The key to great hair is choosing products that have been especially formulated for your hair type.
There is a massive myth flying around that the more you wash your hair the more damage you're doing to it. This is not entirely true, it is all about finding a balance. If a person with naturally dry hair washes their hair everyday it will split and become very fragile, where as if a person with oily hair washes it everyday, it will just remain clean.
You can shampoo your hair everyday - twice a day if necessary. The rule is: wash whenever it looks or feels in need, the vital thing is to use a mild shampoo that is correctly formulated for your type of hair.
Don't scrub as you wash: treat your hair gently and massage your scalp as you lather. Don't use too much shampoo as most are concentrated, it is a good idea to dilute shampoo with water before applying to the hair. Apply evenly through your hair, a good trick to ensure this is to pour shampoo onto your palms and rub them together before applying. Make sure you rinse all the shampoo out of your hair afterwards.
It is very important that after shampooing you use a conditioner, some people use conditioners sparingly and apply all over the head, others lather it on and only apply to the ends. Personally I like to alternate. One day full head the next day just the ends, applying conditioners to just the ends of the hair helps to reduce a build up grease at the roots, but still keeps the ends healthy and soft. Some people also like to rinse off conditioner with cold water and it adds shine. I have tried this... If you can handle the temperature the keep it up; I personally couldn't.
Deep conditioning treatments are essential to restore dried our or damaged hair. These can be applied after shampooing and left for around 5 minutes or left over night and rinsed off in the morning depending on the state that the hair is in to begin with.
Brushing and combing, have you ever heard of '100 brush strokes a day?' Don't do this to your hair. It causes excessive stress and results in splits breaks and even hair coming out from the root.
I'm very lazy when it comes to keeping my brushes (both hair and make-up) clean, but honestly shampoo your hair brushes and combs at least once a month if possible twice, if is there is a large build up of dirt on these tools it no wonder hair gets dirty quickly.
Hope this was helpful,
Ash x
