Solutions for Dry Hair

Do you swim, spend time in the sun, heat your home in the winter, or sweat? Do you get your hair colored, curled, straightened, highlighted, or chemically treated? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may suffer from dry, brittle, unruly hair. Try these remedies to add life and shine to dry hair.



Dry hair is caused by a lack of moisture and humectants, which leaves hair dull, rough, and riddled with split ends. But the solutions for dry hair are easy. Try these remedies to add life and shine to dry hair.

• Get a haircut. Go short if you can so that new, healthier hair can replace dry hair.
• Be careful when your hair is wet. Wet hair breaks easily, and this damage can make your dry hair even more difficult to treat.
• Avoid thin-toothed combs, as these will tear your hair. Use a wide-toothed comb to detangle wet hair. The wide teeth will prevent the hair from being pulled too hard.
• Brush your hair with only a soft-bristled hairbrush. Baby brushes work the best, as they distribute the natural oils from your scalp throughout the hair follicles. This helps coat dry hair, making it look silkier and shinier.
• Wash your hair less often, not more. Shampooing every day makes dry hair drier, since it can irritate your scalp and wash away the natural oils in your hair that help combat dryness.
• Make sure your shampoo contains extra proteins and humectants to repair and enrich dry hair. Use a mild, acidic shampoo that’s formulated for dry hair and contains ingredients like zinc pyrithione, selenium sulfide, or coal tar.
• Condition after every shampoo, and don’t overrinse. A little leftover conditioner helps dry hair shine and be more manageable.
• Use a heat-activated moisturizing conditioner or over-the-counter oil treatment once a week. Apply generously to your hair and cover your head with a plastic cap. Sit under a hair dryer for 20 minutes or more, since the heat locks in the deep conditioner so that it penetrates the hair.
• Avoid hair dryers and hot irons. Hair dryers and curling or straightening irons fry the hair, especially when set to high heat. Try rollers instead, or if you must, use a hair dryer on the coolest setting.
• Reduce or eliminate your use of hairspray, mousse, hair gels, and chemical styling creams. They all make dry hair drier.
• Use coconut oil to repair dry, brittle hair. After washing your hair, spread coconut oil on the ends of your hair and do not rinse out.
• Rub a few drops of safflower oil into dry hair and leave in for extra moisture.
• Massage warm olive oil through dry hair, wrap hair in plastic, and leave in for 30 minutes. Then wash out with a shampoo especially formulated for dry hair.
• Visit your salon for a professional dry hair treatment.

With some smart strategies and a little tender care, dry hair can be managed and made to look softer and silkier while healthy hair grows in.