Learning to Love Your Hair in Midlife
When it comes to our hair, the grass is always greener on the other side of the salon. Many of us with fine, straight hair spent years trying to curl and volumize our locks. And those of us with waves and curls wished for the smooth shine of pin-straight tresses. And cowlicks? Don't get us started!
It can be hard to love our hair, quirks, and all—especially as we move through menopause. But embracing our natural hair texture is just like loving any other part of ourselves. We fix what we can, and we learn to appreciate that our differences are what make us beautiful and set us apart.
That’s why we’ve curated our top tips for loving your hair, no matter your hair concern, along with our favorite sulfate-free, plant-based hair-care products to help you fall in love with your locks!
Protect Your Fine, Straight Hair
Those with fine, straight hair know that embracing our natural hair texture can be challenging. Fine hair can be easily damaged by heat, and it often lacks volume because of the structure of fine hair shafts.
When styling fine hair, avoid heat styling when possible. But when you absolutely must apply heat to your hair, always use a heat-protectant product. Our No Remorse Heat Protection & Taming Spray nourishes and coats each hair strand to prevent heat damage up to 450F! (No matter your hair type, never apply heat higher than 450F to your hair—super hot temps can cause the hair shaft to discolor and bubble!)
Another option to help you love your natural hair is to add a leave-in volumizing product to help boost fullness. For maximum volume, try our Lift Me Up Hair Thickener. Packed with niacinamide and Ceramide-NG to help retain moisture and support follicle health, this lightweight spray wraps around each hair shaft, lifting hair at the root for instant body and shine.
Pro tip: Avoid tight ponytails and buns to protect fine locks from further damage. These cause tension on the hair strands and roots, leading to breakage. Instead, try low-tension styles like braids or loose twists, and wear your hair down whenever possible. For more hairstyling inspiration for your fine, delicate strands, we compiled 17 great heatless hairstyling hacks that let you leave the heat behind and still look your best.
Hydrate and Add Bounce to Your Curls
Many of us spent our teens and 20s flat-ironing the life out of our gorgeous curls. Curls are now enjoying a moment in the spotlight, and rightfully so—shiny, vibrant curls are gorgeous!
The trick to manageable curls is hydration. Dry curls are unruly and frizzy. A frizz-taming product like our No Remorse and a hydrating butter hair mask are excellent ways to bring hydration and bounce to your curls. Because curly hair has a corkscrew-shaped hair shaft, it's physically more difficult for our scalp's natural oils to make it down each strand.
Because of this, curly-haired ladies tend to deal with dryness more than straight or wavy hair types. To combat dryness, we love our Hair Redemption Restorative Butter Masque. It's packed with plant-based butters and argan oil, and it is sulfate-free to give you glossy, manageable curls!
How often you should use a hair mask is specific to your hair's length, texture, and moisture level, but generally, twice a week is a good start. (If you have especially oily hair, start with once per week and adjust from there.)
And remember, curl care starts in the shower, so even before you butter up, shampoo and conditioner designed specifically for curly hair, like our Bounce Back Super Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner for Curly Hair, will help to revive, strengthen, and define curls that have lost their bounce.
Pro tip: Try hair plopping along with your Hair Redemption mask! Hair plopping refers to literally "plopping" your post-wash hair into a T-shirt, microfiber towel, or plopping cap, allowing hair to dry this way. Plopping is gentler than towel drying, allowing hydrating leave-in products like butter hair masks and oils to penetrate hair strands more deeply, resulting in softer, more manageable locks. No more crunchy strands!
Fight Hair Loss and Thinning Hair
It can be hard to watch our hair grow thinner as we age. This is especially true if your hair was thin at the start. The good news is that you can love your hair again! We don't have to resign to living with thin, lifeless hair after 40.
A hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is responsible for many cases of age-related hair loss in women. As women age, estrogen levels decrease, making DHT levels more dominant. DHT causes hair follicles to produce thinner, wispy strands and decreases the rate of overall hair production.
Adding products to your hair-care routine that are designed to help combat hormonal hair loss can help. Our Superpower Fortifying Hair & Scalp Serum supports hair health by increasing hair follicle activity and rebalancing scalp oil production. (Balanced oil production is vital because too much or too little sebum on the scalp can contribute to increased hair fall!)
Pro tip: Add a scalp-stimulating massage to your routine whenever you apply your serum! Massaging the scalp helps increase blood flow, which helps nourish and stimulate under-performing follicles. Our Superpower Liquid Comb Massaging Serum Applicator is our favorite tool for 2-in-1 scalp stimulation. Add 30mL of serum to the massaging applicator (about two weeks’ worth of daily applications), and it evenly distributes the serum on your scalp!
Let Better Not Younger Help You Love Your Hair!
At Better Not Younger, we believe that loving ourselves and practicing self-care and acceptance is one of the most important, radical acts we can take. That's why we designed our entire line of plant-based hair-care products to be free of harsh chemicals and surfactants. None of our products are tested on animals, and all our hair-care products for natural hair are vegan and cruelty-free. Let us help you address your aging hair concerns and get you on the road to falling in love with your natural hair!
Tell Us: What hair-care steps have you made a part of your self-care regimen to love your natural hair? Share in the comments below.
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