Five ways to strengthen your hair and protect breakage-prone strands

Unless you can somehow say that you never touch your hair or expose it to the elements, we’d venture that you need to know how to protect your hair from damage. Whether you colour it, use heat on it or simply rake a brush through it daily, external factors can really take their toll on your precious strands, leading to dryness and even breakage.

So how can you protect them and keep them as soft and as healthy as possible? Here are five ways to help shield and strengthen your mane…

How to strengthen your hair and protect against damage

Use heat protection

Whether you simply rough dry your hair with a hair dryer or have an extensive styling regime, a form of heat protection is an absolute must to shield your hair from any heat related damage and keep it soft. We love ARKIVE The Prologue, £13 here, or TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Heat Protection Spray, £4.99 here.

A spray is the most common form, but these days many leave-in products like balms and oils also come with heat protection – which is usually mentioned on the product’s packaging. You can also buy protective sprays for when you’re out in the sun, often containing UV filters, as well as wearing a sunhat.

Apply treatments regularly

Using one of the best hair masks is a great way to restore and repair your hair once every week or so, whether you leave yours on while you soak in the bath or let it work its magic while you do housework.

Try something like Percy & Reed Give Me Strength Strengthening Hair Mask, which helps to revive dry and brittle hair in just 10 minutes with nourishing oils and proteins – you’ll find a travel size tube of this in the OK! Beauty Box.

The contents of this month’s Best of British edit are worth a whopping £105 in total, but new subscribers can pick up their first box for just £4.95 here with the code 67BEAUTYBOX, with boxes costing £15 per month thereafter. Considering that this mask alone is worth £9, this is a bargain if ever we did see one!

Invest in a silk pillowcase

Silk (or more affordable satin) pillowcases are great because they help to minimise friction on the hair while you sleep, helping to reduce mechanical damage inflicted on your strands as a result. As well as their hair benefits, some claim they also help to prevent fine lines and wrinkles (not to mention that they’re seriously soft!). Try something like Kitsch Satin Pillowcase, £15 here, or for a very luxe silk option Slip’s Silk Pillowcase, £85 here.

Sleep with your hair tied up

Sleeping with your hair secured in a loose bun is another way of reducing the friction on your hair while you sleep, by keeping the bulk of it lifted and all in one place. Like the pillowcase, a silk or satin scrunchie will be gentler on your strands here – try Invisibobble’s Sprunchies, £10 for two here.

Brush from the bottom up when detangling

Roughly brushing out any tangles or knots can cause a lot of strain on your hair, so it’s best to take the gentlest approach possible if you are detangling. Very gently starting from the ends and working your way up, rather than going from the roots to the tips, will help to reduce the tension and any potential breakage.

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