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How to make hair shiny and glossy?

How do I make my hair go from frizzy and a bit dry to soft, smooth, healthy, shiny?

Shiny hair is something you can really get, but with some effort. You need not only a step-by-step guide on how to make your hair shiny, silky, and smooth. You also need to figure out the causes of your poor hair condition. Shiny hair is an option you can easily switch on.

What Makes Hair Shiny?

Is shiny hair healthy? Yes, since your hair shine comes from its glossiness and not from oily roots. The hair shine is a sign of healthy, strong, well-conditioned hair with healthy moisture. Shiny hair is about having smooth and closed hair cuticles. This allows for light to reflect evenly across your strands so that they can look healthy and shiny. The main reason why the hair is so shiny and healthy comes from the lipid content of the saturated and unsaturated fatty acids found in the cuticle, or the outermost layer. These lipids are responsible for keeping your hair strong, manageable, beautiful, and touchable.

The Main Reasons Why Hair Loses Its Shine

There are dozens of reasons why hair can lose its shine… For example, hair becomes less shiny when it’s dry and doesn’t have enough moisture in it. The amount of natural oils also matters. Damage, sun exposure, pollution, etc. can make your hair dull. If your cuticles are uneven and curled up at the edges, the light will be absorbed into the hair making it appear dull.

How to Get Shiny Hair Naturally

Let’s outline the main secrets of getting shiny hair. First of all, to add shine, some women get good results just rinsing their hair once or twice with cool water after washing it.

Extend the time between hair washes and avoid using too much heat on your hair to eliminate dryness and breakage. Invest in a good blow-dryer, curling iron, and/or flat iron (with ceramic plates, infused with oils, etc.).

Keep up with haircuts to remove split ends which can lead to rough, dull-looking strands. Wear hats, caps, or scarves when you’re out in the sun to protect your hair from UV rays.

Now when you know how to make hair silky-smooth and shiny naturally with simple tips, it’s time to move to other methods.

What to Include into Your Diet to Make Hair Shiny

Hair is mostly made of protein. When your body does not get enough of it, your hair starts falling out. Eggs and milk have lots of protein, so they are always among the top foods for shiny hair. They also contain iron, which is good for your hair as well. If you are a dairy-free vegetarian, eat legumes like chickpeas, sprouts, and lentils.

Vegetables like carrots, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli contain beta-carotene to help keep your hair healthy. One serving of sweet potato gives you enough of this compound for one day! Your body then converts beta-carotene to Vitamin A. When your body has enough Vitamin A, it makes natural oil (sebum) that keeps hair looking shiny. Eating foods with beta-carotene can make hair stay healthy and shiny.

Salmon and tuna have Omega 3 fatty acids. If you don’t eat enough Omega 3 fatty acids, your hair can become brittle and break easily. If you are a vegetarian, you can eat walnuts and flaxseeds. They contain Vitamin E which helps your hair grow healthy. There are also soybeans and tofu if you are a vegan.

Include hair vitamins and supplements into your diet. They will help you to grow long shiny hair. Drink water – it’s good for you and your hair.

The Best Products for Shiny Hair

What are the best products to make hair shiny and glossy? The best products for shiny glossy hair include the right shampoos, conditioners (both leave-in and wash-out), serums, oils, and hair masks. Try deep conditioning treatments every few weeks for added shine. Avoid products that contain sulfates, alcohol, and silicones.

Try not to use too much product on your hair – it can weigh down the strands and cause them to look dull. Don’t overuse dry shampoo, as it makes hair shafts matte.

What Are the Best Shampoo and Conditioner for Shiny Hair

Use a good shampoo and conditioner for healthy, shiny locks. Choose the ones for your specific hair type, such as oily, dry, or color-treated. The best shampoo for shiny hair may be among these drugstore products: Biolage Sugar Shine Shampoo, Redken All Soft Shampoo, Royal Silk The Original Silk Shampoo, milk_Shake Silver Shine Light Shampoo, Scruples Platinum Shine Toning Shampoo, Oribe Shampoo For Brilliance & Shine.

Use a clarifying shampoo once in a while for removing the product buildup. Clean hair and unclog the scalp regularly to make hair soft and shiny. Use something like Neutrogena Anti-Residue Clarifying Shampoo, Redken Detox Hair Cleansing Cream Clarifying Shampoo, or Kenra Clarifying Shampoo, etc.

The best conditioner to get shiny hair is hard to choose, but women around the globe recommend these conditioners: Miss Jessie’s Original Leave-In Condish, Hair Food Avocado & Argan Oil Smoothing Conditioner, Dove Nutritive Solutions Strengthening Conditioner, Olaplex No. 5 Conditioner, etc.

A secret that a lot of women use is to put a leave-in conditioner on wet hair before drying with a blow dryer.

What Is the Best Oil for Shiny Hair

Oils are another way to make your hair shine – try adding coconut oil or olive oil for a natural shine boost. Apply oils on your ends after washing your hair for added moisture. Very popular essential oils for shiny hair are Macadamia Oil, Argan Oil, Avocado Oil, Jojoba Oil, Rose Flower Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Vitamin E Oil, etc. Also, instead of looking for the single best oil for soft shiny hair, you may try whipped natural hair masks with a mix of oils. They may give fantastic results! However, use them sparingly, as you want to make your hair look shiny but not greasy.

What Is the Best Shiny Hair Mask

To have shiny hair, you need to pack your hair routine with hair masks. The most recommended by real women are Revlon Uniq One Supermask, It’s a 10 Miracle Hair Mask, MATRIX Unbreak My Blonde, SheaMoisture Hair Masque with Coconut, Hibiscus, and Shea Butter, Fanola Curly Shine Hair Mask, Artego Color Shine Mask, BIOLAGE Hydrasource Mask, Cake Beauty One Minute High Shine Hair Mask, Moroccan oil Hair Mask, Olaplex Hair Perfector No 3.

If you are looking for a homemade DIY hair mask for shiny hair, we can recommend mixing 1 tsp honey and 2 tsp olive oil. The protein in honey helps strengthen and condition, while olive oil moisturizes your locks. You can also lather up your locks with coconut milk cream. It is full of fatty acids, which can fight damage on all levels from within! The same fats also happen to be packed with natural anti-aging properties.

How to Make Your Hair Shiny and Smooth at Home

How to make hair silky and shiny at home and not spend a fortune on this? The best home remedies for shiny hair include hair masks, hair rinses, and several more DIY shiny hair products.

– Mix three teaspoons of aloe vera gel, two teaspoons of yogurt, one teaspoon of honey, and one teaspoon of olive oil. Massage into the scalp and rinse after 30 min.

– For shiny, healthy strands, apple cider vinegar mixed with water is a natural option among hair rinses.

– Try a hair gloss treatment at home. Usually, these are products that must be used once per 1-2 weeks for removing brassiness and adding shine. The most popular are Oribe Glaze for Beautiful Color, IGK Expensive Hi-Shine Gloss Treatment, L’Oreal Paris Le Color Gloss, DpHue Gloss Semi-Permanent Hair Color, and Deep Conditioner, Bumble and Bumble Bb. Color Gloss, Kristin Ess Signature Hair Gloss, Living Proof Color Care Whipped Glaze, etc.

– Use mayo on your hair. Apply to damp locks and wash out in 30 min.

– Make a gelatin lamination at home. Dissolve 1 tbsp of gelatin in warm water (1 cup). Add 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil (optional). Apply everything to your hair and scalp. Rinse off in 20 minutes with shampoo and warm water.

How to Get Shiny Hair Overnight

Home remedies for smooth and shiny hair include several nighttime hair care routines. Brush your hair thoroughly and with the right brush (a round brush with natural bristles, a boar bristle brush, and a paddle brush are the top picks of hairstylists) before going to bed. Sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase. Don’t use any heat before going to bed. Condition your hair. Use one of your favorite shiny hair masks.

How to Make Hair Shiny Instantly

Have no time for deep treatments? How to make hair shiny instantly? This depends on the reason why it lost its shine. If it is shiny, but got matte because of the product buildup, just wash your hair twice with a good clarifying shampoo, and condition your locks. Spray with a shine booster for the added glossiness. Or you may wash your hair with a detox shampoo and use one of the home remedies described above. If the causes of your brittle locks are deeper, instant hair shine is possible with pro salon treatments (like Kerastase K Water).

How to Make Hair Shiny and Smooth after Straightening

Use hair gloss products like shine-enhancer hair oils, serums, and smoothing creams. If it is a salon straightening treatment, do exactly what your hairstylist recommends for this purpose.

Shiny Black Hair

How we can get silky and shiny black hair? Provide good sun protection. Use color-enhancing products like the ARTec Color Depositing Cocoa Bean Shampoo, Redken Color Extend Brownlights Blue Shampoo, John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Multi-Tone Revealing Shampoo, etc. Straight black hair looks shinier. Use serums on the top layer. Try coffee or black tea hair rinses.

Shiny Blonde Hair

Shiny hair color after bleaching? Yes, please. But how? You need to repair your locks asap and hydrate them a lot. Do hair masks, try a rice water hair rinse, give your hair maximum protection, apply oils.

Shiny Brown Hair

Getting dark brown shiny hair is easier than shiny light shades because darker tones reflect the light better. Just keep it healthy as described above and no extra products or manipulations will be needed. If your hair is dyed, invest in a good shampoo and conditioner for color-treated hair. Dark hair shades wash off quicker.

How to Make Red Hair Shiny

Red hair can be glossy and shiny too. You just need to follow all the above-mentioned rules to get it healthy, and include products (shampoos, condishes, etc.) made for redheads. Some women also advise to use cranberry juice to enhance the red hair color.

Shiny Curly Hair

How to make curly hair smooth and shiny? Curly-haired girls are recommended to trim ends regularly, rinse curls with cool water, diffuse hair on a cool temperature setting, use shine-enhancing serums and gloss mists. Also, oil treatments help, as well as deep conditioning.

How to Make Gray Hair Smooth and Shiny

Shiny gray hair – a myth or reality? The question of how to make aging hair shiny seems popular as a lot of our readers ask this. There are many factors that can influence the look of your gray hair. These include the current condition of your hair, whether the gray is coming as a result of aging or premature graying, and what dye you’re using if any. The truth is that your hair changes as you age. Older hair loses color and moisture, so it looks dryer, flatter, coarser, and less shiny.

However, there are still some things that you can do yourself to make your gray hair appear healthier, shinier, and younger-looking in all of these cases. To make gray silver hair shiny, look at what’s in your diet first of all.

To make gray hair shiny, choose a good shampoo and serum, use hairsprays on the underneath layers of your hair only, use leave-in conditioners, and hydrating products. Blow-dry your hair from roots to tips. Use a purple shampoo once per several weeks to prevent yellowness. Switch to more lightweight hair products. For dyed gray hair to be really shiny, choose the best hair dyes you can afford. And moisturize a lot afterwards. You may even opt for salon keratin or gloss hair treatments.

Salon Hair Treatments for Shiny Hair

The most popular smooth and shiny hair treatments in hair salons are keratin treatment, hair glossing, glazing, hair lamination, and Olaplex.

Shiny hair is much easier to achieve than you may think. There are a lot of products to make hair shiny and glossy on the market, including salon shiny glossy hair treatments, and DIY remedies. Hope these shiny hair tips will help you get the super soft and shiny hair you dream about.

Featured Image: master1305 – freepik.com

by Donna Sullivan
Donna is a hairstylist with 8 years of experience. Ask her about any hair-related problem (haircuts, hairstyles, colorings, hair care) and get a pro advice!