How to intensify hair shine? Basic care and DIY ideas

Rough and matte hair looks neither healthy nor attractive. We associate shiny strands with good health and vitality therefore women care for boosting hair gloss. However, no matter the effort put in rescuing hair, it… doesn’t want to shine! Improper care, mismatched cosmetics or protein overload delivered to strands is all it takes to make the hair matte and deprived of gloss. Luckily, there are a few good solutions to adopt and several homemade remedies that can restore this lost beauty to strands. What are they in particular?

why-my-hair-is-matte.jpgWhy my hair is matte?

This is a question many women keep asking themselves. Shine lost, in most cases, is the consequence of delivering improper care, having bad eating habits or seasonal hair weakening. For example, during winter hair is hidden under a hat, in summer it’s getting dehydrated by the sun. Also, we frequently apply too heavy cosmetics that overburden hair and leave thick layers on its surface. Some medications, stress and cigarette smoking also ‘steal’ shine from hair and simply make strands weaker.

How to add shine to hair? Homemade ways for glossy hair

  1. Oil hair treatment – the best way for rapid hair looks and condition boost. Natural oils penetrate hair and fix its damaged texture. At the same time, they stay on each hair shaft separately creating a kind of a microscopic protective layer that prevents further damages. This coat reflects light so hair starts shining subtly. It’s better to apply oils to wet hair, however, if hair is exceptionally weak and matte, it’s advised to apply a few drops to the hair ends. Owning to this practices, hair shine will be intensified.
  2. Vinegar hair wash – mix a half litre of preboiled and cooled down water with 2 spoons of apple vinegar. It’s enough to apply this kind of hair wash just once or twice a week. Also, you can use raspberry vinegar instead of apple vinegar. Basically, many drugstores offer raspberry hair wash so you don’t have to prepare it.
  3. Flaxseed – is a perfect remedy for matte and damaged hair. Flaxseed works as a natural and very delicate hair laminate. Measure a half of glass of flaxseed, cover it with preboiled, warm water and left it for a while. Wait until the seeds release a colourless gel. Mind you, the layer of water should slightly exceed the layer of seeds. After that, strain the mixture and apply the obtained gel to your hair; left for 20 minutes. It’s advised to carry out this procedure before hair washing because flaxseed gel has to be rinsed with the use of a delicate shampoo.
  4. Fresh, brewed and cooled down lime tree blossoms produce a dense liquid that is recognized for its hair glossing properties. Apply this hair wash as the last step of your regular hair cleansing routine.
  5. Egg yolk combined with paraffin is a good way of treating shine-deprived hair. Although paraffin doesn’t feature any nourishing properties and isn’t able to improve condition of strands, it can leave hair shiny. Apply paraffin mixed with egg yolk and wait 15-20 minutes. Rinse it with a shampoo precisely.

How to add shine to hair? Professional treatments to undergo at a hairdresser’s

1. Keratin treatment

Keratin is a natural building block of hair. Cuticles that are located on the external layer of hair are built from keratin which reinforces, thickens and protect hair against damages. Moreover, keratin intensifies shine and enhances flexibility of hair. Keratin treatment is designed for damaged strands that have been fatigued due to frequent styling procedures. This treatment fixes hair structure, reinforces, adds gloss and protects hair.

Keratin treatment consists of three stages:

  • first, a hairdresser wash hair with a special, highly-cleansing shampoo which, additionally, opens hair cuticles;
  • after that, keratin (in the form of conditioner) is applied to hair. Keratin has to be warmed up so as it can built itself into hair. For that reason hair has to be blow-dried and ironed;
  • the last stage is removing the residues of keratin that follows with application of a special mask that closes hair cuticles.

Note: Hair exposed to keratin treatment can’t be washed for 48 hours.

2. Hair laminating

First thing to mention, this technique delivers more durable effects than popular among bloggers gelatine hair laminating procedure carried out at home. The professional hair laminating treatment lasts approximately 60 minutes and its effects last up to 3 months. To nourish hair there are a special preparations used which contain a high concentration of vitamins and other substances that significantly improve hair looks. Another worth mentioning issue is that the professional preparations used a hairdresser’s salon contain water-insoluble fibrous proteins.

Hair laminating. How often can I apply it?

The effect this treatment delivers lasts really long therefore there is no need in boosting hair gloss frequently. Hair laminating procedure carried out at home should be reapplied once per 2-3 weeks, whereas if undergone at a hairdresser’s – once per 2-3 months. What’s important to realize, frequent application of gloss-delivering substances can cause over-proteinized strands. Unfortunately, this will deliver the adverse effect than intended.

The only exception in this case is oil hair treatment that can be applied even a few times a week.

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