Heathy Hair Tips For Women Over 40
Believe it or not girls, among some of those other changes we can expect to experience in this decade, our hair can begin to lose its shine, its quality and very often it also becomes noticeably thinner. Perhaps you have noticed your part is becoming wider?
Never fear, there are lots of things you can do to improve the quality of your hair and here trained nurse and hair health writer Bambi Staveley, offers some healthy hair tips.
1. Look after your scalp
It makes sense that since your hair grows out of your scalp, having a healthy scalp is important for healthy hair, just like good soil for healthy plants. It can be difficult to detect an issue with your scalp health unless you’re experiencing discomfort, so ask your hairdresser about the condition of your scalp (they don’t mind!).
Scalp Saving Tips
- Know the difference between dry scalp and dandruff and treat accordingly.
- Give yourself scalp massages to encourage blood flow and exfoliation (especially after adding in your conditioner)
- Don’t wear your hair in tight hairstyles too often.
- Keep any visible scalp (including your part line) safe from the sun by applying sunscreen on a cotton bud, wearing a hat, or using chemical free scalp concealers like BOOSTnBLEND.
- Get regular blood tests so you can be informed should you be deficit in vital vitamins and minerals that can affect hair and scalp health
2. Protect your hair from heat
Heat and hair are not friends. Heat can dry your hair and scalp making it brittle and susceptible to breakage. When the weather is cooler, it’s tempting to have boiling hot showers and keep the hair dryer on a little more than strictly necessary, but try to resist. If you must engage in these winter habits, take extra care to nourish and moisturize your hair and scalp.
Hair & Heat Tips
- Make sure your showers are not too hot.
- Use a heat protective spray when using blow dryers, straightens, curling wands etc.
- Ensure you keep the hair dryer at least 20cm away from your head.
- Wear a hat in the sun, especially if you have fine or curly hair as these hair types are more susceptible to sun damage.
- Use a diffuser on your hair dryer so that you don’t aim too much concentrated heat on one area.
3. Condition, condition, condition!
Dry hair is definitely something to avoid at all costs, so make sure you condition adequately.
Conditioning Tips
- Use a treatment around once a week.
- Get a treatment at the hairdresser whenever you get something drying done e.g. dyes, perms etc.
- Towel dry your hair between shampoo and conditioner to aid in the absorption of your conditioner (you don’t put face cream on a wet face for the same reason)
- Don’t be afraid to massage your conditioner into your scalp
4. Minimize the use of chemicals
Over the years we’ve been conditioned to thinking that good quality supermarket shampoos and conditioners can actually be good for our hair. Unfortunately, if you’ve continued with that thinking past your fifties then it’s time to make a change.
Chemical Protection Tips
- Use chemical free hair products (read more). The chemical list on the average shampoo bottle is nothing short of scary!
- Use a clarifying shampoo around once a week to eliminate product build up. A good natural alternative is apple cider vinegar.
- Add a squirt of a good quality nourishing oil to your shampoo or your conditioner. (e.g. Carelli Recovery Oil or Argan oil)
- Apply a nourishing oil (e.g. Carelli Recovery Oil or Argan oil) to damp ends after washing.
- Rinse pool and sea water out of your hair as soon as possible, they both have a drying effect on hair.
Chemical free products don’t have to cost the earth. When used according to their directions (ie in very small amounts), a bottle of organic shampoo will last much longer than the supermarket alternatives.
5. Be kind to wet hair
Wet hair is vulnerable, it becomes stretchy and as a result, it can break.
Wet Hair Tips
- Always use a wide tooth comb on wet hair.
- When adding styling products be sure to comb them through with a wide tooth comb
- Save your plastic brushes for styling dry hair. If you use a brush and blow dryer together, ensure that you use a good quality soft brush
- Avoid rubbing wet hair dry. Use a microfiber hair towel wrap that soaks up the moisture and prevents the need to rub hair dry
6. Increase the volume of your hair
It sounds like a crazy statement – just simply make your hair thicker. But, believe it or not, it is absolutely possible. The most recent breakthrough in hair volume technology for women is cotton hair fibres. For those of us who are noticing thinner hair, hair fibres are a miracle! When applied to dry hair, hair fibres obscure the scalp, which is good for confidence as well as protection from the sun.
Hair Fiber Tips
- Choose a color closest to your root color and if you can’t decide, choose the darker option
- Style hair as usual, then shake in a fibre like BOOSTnBLEND
- Always blend in hair fibres with your fingers to ensure the fibres cling to the individual hair shaft
- Apply a light hair spray to hold your style in place
- Always make sure you are using a hair fibre product made from cotton. There are some hair fibres made primarily for men which claim to contain a “keratin protein”, but as we all know, it’s really a chemical concoction made to imitate protein. And worst case scenario, if it does actually contain protein, it will be derived from animals which require a whole host of chemical treatments to become fit for human use.
We don’t have to give in to aging and our hair doesn’t need to look our age. Take on board these simple tips and you can reverse the damage you may already have done, and younger looking hair has an amazing effect on confidence.
If all these tips are a bit overwhelming, try to introduce a new tip each week until they become habits, your hair will thank you!
Leave a comment