We all want strong, shiny, healthy hair, but unfortunately, the stresses and strains of daily modern life tend to make this goal difficult to achieve at times. A busy schedule and hefty workload often mean our locks take a bit of a back seat, and the result is generally not pretty. Subject both to the elements of sun, rain etc and to the effects of an air conditioned or heated artificial interior climate, tired, neglected hair becomes weak, fragile and brittle. If your tresses are feeling a little the worse for wear, and you’d like to see their natural shine restored, read on this list of 8 ways to strengthen your hair.

1. Protein Boost

To begin with, it is important to understand that weak hair need special attention. If yours is feeling a little brittle and lifeless, you’ll need to get yourself a specially designed set of shampoo and conditioner. Opt for something that is protein enriched: this will help your sad tresses to rebuild.

2. Moisturise

Dull, fragile hair is often left looking lifeless because it is dehydrated. Very dry tresses are prone to breakage in ways that healthy, nourished locks are not and so it’s important that you get yours the moisture that they need. Apply an intense conditioning hair mask about once every wee, or twice in times of real hair crisis, and consider a leave in re-hydrating treatment as well.

3. Turn down the Temperature

Beware of taking very hot showers. Exposing your locks to high temperatures can actually contribute to weakening. Make sure your water temperature is sitting somewhere around the pleasantly warm mark, and never let it go all the way up to scaldingly hot.

4. Supplement

Your diet is such an important factor when it comes to re-conditioning weak and lifeless hair. Make sure you are getting all the correct vitamins and minerals by adding a multivitamin to your daily diet regime, or by increasing your intake of foods rich in protein and iron, and those full of calcium as well.

5. Protect

Today, most you’ll find that most girls heat style their locks. Curling irons, blow driers and ceramic hair straighteners have become tools in our everyday beauty arsenals, and, as we know by now, they also contribute significantly to weakening our locks. In order to avoid dehydration and the breakage that results from it, it is crucial that you apply a defensive product before you get on with using your heat styler. This will help to seal in moisture, and will guard against the weakening effect of exposure to high temperatures as well.

6. Get Rid of Split Ends

Split ends occur when hair is especially dry and fragile at the tips and they pose a real threat to the rest of your locks as well. Split ends can ‘grow’ up the length of the hair, so that eventually almost the entire strand is cut in two. It goes without saying that this contributes significantly to weakening, and so, in order to keep your locks strong, it’s important that you trim about every six weeks or so.

7. Detangler

While this is perhaps not so much a means by which to strengthen hair as a strategy to avoid excessive breakage, it is, nevertheless, very important to consider. Especially if your tresses are a little on the fragile side, you don’t want to be dragging a brush or comb through them; instead, get yourself a good quality detangling spray and use it to help you to brush without breakage.

8. SPF

We often forget that our hair, when it is exposed to UV rays, suffers significantly from sun damage. In order to protect your locks from this kind of inevitable wear and tear, it’s a good idea to invest in an SPF enriched product for your hair – or, alternatively, simply wear a hat when you go out in the sun!

There are myriad contributors to fragile, brittle locks, and, unless you take care to counteract these, they can really wreak havoc with your tresses. Hopefully this list of 8 ways to strengthen your hair will help you to restore some of the vibrancy and bounce; do you have any expert suggestions of your own to add to it?