How to Treat Dry, Flyaway Hair

As someone who has suffered from dry, flyaway hair all my life, I have learned a few tricks to keep my hair looking healthy and feeling silky smooth.

Like dry skin, dry hair quite often starts because of a hormonal imbalance within the body. This is why young teenagers frequently experience dry hair that feels like straw, which is hard to style or do anything with.

This can make you feel very miserable indeed, as looks are terribly important to teenage girls and boys who are becoming image aware.

Of course, it's not just youngsters who suffer from dry, flyaway hair, and most people do, at some stage in their lives, learn to deal with it.

The first thing you ought to try is a good hair condiitoner.

Many formulations are designed specifically for dry hair, and it really is a case of trial and error until you find the one that works best for you.

When I was young I used to use a cream conditioner called Countess, after being advised to try it by my hairdresser.

It worked really well, I applied my hair conditioner after I'd finished washing my hair, massaged it in well and left it on for a few minutes before rinsing off, and my hair would feel silky smooth and be controllable until its next wash.

Unfortunately, it is no longer on the market and so unavailable.

The other thing about hair washing when you have dry hair, is not to wash it often. Hot water and the chemicals from the shampoo you use do not help your hair produce the required oils it needs for a healthy shine.

Thanks to my own early experience with hair conditioners, my hair has never been so dry and flyaway since.

It is good practice to get into the habit of always using a conditioner on your hair, each time you wash it. Very few people in this world have perfect hair, and nearly everybody needs some form of hair conditioner.

Nowadays it would seem that the very best all-round hair conditioners are those that come with a hair-dye pack. I don't know what they put in them that is different to normal over-the-counter hair conditioners, but when you color your hair and add the conditioner at the end, the one that they say is to lock the color in, it actually makes your hair look shiny and smooth and easily manageable for weeks!

Of course, you don't have to actually dye your hair to use the conditioner, but it does make it very expensive when you have to buy the hair colorant too.

Dry, flyaway hair can be helped by frequent brushing.

The brushing action stimulates the hair follicles, which in turn produce more oil from the sebaceous glands which are situated under the skin.

Frequent grooming extends those oils down the hair length which calms flyaway hair down. Of course, part of the problem with dry and flyaway hair is that it is difficult to brush.

Your hairs get tangled up with each other and you have to tease a hairbrush through them which can be painful.

One solution to this is to get into the habit of running your fingers through your hair.

You would be amazed how much easier it is to brush your hair after you have finger-combed it.

If you are sitting in a classroom, it is quite easy to get into the habit of 'playing' with your hair, and I doubt very much if the teacher would correct you for doing it. Of course, you are not playing, you are grooming and this is an essential part of dry hair care.