Hair Preventive Care
Updated November 24, 2007
Nutrition
I hate to tell you this, but your hair is dead. It's made of dead cells. Various vitamins and minerals can have a beneficial effect when applied topically for various reasons, but putting a vitamin mixture on your hair won't make it "healthier" because you can't make dead things healthy. If you want nutrition for your hair, you need to eat a nutritious diet. Focus especially on essential fatty acids (flaxseed oils, olive oil, seeds, and nuts), antioxidants (Vitamins C and E and beta-carotene), protein, and water.
Avoiding Hair Damage
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Trim your hair every 4 to 6 weeks. You only need to trim your hair 1/2 to 1 inch.
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Never dye or perm your hair with a product that contains ammonia.
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Wash your hair after being in chlorinated water.
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Put a water filter on your shower water line to remove chlorine from your tap water.
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Never brush wet hair. Always use a wide-toothed comb, and make sure that your hair is conditioned enough to keep tangles from forming.
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Air dry your hair instead of blow drying it. If you do blow dry, use the coolest setting possible.
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Be gentle when you brush your hair. Never brush backwards or tease it. Always brush in the direction from scalp to ends (downward).
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For medium or long hair, always brush or comb the ends of your hair first. Then brush the bottom quarter of your hair, then the bottom half, and continue brushing downward section by section until finally you can brush from scalp to ends without any snags or tangles.
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Use curlers instead of curling irons. Even hot rollers don't require as much heat as a curling iron, but cool rollers are better.
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If you're going to be out in the sun, apply a sunscreen designed for hair, or you can wear a hat (which is probably would you should do anyhow to keep those UV rays off your face as well).
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