The Better Blog

Chia seeds are an ancient superfood that have been used for centuries for their nutritional benefits. But did you know chia seeds benefit hair, too? Using chia seeds for your hair—both by eating them and choosing hair-care products that include them—is a great way to promote strong, shiny hair. This is one of our favorite benefits of eating chia seeds for hair, because who doesn’t want lustrous locks! Plus, chia seeds can even help promote hair health, something that’s very important if you’re dealing with hair loss. 

Knowing the benefits of chia seeds for skin and hair, and especially how chia seeds benefit hair, can help you get your own aging hair back to its shiny, lustrous glory. Keep reading to find out how chia seeds benefit hair in addition to being a nutritional powerhouse.

Spring is in full swing! We love the longer days and warmer weather, but with the seasonal shift comes the seasonal allergies we don't love. 

We know that the uptick in pollen, mold and ragweed in the spring can cause sneezing and itchy, watery eyes. But did you know that seasonal allergies can also affect your scalp and hair, causing itchiness, flakiness and even hair loss? Yikes! 

Keep reading as we answer your biggest questions about seasonal allergies and hair loss, scalp allergies and even how your hair itself can have an impact on your seasonal allergies.

If your hair has lost its shine, it can put a damper on your look. Glowy hair not only draws others’ eyes to you, but it can instantly make you feel more confident while it’s swishing around your head. This is why we’re letting you in on our favorite secrets to shiny, healthy hair. While heading to the salon for a glossy hair treatment is one way to boost your hair’s shine, there are things you can do right at home, too. In fact, the secrets to naturally glowy hair that’s glossy and shiny are all pretty easy to incorporate into your routine—and if you do, your aging strands will thank you.

The first step to getting coveted shiny hair? Pick out products to make hair glossy. While this is a not-so-secret secret to shiny hair, it’s one that many people don’t even realize they should do. Select shampoos and conditioners that are formulated with natural ingredients that can help you out if your hair has lost its shine. And if you already have shiny hair and just want to maintain it? Using products to make hair glossy can help you do that, too. The secret to great hair is taking care of it, which is what we’re here to help with. Your secret to shiny hair can be found right here.

"There's a reason why 40, 50 and 60 don't look the way they used to, and it's not because of feminism or better living through exercise. It's because of hair dye." —Nora Ephron 

Recently, the internet was buzzing about a meme that pointed out that the cast of The Golden Girls were the same age during filming as the cast of And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City sequel series.  

People were flabbergasted that both shows depicted women in their 50s. The stark difference in the appearance of these women—and their vastly different storylines in each series—highlights a broader cultural shift in how society perceives aging women. (And, more importantly, how aging women perceive themselves!) 

We welcome this shift because youth has been made synonymous with beauty and desirability for generations. 

And we're over it. 

For far too long, society has had a skewed picture regarding what women "should look like,” "should want” and "should be doing" at certain ages. The media has finally started to recognize that women don't disappear or lose value after 40. Slowly, we're seeing more complex roles for older women in Hollywood, and we're seeing older women in advertising more often.  

They're finally learning what we've known all along: Older women are beautiful, vibrant and multidimensional. Women are aging better than ever today because we are pushing back on the outdated idea that we're past our prime at 50 or 60.  

Read on to learn more about why women today are only getting better with age!

When we talk about "clean products," there's often not a set definition. Sometimes we’re referring to a product that’s made with organic, all-natural or no unpronounceable ingredients. Other times the words ethically sourced, mindfully created and no harmful ingredients are part of the conversation. And what role does transparent labeling play in it all? The real definition can be hard to pin down. 

So when we say "clean hair care," what does this mean? 

At Better Not Younger, it means that our products prioritize safety and efficacy. This means non-toxic ingredients that are safe for people and the planet—with efficacious and certified-safe plant-based and synthetic ingredients being the active drivers of results. We know that older women are savvy shoppers who pay attention to the labels on their hair and beauty products, which is why we’re transparent about our ingredients. And we know that hair products without harmful ingredients are imperative. That's why our founder, Sonsoles Gonzalez, built Better Not Younger as a clean hair-care line dedicated to women over 40. 

Read on to learn why making the switch to clean hair products is so important and how Better Not Younger stays at the forefront of clean hair care!

Curly hair, while gorgeous, can be a lot to manage. It calls for a delicate balance of time and products to maintain healthy curls, but knowing what works for your hair can make everything a bit easier. Vegan curly hair products are packed with natural ingredients that will show your hair so much love, especially as your hair ages. These vegan hair products for curly hair are formulated with nourishing oils, butters, vitamins and more that will bring moisture into your strands and seal it in, too. Because curly hair is prone to dryness and breakage, it’s important to use products that will stop that from happening or fix it once it has. 

Opting for some of the best natural ingredients for curly hair, like olive oil and shea butter for curly hair, and two of our favorites, argan oil and murumuru butter, will show your curls the love they deserve. Most importantly, when considering your hair-care routine, incorporate these ingredients throughout all the vegan curly hair products you use—this includes a vegan shampoo for curly hair, a moisturizing conditioner for curly hair, a curly hair serum or boost spray and even a restoring mask. The best natural ingredients for curly hair are found in a number of vegan hair products for curly hair, you just have to know what you’re looking for. Here are some of our go-tos.

At Better Not Younger, we know that beauty isn't tied to age. So what does ageless beauty mean? When we think of ageless beauty for hair, it means timeless, confident style and hair that is strong and healthy. 

If you're like us, you probably put your hair through a lot in your youth! (Remember the ‘80s?) From heat styling with no heat protectant to harsh dyes to ignoring scalp care, we were rough on our hair. 

But by the time we're into our 50s and 60s, we've moved past those poor choices. We know what works for our hair, and we have a better sense of our own personal style. Now we're focused on timeless looks and maintaining the healthiest hair possible because we know that healthy hair is gorgeous hair! 

As women, one of our most common concerns is hair thinning with age. But thin hair doesn't have to be something we accept or feel insecure about! We can fight back by supporting our hair from root to tip. Read on to learn more about combating age-related hair thinning and other top hair issues we face with age, so you can achieve better hair today than in your 20s!

Hair porosity is a hot topic right now, and for good reason! Tons of factors can affect our hair's porosity, from environmental exposure to bleaches and dyes to hair texture and genetics. Understanding your hair's porosity is important so you can tailor your hair-care regimen to better address your hair issues.

 

Hair porosity is tied to the integrity and tightness or looseness of your hair cuticles and simply refers to how well your hair can absorb and retain moisture. Generally speaking, low porosity hair struggles with absorbing moisture but excels at retaining it, while high porosity hair readily absorbs moisture but struggles to hold it in.

 

So how can you tell whether you have low, medium or high porosity hair?

 

Better Not Younger compiled 10 signs of high porosity hair, along with tips and tricks for dealing with some of the most frustrating symptoms of highly porous hair!

With aging comes change, but it also brings benefits—like wisdom, confidence and above all, gratitude. It is these gifts of time that inspired Sonsoles Gonzalez to develop Better Not Younger three years ago—and she harnesses these blessings each and every day as she builds a hair-care brand that’s breaking biases around aging and what it means to be a woman in her 40s, 50s and 60s+.

Through Better Not Younger, Sonsoles and her team are pushing boundaries, championing age inclusion and diversity, empowering women and above all, normalizing conversations around menopause and female hair loss.

So who better to chat with than the founder and CEO herself! Better Not Younger has been on an extraordinary journey these past three years—and she’ll be the first to tell you that she owes it all to the amazing community of women who have inspired and supported the brand along the way.

Better Not Younger has made great strides in the clean hair-care movement through the development of plant-based hair products and sulfate-free hair care designed specifically for women over 40. With a mission to enhance—not conceal!—aging hair, Better Not Younger gives women access to high-quality clean hair products that are cruelty-free and designed to improve hair, scalp and inner health.

Keep reading as Sonsoles talks about her secrets to #AgingGratefully, becoming an entrepreneur and building a business in her 50s, and how she believes that it is absolutely possible to look better without looking younger. 

If you're looking for silky, frizz-free hair that lasts through washes, the Brazilian Blowout and other similar keratin treatments are the gold standard—after all, they’ve been go-to treatments many women have turned to since the early 2000s. But as with any permanent or semi-permanent hair treatment that involves chemicals, it's important to research before jumping in headfirst. 

We've heard women asking if the Brazilian Blowout has an age limit or if they can pull off a Brazilian Blowout after menopause. Are Brazilian Blowouts safe for fine, thin hair? For gray hair? 

We are here to tell you that whether you're 40, 50 or 60 years old, there is no Brazilian Blowout or keratin treatment age limit. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they are all safe for the delicate disposition of aging hair and its long-term health.

If you’re curious about what these treatments entail, or are confused about their differences (we wouldn't blame you, the names are often used interchangeably!), we have everything you need to know about the Brazilian Blowout vs other keratin treatments for your delicate, aging tress

Without even thinking about it, you might be damaging your hair every single day. That’s a bummer, right? But your go-to hairstyles might not be doing your hair any favors, especially if you’re not using easy protective hairstyles that will keep your strands strong and healthy. 

While some hairstyles may seem obvious as far as damage is concerned, others may not. Pulling your hair into a tight bun will obviously cause some breakage, but does wearing headbands cause hair loss? (More on this later!)

There are many ways you can help your hair stay strong but there are also ways you can stop damage in its tracks and bring your hair back to its healthy state. Even if you’ve been wearing harsh hairstyles for years, you can backtrack by opting for hairstyles for damaged hair or easy protective hairstyles that will show your locks some love. 

Keep reading to find out which everyday hairstyles could be wreaking havoc on your hair so you can switch over to hairstyles for damaged hair that are more protective. 

If you routinely heat style your hair, you probably know that you should use products to protect your hair. There are tons of options on the market, so how do you know what to look for in a quality heat protectant? And why, exactly, do we need to use a heat protectant every time we apply heat to our hair? 

A lot of the reason has to do with the characteristics of aging tresses. As our estrogen levels decrease over time, our scalp produces less sebum, which is the oil that keeps our hair hydrated and strong. This reduced sebum production is why our hair becomes drier and more brittle as we age. We also lose shine and start to see dullness on aging hair. That’s why nourishing ingredients like argan and avocado oils as well as vitamin E in a heat protectant is so important. 

As we age, faithfully using a moisturizing heat protectant spray to protect hair from heat styling is critical. A good heat protectant prevents damage to brittle locks. (Think of it as a sunscreen for your hair!) Better Not Younger's No Remorse Heat Protectant & Taming Spray is a light-weight, hydrating option infused with plant oils and vitamin E to coat strands and create a physical barrier between your hair and the heating element.