If You’re Over 40, You Need To Start Doing These 16 Things To Preserve Your Hair
Don’t let the number scare you. They’re all a piece of cake.
by The Candidly Team
With the unhinged amount of information we get fed about beauty and aging, sometimes we just want a very clear list of exactly what to do.
Take our hair for instance.
For most of our lives, we thought of our hair only in the present tense. How does it look today? How do I style/ cut/ get it the f—- out of my way today?
But just like the rest of our bodies, our hair starts to do all kinds of things after we turn 40 that demand we pay more careful attention to it.
And instead of giving you a labored, scientific rundown of what those things are, we’ll just get straight to what to do about them.
All of them are relatively easy. Painless really. And probably a good idea even if you’re 20 or 30 or 50 or 60.
Ok, so let’s get to it:
1. Stop washing it so often.
Yes, we want a nice, clean scalp so our follicles aren’t all stuffed up and new hairs can grow, but over-washing can dry out and damage our existing hair.
Because our hair can get finer, less dense, and more delicate after we turn 40, and we also tend to lose more of it, washing it less frequently can help keep strands a little stronger. There’s not really a magic number here, it’s really about getting to know your own scalp and finding a balance that works for your specific hair.
2. Invest in a gentle “healthy” hairbrush.
We consistently hear that a soft, 100% boar bristle brush is your best bet for thinning hair, and thinning can be a big part of the problem after 40. It’s also supposed to help “distribute your hair’s natural oils” as every boar brush description likes to say. With all the steep hair tools out there (rhymes with Shmyson), you may not feel emotionally ready to “invest” in a brush, but considering its important to your hair smoothness, volume, and overall health, it might be time. We’ve heard spectacular things about THIS one, and THIS is a personal favorite of one of our team members who struggles with hair loss.
3. Don’t sleep on wet hair.
We’re embarrassed to admit it took us this long to pay attention to this advice. But sleeping on wet hair can cause major breakage. Sidenote, it can also cause gross stuff like bacteria to grow on your pillow. Tying it up before it dries can similarly do damage, so be gentle on your wet hair in general.
4. Start skipping shampoos with sulfates.
Over-40 hair tends to be dryer, and shampoos with sulfates are stripppppping of our glorious natural oils. For sulfate-free options, we love numbers 1 and 2 on THIS list.
5. Massage your scalp.
It’s supposed to stimulate both thickness and hair growth. And we’re doing it anyway in the shower, no? So maybe just do it for a bit longer. Or hop on the trend of oiling your hair, which could, in fact, give it a healthful boost. There are some lovely tools that make massaging your scalp a little easier and lovelier feeling like THIS, but you can also just do it with your fingers.
6. Eat iron, protein, and omega 3s
Protein and biotin can be key players in hair growth. Omega 3s might help with hair density. And low iron can contribute to hair shedding. Just like our skin, keeping up a balanced diet is excellent for our hair.
7. Check your hormone and vitamin levels.
Not the most fun item on the list, but shifting hormones can significantly impact our hair. Particularly if you notice shedding or thinning, you should talk to your doctor about what might be up. Being deficient in iron or vitamins D, B, or zinc can also contribute to hair loss. This does not mean you should reach for a supplement, but it does mean you should talk to our doctor about options should you have any deficiencies.
8. Go ahead and give it that cold water rinse.
We all remember being told this, right? Something about how cold water seals the moisture into the ends of our hair. Welp, it might not be a myth after all. Apparently, it could help improve circulation, make your hair look healthier and shinier, and some even think it can stimulate hair growth by improving blood flow, though this could use some research to back it up. Nevertheless, it seems harmless and half of us are doing it anyway based on some old wive’s tale, so why not?
9. Reduce stress.
Thought they’d all be easy, did ya? Fine, this one isn’t, but like every other damn thing about our body/ mind/ health/ relationships, our hair is damaged by stress. We know there’s a lot more to it but we recently wrote about 22 low-key ways to naturally reduce anxiety, so in case you and your hair could use a moment of Zen go HERE.
10. Hydrate.
Back to the easy stuff. Or sort of easy, depending on your personal battle to ingest enough H20. On a very basic level, our hair needs us to hydrate. Here’s how we manage to do it.
11. Wear a hat to reduce grays.
Apparently the sun can speed up the hair graying process. Lovely. So time to get yourself that cute hat you’ve been eyeing.
12. Consider switching to a silk pillowcase.
Maybe you’ve heard how sleeping on silk is supposed to help with wrinkles, but it’s also good for maintaining the moisture in your hair. Plus, it can leave you with less frizz come morning. We like THIS particular one, because it’s organic and even comes with little perks like a wash bag for easy cleaning.
13. Style with extra care.
It’s no shock that all the years of manhandling our hair with intense heating tools and tight ponies can wreak havoc, so maybe just try to reduce all that styling time. Wear more hats. Have more lazy hair days. The less you do, the better it will look long-term.
14. Consider a stimulating serum.
We’ve personally used Vegamour’s GRO Hair Serum, and it’s changed our lives where shedding is concerned. When we use it daily, we see way fewer hairs fall out in the shower or on our pillow. One of our Candidly crew recently went to the hair salon where she was asked what’s with all this new hair growth? And her only explanation was “I started to use Vegamour.”
15. Strive for good gut health.
Does it feel like gut health is being linked to every aspect of wellness known to man? Well, it’s not stopping with your hair. Some studies are starting to explore how gut health could contribute to hair loss. And quite frankly, it isn’t a bad thing to strive for anyway.
16. Condition with gusto.
Your dryer, coarser (if graying) hair needs moisture more than ever after 40. So don’t just take 7 seconds to slip some conditioner through your ends. Put it on them before you even shampoo, then do it again after you rinse, and leave it in for the remainder of your shower, so it gets some good absorption time before a final rinse.
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