10 Tips for Healthy Hair | How To Get Healthy, Long Hair

10 Tips for Healthy Hair | How My Hair Transformed [Updated – Feb 2025]

Keeping my hair healthy is always a priority for me.

Ever since I started to grow out my hair, I’ve been obsessed with looking after my locks. 

I’ve been through some journey with my hair and I recently spoke about it in my post My Hair Journey.

In the post I talked about everything from getting my hair cut short to over processing it.

So, I won’t go into much of that here, but if you want to see my hair transformation and how much of a difference there is, you can check out that post.

Today I will be focusing on my favourite hair care tips that I SWEAR by! These tips for healthy hair have been a game changed for me.

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With these tips I went from this hair:

To this hair:

My Hair Transformation

Because keeping my hair in good condition has been a top priority, I’ve done countless hours of research on how to get long, healthy hair.

Plus, I studied hair dressing for a year which helped me understand the basics of good hair care and what the hair needs in order to be healthier.

My hair hasn’t always been long, in fact, it was quite short at one point because I wasn’t looking after my hair.

Any chance I got, I was colouring it because I was very unhappy with how it looked.

Looking back now I can see that I was just creating more problems for my hair.   

It took me around 3 years to fully get my hair to a length I wanted.

Although my hair seemed to grow quickly within a year of me taking my hair care seriously, I had visions of “mermaid hair”.

So I kept on growing it until it was touching my tail bone.  

I’ve gotten countless complements on my hair since it’s been long.

Some have been because of the length, but mostly they have been about the condition of my hair which I won’t lie, makes me feel good since I do take my hair care seriously.   

There’s one comment that always sticks out to me. I remembered being in Lush at Glasgow Fort stocking up on my favourite bath products when the cashier asked if my hair was real because it looked so smooth and shiny!

She couldn’t believe that it was all my own hair and even asked if she could feel it.

Then she said to her colleague on the other till that she wanted my hair and that she should feel it, which I agreed to and they both talked to me for a bit.

They asked how I managed to grow it so long and healthy at the same time.

I felt great about that because if others were noticing how healthy it was, it meant my hair routine was working.   

Because I’ve taken such great care of my hair and managed to take it from a lacklustre heap to long healthy locks, and the fact I’ve been asked a few times how I done it, I wanted to share my top 10 hair care tips to aid others who are looking to transform their hair, no matter the length. 

10 Tips for Healthy Hair

1: Wash it once to twice a week

When I started to grow my hair, really taking care of it, I only washed my hair once a week.

Now, to some this might sound unclean but it’s actually not great washing your hair every day or every second day as this can strip your hair of its natural oils. These natural oils help to keep your scalp and hair healthy.

Shampooing it too much can often result in your sebaceous glands producing more oil to make up for the fact they are being stripped from the hair. This in turn can actually make your hair more greasy then you may feel you need to wash it more because of this and it can actually make your hair dryer.  

“When I stopped washing it so much, I could see a difference”

I found that once I stopped washing my hair as often, it wouldn’t look greasy as quick and eventually I got about 6 or 7 days out of it before I had to wash my hair again.

I suggest starting out by leaving your hair two or three days at a time and building it up from there.

This will “train” your hair.   

Not washing it as often made a huge difference for me.

Split ends weren’t occurring as much, my hair looked and felt healthier and now I only wash it when I absolutely have to; Every other day now I use dry shampoo which has been an absolute god send.   

Also, when your hair is wet, it is in a weakened state which can make your hair more susceptible to damage so it’s best to limit that as much as possible.

2: Avoid heat 

Heat can be very damaging to hair; I try to avoid it when I can.

For the first 2 years I avoided heat altogether, letting my hair dry on its own without the aid of a hairdryer and my hair instantly looked better for it. 

Using too much heat on your hair can damage it, causing it to dry out, break and cause more split ends.

When you’re constantly heating your hair and then cooling, it will lead to breakage which I’m sure no one wants.  

Now, I only use heat if I’m curling my hair and even then, I’ve cut down on that a lot. Maybe only doing it once a month or if I know I have something important on where I feel styling my hair would look better.

But even at that, if I can find a way to avoid heat in order to style my hair, I will.

3: Use heat protection spray 

If you are going to use heat whether that be with a hair dryer, straighteners, curlers etc… then always use a heat protection spray.

I used to think they were another way for big companies to make money until I tested it out.

Testing the spray

I sprayed one hand with the heat protection spray and left the other without, I then put on a hair dryer, asking my gran to hold it over my hands and the one without any spray got hotter a lot quicker.

It worked! I couldn’t believe it actually worked. A heat protection spray works by creating a barrier between your hair and the hat. This helps to stop the frizz and reduce the amount of damage the heat is doing.

Personally, I recommend the TRESeme Keratin smooth heat protection spray. I have used it for a long time now and it works wonders, no complaints here. Another one I use is the Shrub heat protection spray and that works just as well.

So find one that works for you, but definitely use one.

4: Don’t wrap your hair in a towel 

When your hair is wet it’s at its weakest! And rubbing it with a towel or wrapping it up can cause split ends and damage the hair.

Avoiding this will help keep your hair looking healthier for longer. 

I recommend using a micro fibre hair wrap or towel as it’s easier on the hair. Another tip is to use a cotton t-shirt as that will help take the right amount of moisture out and from there you can leave it to dry naturally or blow dry it.

5: Use a wide tooth comb 

When it comes to brushing your hair when it’s wet, I would recommend a wide toothed comb and only using a brush if it’s absolutely necessary.

I know there are brushes designed for wet hair, but I found using a comb works better.

This is because it’s not as harsh on knots or tangles.

Also, start from the ends and work your way up. This works better than starting from the roots.

6: Avoid always wearing hair in a bobble 

If you wear your hair up or in a bobble/hair tie a lot, I suggest trying to minimise that.

By wearing your hair in a hair tie all the time, it can cause breakage.

It pulls on the hair follicles which causes stress and strains your scalp.  

7: Minimize the amount of times you dye your hair 

If possible, avoid dying your hair altogether, but if you’re like me and have a different colour from your natural that you like to keep up, minimise the amount of times you use dye.

I used to slap it on at any sign of my roots coming in.

But now I wait a little longer before putting the dye on again.

Also, if you can, it’s probably best to go to a hair dressers for it and avoid box dyes altogether.  

After years of box dye, I switched to professional colour using Wella Koleston that I get from Sallys or Amazon.

8: Use sulphate free shampoo

Using sulphate free shampoo has been a game changer for me!

I used to have quite dry hair and when I changed to sulphate free shampoo, my hair was feeling and looking better.

This is because the sulphate free ones don’t strip away the hairs natural oils like other sulphate shampoos. 

9: Deep Conditioner treatments 

Another thing I would definitely recommend would be doing deep conditioning treatments.

I like to deep condition my hair once a week to make sure it’s in tip top condition.

There are many benefits of using a deep conditioning treatment.

• Preventing as much damage as possible
• Promotes elasticity
• Increases moisture
• And much more

Here are some deep conditioning treatments I recommend

• Aussie Deep Treatment 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor
• TRESemmé Keratin Smooth Deep Smoothing Mask
• HASK Argan Oil Repairing Conditioner
• Garnier Hair Food 3-in-1 Hair Treatment Mask
• Argan Oil Hydrating Hair Mask
• Garnier Ultimate Blends Hair Food Banana 3-in-1 Dry Hair Mask Treatment

10: Massage scalp 

It may sound silly, but massaging your scalp regularly can help to promote a healthy environment on your scalp for hair growth.

I tend to massage my scalp every time I wash my hair whilst I’m shampooing it and I also try to do it for 10 minutes every night before bed.  

You can get hand scalp massager tools like this one – Scalp Massager – which makes the process much easier!

Final Thoughts

And there you have it! My 10 tips for healthy hair and all the methods I used to grow my hair long and healthy.

Below are some of the products that I have used throughout my journey and still use now because I love them so you can see what I found worked.

Products I would personally recommend:

• Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Moisture Gro Hairdress
• OGX Extra Damage Remedy Strength Coconut Oil
• Superdrug Studio Paddle Brush
• Tresemme Heat Defence Spray
• Schwarzkopf Gliss Supreme Length Protection Shampoo
• Schwarzkopf Gliss Supreme Length Protection Conditioner
• WELLA Professionals Colour Motion Colour Protection Shampoo
• Wella Professionals Fusion Intense Repair Professional Haircare
• Kerastase Densifique Shampoo and Conditioner Set
• Shrub hair care, I have a review if you want to check that you – Shrub Hair Care Review
• Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair Protein Hair Mask

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