Healthy Hair - On a Budget !

Hi there, beautiful !

We all know that feeling of panic when we notice that we’ve suddenly gotten a lot more split ends, or that our hair has become super dry and frizzy, right ? Realising that your hair isn’t as healthy as it once was is always going to come as a nasty surprise – it’s happened to all of us !

I know that I used to take the health of my hair for granted, especially when I was younger. I would blow-dry and straighten my hair daily (without any form of heat defence – eek !), yet I would always be unpleasantly surprised when split ends started to creep up on me. A few years ago, I decided to grow my hair out – I’ve always wanted super long hair ! – but before I could even think about growing it, I had to get a pretty decent chunk cut off of it to get rid of all my split ends and dead hair. Naturally, I was devastated – that was definitely my wake-up call to start taking better care of my hair ! 

Trust me, I know that when you first notice that your hair no longer looks its best, it’s natural to want to run out to the store and grab a tonne of pricey products that promise to solve all of your hair woes – but in reality, there’s no need to spend a fortune on fancy hair products. By simply making a few changes to how you care for your hair, you can maintain your lovely locks – on a budget !

Step 1: Off with the ends !

Okay, I know how much you ladies hate hearing those words – especially if you’re trying to grow your hair out ! – but honestly, the only real way to achieve healthy hair is to begin by getting rid of the dead, split ends. No number of fancy creams or serums can bring dead hair back to life ! Trust me, I found it super hard to come to terms with that too ! You should aim to get your hair trimmed around every 6-8 weeks, that way you’ll nip any split ends in the bud, before they start to get any worse ! 

Step 2: Washing.

It’s important that you try to be super gentle with your hair, especially when you’re washing it. When you’re washing your hair, it’s okay to use warm/hot water to start with – warm water helps to lather up your shampoo, and it rinses away dirt and oil ! However, when you’re rinsing your shampoo and conditioner from your hair, try to use cool or even cold water – cold water helps to seal in your hair’s moisture and leave it looking sleek and shiny ! After I’ve rinsed my hair, I like to dip the ends into a jug of cold water for a few minutes – this leaves my hair feeling strong and healthy !

As well as being more careful whilst washing your hair, you should try not to wash your hair everyday – I know exactly how difficult this can be, especially if your hair gets oily quickly, but washing your hair everyday can lead to washing out all its natural oils (which are essential for healthy hair !), leaving your hair feeling dry and brittle. However, not to fear – dry shampoo to the rescue ! Dry shampoo really is a life-saver for me – since I discovered how great dry shampoo is, I only need to wash my hair every other day, which saves me a whole lot of time and effort ! My favourite dry shampoo is ‘Batiste’, which you can buy from any drug store.

Step 3: Drying.

Okay, let’s face it – we’re all guilty of being a little too rough with our hair at times, especially whilst trying to brush out the tangles after washing ! However, when your hair is wet, it’s in its most vulnerable state – it’s much easier to damage your hair when it’s wet than when it’s dry !

To begin drying your hair, gently pat the lengths of it with a towel – don’t rub ! Rubbing is much too rough for weak, wet hair and can cause damage easily. Also, try to be super careful whilst brushing your wet hair. Don’t pull or tug at any tangles – this’ll only break and tear your hair ! You can use a brush specially designed for wet hair, such as the Tangle Teezer, or you can use a wide-toothed comb, which you can buy pretty cheaply at any drug store.

If you can leave your hair to dry naturally, great ! Avoiding heat styling is a great way to get healthier hair. If you want to blow dry your hair, be sure to use your hairdryer on a cool setting – not only is this less damaging for hair, but the cool air also leaves your hair looking shiny and moisturised ! 

Step 4: Treat your hair !

There are a whole lot of different ways that you can indulge your hair, so I’m just going to share my three favourite ways with you guys !

My favourite way to treat my hair and give it some much needed moisture is by deep conditioning -  I like to do this around once a week, and I usually leave the product on for around 30 minutes to 1 hour. I know that it’s laborious and time-consuming, but the results are definitely worth the effort ! Deep conditioning won’t repair damaged or dead hair, but it strengthens your hair and helps to protect it from future damage.

I also like to use a leave in conditioner on my hair a few times a week. I apply this to the ends of my hair after washing, and then simply blow dry. This leaves my hair feeling soft, silky and hydrated – and much more manageable !

Another way that I like to treat my hair is by using heat styling products as little as possible. I guess this has been more of a long-term change for me than a one-off hair treat, but I have definitely seen the difference in the condition of my hair. When I was younger, I used to blow dry and straighten my curly hair on a daily basis, which was very damaging. Nowadays, I only straighten my hair if I’m heading out somewhere special. The rest of the time, I use the cool setting on my hairdryer to blow dry my hair so that it’ll be relatively straight (and not super curly !), which I do every other day, after I have washed my hair. 

Step 5: Go easy on the products !

As I mentioned before, there’s no need to rush out and buy an array of fancy treatments to ‘fix’ your damaged hair – all you need are a few carefully selected products and you’ll be good to go ! Using too many styling products can actually ‘clog’ your hair up with product, making it feel dryer.

Right now, I’m only using three different styling products on my hair – I’m using the Tresemme Platinum Strength leave in conditioner, which I purchased from Superdrug. It usually costs around £5.99, but right now you can buy it for only £2.95 in the Superdrug sale! You can check out this offer offer here.  I’m also using the Tresemme Restructuring Deep Conditioning Treatment Masque (quite a title !). This usually costs around £4.99, but it’s currently only £2.45 in the sale ! You can check out this offer here.  The final product that I’m using is the Dove Heat Defence Mist. I bought this from Boots for only £1.34 and I have totally fallen in love with it ! Not only is it fantastically cheap, but it does a great job of protecting my hair from heat damage, and it lasts for months!

Don’t feel like you have to spend a fortune or fancy shampoos, either. We’d all love to own high-end, salon quality shampoos, but personally, I just can’t justify that much money on something that I’m going to use up in no time at all – and I know that a lot of you guys will be in the same boat ! In reality, as long as you pick a shampoo that’s suited to your hair type, it’ll clean and nourish your hair perfectly well ! Right now I’m using the Herbal Essences Uplifting Volume shampoo. I have fairly fine hair, and it does a great job of giving my hair a volume boost, whilst leaving it feeling weightless – it smells fab too !

So, there you have it ! I hope that you didn’t find this post too long or boring, but I wanted to include as much detailed information as I could to help you guys out ! Be sure to let me know what you thought of this post, I’d love to hear your opinions !

What are you favourite hair care tips ? Let me know !

See you all next time !

Much love,