Want Better Hair?

Five Quick Fixes For Hair Problems

Want healthier, shinier and more manageable hair without a lot of extra expense and time?

Here's 5 easy tips to better hair:

First, improve your shampoo; next, cool it; keep your distance from the dryer, check your tools and re-consider your conditioner.

You may be surprised to find shampooing: using the right product, the right timing and the right technique, can make a big improvement in your hair's health and looks.

We'll save product reviews for another article but suffice it to say that the better the shampoo the better the result.

As for timing, the longer between shampoos the better (within reason). Two or three days is best, unless you're a surfer or a gym rat. If you've got to shampoo daily, consider a short style since long ends suffer the most damage. The break between shampoos allows your natural oils to nourish and protect your hair.

When you do shampoo, be sure to: 1) Brush your (dry) hair and scalp thoroughly before you get in the shower. This will loosen oil and dead skin cells that can clog your hairs'. 2) Apply your shampoo to the crown, where oil glands are abundant, first. Then work the lather out to the ends but focus on your roots because that's where most of the body-deflating buildup lurkes.

• Cool it with your hair

Heat opens the hair strand's cuticle, and cold seals it leaving a smooth and shiny surface. Closing the follicles will lock in moisture, so your hair won't suffer as much from frizzies and fly-a-way strands. Rinse your conditioner out with cold water (as cold as you can stand). Then, as you finish blow-drying each section, use the cool switch and blast with cool air for a couple seconds.

• Keep your distance from the dryer

Hold your blow-dryer about a foot from your head and keep it moving over your hair to protect it from high heat. If possible, let your hair dry naturally and just use the drier to finish it off. With fine or already damaged hair, always use the dryer's lowest heat level or attach a diffuser to the end to offset the heat, minimizing harm and keeping hair healthy, shiny and strong.

• Tools can help or hurt your hair

Daily styling with the wrong tools can cause breakage and frizzies. Dump plastic brushes with broken tips since they rough up hair and can scratch your scalp. Metal brushes conduct too much heat when blow-drying, replace them with ceramics or use a boar-bristle brush. Natural bristle brushes heighten shine by redistributing natural oils from the scalp to the dry tips.

Other tools to ditch: hair pins missing the rubber tips, fine-tooth combs, and ponytail holders with metal bindings that can snag and rip your hair. Invest in a few new hair pins and clips, wide-tooth combs with round tips and cloth-covered elastic bands.

• Re-Consider your conditioner

You're going to have to go beyond the weekly mask. Since the moisturizing effects of a mask wear off, your hair is susceptible to dryness between treatments. Add a leave-in conditioner after each shampoo to help your hair retain moisture. For normal or fine hair, use a leave-in instead of a regular conditioner; for coarse or curly hair, apply it after your regular conditioner. Concentrate the leave-in on the lower half of your hair which needs more nourishment.

Give these tips a try and see if you don't have healthier, shinier, more manageable hair soon.