Beauty Basics - Eight Tips For Naturally Beautiful Hair

by Ololade Franklin

Looking for a more natural approach to hair care? Here are some tips to help your hair look and feel its best.

1. Avoid shampoos that contain sodium laurel sulfate, or sodium laureth sulfate. These chemicals are synthetic detergents that are used in dishwashing liquid and other cleansers. They are valued because they lather well, but they are very harsh, and can dry out your hair. Instead, look for shampoos made with decyl glucose, or decyl glucoside, which are much gentler.

2. Give yourself a hot oil treatment to deep condition your hair. Warm oil penetrates the hair shaft making the hair more flexible and giving it shine. This can also help to prevent split ends which result from dry hair.

3. Eat right and consider taking vitamin and mineral supplements to encourage healthy hair. Several vitamins and minerals have been shown to help hair growth and condition including biotin, vitamin E, vitamin B, vitamin C and MSM.

4. If you are an African American, or if you have extra curly hair, avoid brushing your hair. Use a wide toothed comb, or your fingers to work with your hair. Brushes can destroy African American or extra curly hair by shearing it out of the scalp.

5. Look for essential oils, herbs and vegetable oils in your hair care products. Essential oils such as rosemary, ylang-ylang and west Indian bay help to stimulate hair growth. Lavender and tea tree are naturally antiseptic and help to fight dandruff. Vegetable oils such as soybean oil, safflower oil and corn oil are moisturizing and conditioning to the hair shaft.

6. Avoid sleeping in hair accessories such as barrettes, scrunchies, head bands, etc. This can lead to hair damage.

7. Massage your scalp to help stimulate hair growth. Massaging helps stimulate hair growth by increasing the blood flow to the scalp. This nourishes the hair roots and helps to stimulate the hair growth process.

8. If your hair ends are damaged, give yourself a trim every so often to remove damage.