SPLIT ENDS
A lot of girls hold on to their long hair and they refuse to cut it simply because they need it long but let me tell you something.
First of all and that's something I always say to my friends, it's better to have shorter and healthy hair than longer and damaged. The reason is, if you don't say goodbye to your split ends fast the damage "travels" up on the hair. Remember that the hair construction is similar to the fish scales so when you have split ends it's very easy for that splitting to just keep on higher. It's hard for us to realize but at a point the hair will break off and this is where we see a bunch of hair on your brush, it's because the hair breaks off because of damage. And if you don't believe me see how a hair actually looks when it has a split end.

Creepyyyyyy huh? :)

Second, unless your hair has REALLY bad split ends you only need to trim it and not cut it. If you are still afraid that your stylist will chop off a lot of hair you can do it at home. A nice professional pair of scissors costs 10 euro or less. Taking small streaks of hair you can run your fingers along every streak and cut the small ends of your hair where you notice splitting. It's easy, it doesn't cost you anything, you cut how much you want and it's really good for your hair. (Come to think of it I should make a video on trimming your own hair but I just trimmed it yesterday actually so that will take a while)
The normal frequency for trimming normally is 4 to 6 weeks depends on how your hair holds on and if you don't dye or heat style your hair you can even get away with twice a year.
And just to prove wrong those that think that if you trim your hair it will not grow i have to mention that I trim my hair around once a month and it's halfway to my waist and growing :)

Unhealthy hair also can be the hair that when is wet feels gummy that means that you have fried your hair from dyeing or streightening. This part of your hair has to be cut off it's no longer (partial) repairable.
With that being said and also underlining the fact that you WILL have to eventually cut this damaged part of your hair off, there are some products that will make your hair more manageable and much softer and that doesn't - and I repeat- does NOT mean that they repair them!
1) Reconstructors, there are some products out there that they really do an excellent job and can make pretty damaged hair managable and soft for example the Joico K-Pak, it's a bit pricey but AMAZING!
2) Products with proteins (similar to reconstructors). If you can't really afford a fancy reconstructor you can use good ol' Mayonnaise or simply mix egg and olive oil or avocado and olive oil just remember to wash well after.

Third type of hair damage which is not really a big damage but it can lead to it it's the dried out hair. If your hair doesn't have moisture it can get frizzy, hard to tame and break off. The remedies for this are very very simple.
1) Good hydrating (moisturizing) conditioner
2) A good leave in conditioner
3) Once a week olive oil (not close to the roots) or warm olive oil
4) Good hydrating mask
5) Last but best.... COCONUT OIL. Better than olive oil, better than argan oil better than anything. Apply a small amount of coconut oil at the ends of your hair - MAKE SURE IT'S PURE. And leave it for as much as you want and the wash it out (i personally don't even wash it out because it even helps my curls stay but on straight hair it might look oily). It's hydrating, it's protecting the hair, it makes it soft, shiny and it smells A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

And of course try to dye your hair no more often than once a month and avoid as much as possible heat styling!

I hope this was somewhat helpful to you. Remember if you really wanna have long hair you can always cut the damaged part and put on some extensions :) 

Leave a comment if you like or if you have any questions I will be happy to help!

Take care, XO

Heliana