No matter your hair type, healthy hair is the ultimate goal. But thanks to colours, sun damage, and our love for heat tools, hair damage, dryness, frizz, and breakage can often stand in the way.
To help make the journey to healthy hair that little bit easier, we’ve got all the products, tips, and ingredients you need to establish new habits that achieve the best hair results. From hair vitamins and supplements to reparative formulas and silk pillowcases, these are all the healthy hair habits you need in your life.
1) Reduce Heat Damage
Perhaps the biggest contributor to hair damage, dryness, breakage, and frizz is hair that’s frazzled by heat tools. While we all love a mermaid wave, beachy curl, or poker-straight look, our hair doesn’t love the heat.
While breaking up with heat styling altogether is the best option for reducing heat damage, if that’s not an option for you, there are still some routes you can go down. Investing in a heat protection spray is the best place to start and commit to using it every single time you use heat on your hair. We mean it — you’ll thank us later. Here are our faves.
2) Drop The Daily Wash
Your hair-wash routine is usually a fine balancing act. Too long, and your hair can look greasy, lifeless, and flat. Too often, and you can dry out your hair and scalp, leaving it prone to dryness, frizz, and irritation. If you ask us, we wouldn’t advise washing it every day.
But how do you extend the timeframe between washes? Well, there are multiple options. Dry shampoo is a tried and tested choice by many. Sleeping in a silk cap can stop your hair from going greasy quickly. Or, you could invest in a styling gel for a slick-back bun look that no one would ever know is hiding greasy hair. Fake it ’til you make it, right?
3) Invest In A Silk Pillowcase
Whilst we’re on the topic of making our fresh hair last for longer, we’ll tell you about our next healthy hair habit. Trust us when we tell you that investing in a silk pillowcase will change your hair routine for the better.
Silk fibres are much softer on the hair, reducing frizz, making hair styles and curls last for longer, and stopping hair from getting greasy as quickly. The same principle applies to your skin too, so the ultra-softness of a silk pillowcase won’t only improve your hair, but leave you with glowing skin too.
4) Don't Skip Scalp Care
When it comes to healthy hair habits, people often make the mistake of focusing on the hair and forgetting about something that’s just as important to overall hair health — your scalp. A clean, hydrated, clear scalp is the gateway to healthy hair.
To improve scalp health, exfoliating products help to clear any debris, oils, and dead skin cells, leave-in conditioners will hydrate, and hair serums style as they treat. You’ll also want to invest in a scalp massager to boost blood flow to the scalp, encouraging new hair growth with a glossy finish.
5) Make Hair Masks Your Best Friend
The humble hair mask has been a staple in our routines since day dot. The ultimate healthy hair habit, hair masks infuse our hair with key ingredients, reduce damage, calm frizz, and minimise dryness. What’s not to love?
With a formula for every hair type, texture, concern, and shape, you’re sure to find the perfect solution for you. Smooth on at the end of a luxurious shower routine, use as a styling product to hold your hair into place, or if you’re feeling extra, leave the conditioner in overnight for next-level results.
6) Focus On These Key Ingredients
While there aren’t any ingredients that are necessarily ‘bad’ for your hair, there are some key ingredients you should include in your routine for your best hair yet. Whether you find them in your hair mask, conditioner, oil, or supplements, as long as they’re in your routine, you’re sure to see the results.
Biotin is the ultimate hair hero that helps strengthen and encourage growth. Jamaican black castor oil is a go-to for curly, coily, and afro hair types. And, if you’ve been in a TikTok beauty rabbit hole, you’re likely to have stumbled across the transformative benefits of rosemary oil for hair growth. Want great hair? Haul them all.
7) Your Hair Needs Sun Protection Too
By now, we’re well versed in why SPF is so important for our skin. But did you know it’s just as important for your hair, too? UV rays from the sun can lead to dry hair, frizz, split ends, colour fading, and scalp dryness. Not cute.
Luckily for you, making UV protection a hair habit will help you combat all of the above, while adding extra styling benefits along the way. The best styling products have UV protection built-in, so you can soften, smooth, and curl your way to great hair, without worrying about sun damage.
8) Investing In Haircare That's Right For You
It might be tempting to buy every product you come across on TikTok, but not all haircare is created equal. What works for coily and curly hair types won’t necessarily be the right formula for those with fine, straight hair. Different hair textures and styles have different needs, so if you want to get your healthiest hair yet, it’s about investing in what your hair needs and not just what’s trending.
Coily and afro hair types need a lot of moisture, curling creams, and leave-in treatments. Curly hair might need creams and styling products to enhance curl patterns and reduce frizz. Straight hair might need a volumising or cleansing product to reduce limp, lifeless hair. The list goes on. Identify your hair type, write your shopping list, haul it, and your healthy hair journey will begin.
9) Repair Breakage
Hair breakage is one of the biggest barriers to healthy hair. Whether it’s damage from heat tools, the sun, colouring, or bleaching, just because your hair’s not in great shape, doesn’t mean that it can’t be repaired.
Introducing reparative formulas into your hair routine is one of the best habits you can start for healthy hair that’s free from breakage, snapping, frizz, or split ends. We’ve all heard of Olaplex and there are lots of other formulas out there that can restore bonds, hydrate, and soften your hair so it feels the best it’s ever felt.
10) Vitamins and Supplements
Truly healthy hair starts from within, so introducing vitamins and supplements that specifically encourage healthy hair is a habit that will reap the rewards. Hair supplements boost your vitamin levels to encourage long, healthy, and strong hair, while also providing many other health benefits.
There are hair gummies for the sweet tooths out there and full complex vitamin tablets for your daily dose. If you want to find the best supplements to add to your routine to cement your new habit, check out this article here.