Beauty: Easy Tips For Caring For Red Hair
Rare and often coarse, red hair goes through the motions. It’s delicate and needs extra care than other hair shades, so how can we keep it in tip top condition and looking its best?
Shampoo your hair less
The simple act of shampooing your hair is drying, particularly if you use hair products that contain harsh chemicals. And seeing as red hair is naturally coarse and fragile, we need to treat it with extra care.
It’s true that you can train your hair to get used to being washed less frequently, so start off by using shampoo every other wash, and instead rinsing and conditioning your hair on your off days.
Use all-natural hair products
Reading the ingredients on your shampoo bottle is vital: products with sulphates and chemical nasties are terrible for your hair, particularly red hair due to its fragility.
Instead, opt for gentler products that don’t contain SLS, parabens or gluten – and you’re well away (these exist already, by the way – phew!).
Henna yourself
While natural redheads may not wish to go all out and use natural henna to dye their hair, smaller amounts of henna is an age-old method of enhancing reddish tones, too.
Grab some henna-rific hair products for redheads from Gingerful (suitable for both natural and dyed red hair) that contain enough henna to boost ginger shades, but without permanently dyeing it.
Conditioner is your best friend
While other hair shades may condition their locks less frequently, conditioner is more important for gingers to help to counter the coarseness of red hair.
Invest in a high quality, moisture-rich conditioner to keep the frizz at bay, and use a deep conditioner or hair mask once a week, too. A leave-in conditioner is also a great way to keep your hair shining and bright between washes.
Use a hair gloss product
We all strive for beautiful, shiny, healthy-looking hair, but if the hair cuticle becomes damaged (usually from pollution and heat and UV exposure), the cells don’t lay flat, preventing the light from reflecting efficiently, resulting in dull-looking hair.
Opting for a clear gloss every 4-6 weeks will make your red hair squeal with joy and shine.
Read our list of Top 10 Gloss Treatments For Red Hair
Regular hair cuts
Visiting your hair stylist every 6 weeks is one of the obvious (yet often ignored) ways to keep your ginger mane looking neat, tidy and healthy.
Having your hair trimmed semi-frequently is also said to encourage hair growth, too!
Protect your red hair from the sun
Not that we’re encouraging UV exposure for redheads, but when you do step into the harsh sunlight, aside from being lathered in sunscreen from head to toe, don’t neglect your ginger hair!
Hats and sun protect hair spray are your saviours.
By Emma