Hair breakage can range from mild to horrifyingly severe. Just recently, I was a victim of the very severe kind after I decided to highlight half of my head a very light brown. In the months after, as I witnessed large clumps of hair falling out in the shower, and seeing the short stubs of my hair spread around my hair, I took some major action. But now, these new habits are part of my routine to prevent breakage and keep my hair healthy.

1. Get regular protein treatments  Now that I’ve experienced the wonders of protein treatments, I don’t understand why they’re not more popular. I immediately went to the salon after my initial breakage and asked for a protein treatment. A good protein treatment coats your hair in protein and specifically strengthens your hair to prevent any further breakage. Because of its potency, stylists recommend getting them at least six weeks apart.

2. Deep Condition  In general, if your hair is moisturized and conditioned well, it will not break. Simple, right? Obviously, your hair would be prone to breakage if it’s dry and brittle. To avoid that, make sure you deep condition your hair regularly. There are a myriad of options in deep conditioning products – just make sure you allow the conditioner to sit on your hair while you sit under a dryer. The heat will help the conditioner penetrate your strands. If you don’t have a dryer, simply wrap up your hair in a plastic cap and get to moving around, doing chores around the house. Hey, any body heat will  help!

3. Use a wide toothed comb  If you haven’t adopted the wide toothed comb, why haven’t you? These combs are great because they detangle and minimize the stress on your hair. When dealing with your tresses, the idea is to treat it well without putting too much tension or stress on it.

4. Lay low on the heat I know you love to blow dry, flat iron and curl your hair on the regular but just know, the less heat you use, the better. Blow dryers and flat irons are not gentle on your tresses so if you’re in a delicate state, the heat will definitely not help matters. Try to look into low-heat to no-heat styling options.

5. Oil gently. Investing in a great and light hair oil has done wonders for me. Every night I use jojoba oil and comb it through my hair before I wrap it. Of course, the idea here is to avoid dryness and promote soft and moisturized tresses. It doesn’t matter which oil you use as long as it’s something that’s not too heavy and works well with your own hair.

6. Use a satin pillowcase. This is an oldie but goodie. Cotton is much more harsh on our tresses so to avoid that contact, invest in a satin pillowcase or wrap your hair in a satin scarf.

7. Stay away from chemical treatments. If this is not obvious by now, I’d like to reiterate just how harmful relaxers and coloring treatments can be to your hair’s elasticity. If you’ve already sworn off chemical treatments and are in the process of growing out your hair, it’s important to pay special attention to the line between your natural hair and your processed hair. Carol’s Daughter has a kit specifically designed to treat hair that is transitioning from relaxed to natural, which helps reduce the likelihood of breakage. The kit includes an extra gentle cleanser, scalp spray and anti-breakage treatment.

That’s it for me. What are your secrets to keeping your hair healthy?