How I Keep My Hair Long & Healthy

My hair has to be one of my most complimented features (my skin is a close second and y'all must be blind to be saying it is flawless haha) on Instagram and blog photos. Which is why, I decided to dedicate an entire post to it and in it give a few tips on how I keep it clean, healthy and protected. Back in 2015, I wrote about my favourite haircare products at the time and whilst the principles still stand, I am doing a few things differently and I believe these changes to have made a massive difference. Today I am much more focused on my internal well-being rather than on the products and something I learned recently is that whilst using the wrong products can result in hair damage and loss, the trick to truly healthy hair has more to do with what goes into your body than styling products and hours spent in front of a mirror. Hair loss, dullness, and slow growth often comes from the absence of nutrients in your body or bad habits. After a bit of research on my end, here are some tips I found if you're looking to keep your hair long and healthy like I am.

Plunging Olive Jumper*: Shein (here)

WASH YOUR HAIR LESS FREQUENTLY

I have come a long way with this one; I used to wash my hair every single day, despite hearing from hairdressers how unhealthy that was. Washing hair every day strips all natural oils from it and these are the oils that make it naturally shiny, promote hair growth, and prevent the ends from breaking. Like I said, I am still on a journey to change a bad habit and currently, I wash my hair around 4 days a week as I go to the gym often and I cannot feel clean unless I've done so. When I do wash my hair I like going for an anti dandruff shampoo to remove all sebum, dirt and itchiness, as well as prolong that clean hair feeling I love.

BIOTIN 

Biotin aka vitamin H, is of the B complex vitamins that help maintain your skin, hair, eyes, liver and nervous system healthy. Biotin deficiencies are rare but people with a deficiency often show symptoms of hair loss. Biotin can be obtained by eating a healthy diet; eggs, liver, nuts, cereals, bananas, mushrooms, salmon and even avocado are all excellent sources of this nutrient. 

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS

When people ask me what I do to make my hair grow so quickly after a haircut, I believe I have my fish oil supplements to thank. The high level of omega3 fatty acids found in fish oil help keep a lot of health conditions at bay, and also controls the body's functions to generate hair growth. Not only will fish oils protect you from colds and the flu in the winter season, this guarantees proper functioning of the body and consequently stimulates healthy skin and hair. This is found in salmon, mackerel and herring and you should aim to eat oily fish around three times a week.

VITAMIN D

Vitamin D keeps the bones and skin healthy, and in recent years, it's also been linked to hair growth. Hair follicles are sensitive to hormones, and vitamin D is a hormone that plays a vital part in cell growth. Direct sun contact is the best way to absorb vitamin D, but if you live in the UK you will know sunshine is pretty much non-existent for most of the year. By sitting in the sun for roughly 10–15 minutes you can absorb about 10,000 units of natural vitamin D, but supplements are also available. To raise your vitamin D levels with food sources, eat vitamin D-rich foods like mackerel, salmon, whitefish, swordfish, and mushrooms.

TRIM HAIR

If, like me you wish to maintain your hair length and your hair is collar bone or longer, a trim every 6-8 weeks is advisable. Given my hair is incredibly prone to split ends due to the use of styling tools and chemical treatments, trimming it every eight weeks help keep my hair healthy and also prevent further split ends. I've learned the hard way that the longer I postpone a haircut the more length I have to lose given how badly damaged it is. So, excuse me whilst I go book a salon appointment right now. 

What your tips for healthy hair? I'd love to learn more so let me know below!

Thanks for reading beauties and wishing us a good week ahead!

xoxo

*Sponsored post & contains PR samples.  All opinions are my own (disclaimer here).