It sometimes seems that once your hair is damaged, your only option is to cut it short and start over. Thankfully, this isn’t the case. There are plenty of natural and effective DIY hair treatments that you can try, no matter how dry and damaged your hair might be.
Fortify Your Dry and Damaged Hair with Easy DIY Hair Treatments
Using household ingredients and easy, gentle-care methods, you will fortify your hair now and equip yourself with a handy pocket full of DIY treatments for keeping your hair from getting damaged again.
1. Make Homemade Hair Masks
For extremely dry and damaged hair, a rich hair mask done regularly can get you back on the road to healthy hair. Here are some of the best hair treatment masks:
- Natural oil masks: Simply use coconut, olive, jojoba, avocado, or argan oil and apply until your hair is thoroughly covered. Cover your hair with a shower cap and a warm towel and let the oil soak into your hair for at least 30 minutes. You can then rinse and shampoo.
- Food remedies: Similar to an oil mask, you can use nutrient-rich foods from your kitchen to strengthen your damaged hair. You can try mashed avocado, whisked eggs, or soft butter, rubbed into your hair using the same process as you would with an oil mask.
2. Use Natural Rinses
There are various types of rinses that you can use, some to restore health and balance to your hair and others to keep it strengthened once repaired. Try this favorite to restore your hair:
- Apple cider vinegar rinse: The acidity of apple cider vinegar seals hair cuticles--even heavily damaged ones. Simply dilute 1 tablespoon vinegar with about half a cup of water and pour over your hair. You may have to play with the ratios to find the right amount of acidity for your hair. Rinse with water after the vinegar has had a chance to soak into your hair thoroughly.
Try these to keep strength and shine once hair is restored:
- Tea rinse: Tea rinses have been credited with preventing breakage, and if you have dark hair, black teas can be used for a color bonus. Use something lighter, like green tea or chamomile, for light hair. Whichever tea you choose, brew it strong and then let it cool to room temperature before pouring over your hair. Finish by rinsing with water.
- Water rinses pre and post-swimming: To keep your hair strong even when swimming in chlorinated pools, rinse with water before and after your swim.
3. Understand Gentle Care
Understanding gentle care strategies may seem more preventive than corrective, but in combination with other DIY remedies, it is in fact a very important way to bring your hair back to health. Keep the following gentle care guidelines in mind when treating damaged hair:
- Brush carefully. Brushing your hair too often can cause damaged hair to split and break even further. Try to keep it to one time per day. When you do brush, make sure to brush from the ends to the top of your hair to keep tangles from causing even more breakage.
- Style carefully. Avoid tight ponytails and high-heat styling. If you’re going to use heat on your hair, make sure to protect from the heat. Also try to avoid sleeping with wet hair or styling your hair while it’s wet--that’s when it’s the most vulnerable.
4. Know Your Environment
Just like you know your own hair type, you have to know what type of environment you live in and adjust your hair treatment strategy accordingly. For example, if you have dry, damaged hair and you live in an extremely dry environment, you might want to buy a humidifier for your home to put more moisture in the air.
5. Practice Healthy Hair Habits
Remember to keep best practices in mind when fortifying damaged hair:
- Get all of your nutrients. Eat a balanced diet that includes hair-healthy foods and the right supplements. Make sure to exercise, too.
- Get regular trims. Even if you are growing your hair out, regular trims get rid of damaged ends and keep them from taking over.
With the right combination of the above DIY hair treatments, and if done consistently, your damaged and dry hair will be healthier than ever. If you keep these treatments up after you’ve gotten your hair’s strength back, your hair never has to get that damaged again.