How To Make Your Hair Soft And Silky Fast

You know silky pilus when you see it: shiny, healthy, and costless of tangles. Simply if you, like me, put your hair through the ringer, styling it with hot tools, using tons of product, and coloring information technology regularly, silkiness seems just merely a dream. Luckily, with the right products, you and I both tin can improve the look and feel of our pilus in just a few weeks—especially since silky pilus relies on the health and condition of the cuticle (the outside layer), according to Steven Picciano, a national artist for Goldwell.

Getty Images

"The surface of your hair is kind of like shingles on a roof," he explains. "When all of those shingles [aka the cuticle layer] lay downwards and smooth from roots to ends, that's when your hair looks and feels polish and shiny—non knotty and tangled; information technology'southward too when it reflects the well-nigh light."

That said, if you're reading this because you deal with dullness and tangles daily/weekly/whenever, follow the eight tips below to transform your strands and restore your natural shine.

1. Be mindful when shampooing.

When shampooing, the trend is to pile your hair on height of your head, and wash the unabridged length of your strands. This technique not just creates tangles, only also dries out the ends of the hair, which already lack moisture—specially of those with curly hair.

"With naturally straight hair, oil from the scalp can become from roots to ends very quickly considering gravity will pull it downwards," Picciano says. "Simply with curly hair, the oil has to travel around the coiled shaft, so the oil doesn't get at that place every bit apace."

What this means is that people with curly hair don't need to shampoo their hair every bit ofttimes. And, when it is time to wash, consider swapping out your regs shampoo with a cleansing conditioner to keep from stripping your hair of its necessary natural oils.

two. Rummage when wet, brush when dry.

The Wet Brush Original Detangler

dermstore.com

Picciano says most people are non frail plenty when brushing, which can prevent your pilus from looking its best.

"If you're raking through moisture hair with a paddle brush, that detangling noise that you're used to hearing is actually the sound of your hair ripping. Instead of smoothing the cuticle, this activity is causing damage to the outside layer."

A gentler mode to detangle hair? Using a comb when information technology's wet (or a brush designed for utilize on moisture hair), and only using a castor when your hair is dry. Work through the knots and tangles past starting at the ends before moving to the middle and roots, rather than working from roots to ends, which could worsen the problem.

three. Use a T-shirt to dry your hair instead of a towel.

Somewhere along the way, we wrongly learned to "rough dry" pilus by rubbing a towel back and along against information technology. This action creates friction, which fluffs up the cuticle. And when the cuticles are fluffed upwards, they catch on one another, cause knots and breakage, and upshot in frizz.

"The number one key to having smooth pilus is no friction," Picciano says. "When someone's pilus gets super tangly, it's usually considering the cuticle is open. The tighter the cuticle, the more resistant it is to opening, and the smoother the pilus is overall."

So, switch out your fluffy friction-causing towel for a smoother cotton fiber T-shirt. And instead of rubbing your caput, wrap the ends in the shirt and squeeze all the h2o out, working it down to the ends.

iv. Slumber on silk pillowcases.

If you're currently using a cotton fiber pillowcase, that very well might be the cause of your frizzy or tangled hair. Makes sense if you think about it: a silky smooth pillowcase leads to silky smooth strands. C otton absorbs all the wet from your strands, while silk or satin maintains the oils necessary for nourished hair.

5. Ever finish accident drying with a blast of cold air.

It sounds like a time-sucking extra footstep, but Picciano argues that finishing a blow out with cold air later the hair is dry is key for non only locking in the amount of volume, direction of your style, and movement of your hair, information technology also helps close the cuticle.

"M ake certain to ever use a nozzle or concentrator," he says. "It makes sure the management of the air goes from roots to ends, closing the cuticle rather than roughing it up," he says. Use your hand like rake to comb your pilus. "Simply put your fingers into your pilus with them open, gently close them, and then slide them down the hair shaft to squeegee that cuticle closed, followed by a common cold shot of air to seal it."

6. Contain salubrious fats into your diet.

"Calorie-free reflection and smoothness is all well-nigh wet and having the proper lipids," Picciano says. "It'due south harder to have beautiful, shiny, cogitating oils in your hair if you don't have whatever oils in your diet. That's why eating healthy fats, like basics, avocados, and salmon, is important—it volition help keep your lipids higher. Even an Omega-3 supplement is great for that."

Picciano also stresses the importance of hydration and drinking lots of h2o each and every day.

"I know it sounds so obvious, but if your skin is dry, your pilus volition exist as well," he adds. "If your interior torso is dry, at that place won't be any water to feed your cells. It's all about being hydrated and having a balanced lipid diet."

7. Add baking soda to a clarifying shampoo.

R+Co Oblivion Clarifying Shampoo

Water with heavy metals or minerals tin not only wreck havoc on your expensive color, but also dry out your strands and cause dullness—aka the reverse of silkiness. If the area you live in has hard water, try an at-home remedy, like adding a niggling bit of blistering soda to your clarifying shampoo one time a week (or every other calendar week for those with color-treated pilus).

"Baking soda increases the level of surfactants, giving you a piffling scrap more than scrub," Picciano says. "It'll also open up the cuticle a little more, helping to remove more than buildup. If you have color-treated pilus, this should happen in one case every other week; another solution is to purchase a filter for your shower head."

eight. Look for products with hydrolyzed keratin.

When shopping for your haircare, search the label for an ingredient called hydrolyzed keratin, which Picciano says is the best ingredient for achieving silky hair. Keratin (a structural protein) is necessary for restoring strength in damaged hair and hydrolyzed means it'southward in a smaller liquid form so it can penetrate and piece of work on the interior of the hair. Picciano suggests trying the Kerasilk line (bachelor at salons that bear Goldwell), which has products that contain keratin, bodily silk proteins, and skincare-quality ingredients for ultimate smoothness.

Brooke Shunatona Brooke Shunatona is a contributing writer for Cosmopolitan.com.