Caring for Long Hair Love Blake Lively's long, healthy hair?

Find out how to care for and maintain lo ng hair. Long, loose locks are the trend on the runway and red carpet this season. Long h air is beautiful, sexy, lush, but it can be hard to maintain. When healthy and w ell cared for, long hair looks spectacular whether loose, pulled back, worn in a n updo, or any combination of styles. But unhealthy, messy, or damaged, long hai r looks terrible any way you wear it. Prone to damage, breakage, split ends, unr uly in the summer or dry in the winter, long hair needs special care to stay hea lthy and gorgeous. Here s how to care for long hair. Wash your hair gently but thoroughly several times a week. Use a top quality sha mpoo that is formulated for your type of long hair dry, normal, combination, or oily. Scrub the hair on your scalp and massage down to the ends of your long hai r. Use a top quality conditioner on your hair every day. Pay special attention to l ong hair s ends, adding extra conditioner and pressing into the ends of your long hair gently Rinse long hair with warm, then cool water not hot. Hot water can damage your lo ng hair, causing it to look frizzy and become difficult to manage and style. Dry your long hair gently with a soft towel or cotton T-shirt, squeezing out exc ess moisture. Never wrap long hair in a towel, twist, and place on top of your h ard to dry, as this will cause hair to become damaged and rough. Consider using a leave-in conditioner or detangler. If your long hair is curly o r thick, these leave-in styling products can keep hair soft and manageable. Invest in a top quality hairbrush with natural bristles and wide toothed comb to detangle your long hair. Comb through wet hair from roots to tips, making sure the ends are completely tangle free without pulling on the ends to make them so. Dirty brushes make dirty long hair. Be sure to remove hair that gets stuck in yo ur brush or comb every day. Then wash and dry your brushes and combs once a week . To clean hair brushes and combs, soak in warm water and shampoo for 5 minutes, rinse, and let dry on a towel overnight. Make every attempt to let your long hair dry naturally, but if you must use a bl ow dryer, keep it on a cool setting and avoid pulling long hair while you dry it . Choose hair accessories wisely-not all of them are suitable for women with long hair. Avoid elastic bands and opt for soft cloth scrunchies instead. Use styling c ombs and bands with strong teeth, as week ones will break off in. your long hair and get tangles. Experiment with updos, braids, and other hairstyles that suit you, but be sure you don t tug, pull, or wrangle your long hair in any way that ca n cause damage. Trim your long hair every 6-8 weeks to remove split ends and excess hair weight that can make hair oily, frizzy, or dry. Protect long hair from perspiration when you exercise, chlorine when you swim in a pool, and the sun when you are outside in the summer months. Pull long hair o ff face and neck, apply extra conditioners when needed, cover hair in a hat, and cleanse hair thoroughly after it has been exposed to excessive sun, salt water, chlorine, sweat, or other elements. Your lifestyle shows in your long hair. Excessive stress, lack of sleep, smoking , and poor eating and exercising habits make it harder to keep your hair healthy . Eat a nutritious diet rich in vitamins and protein, drink plenty of water, exe rcise regularly, get some rest, avoid cigarettes, and your hair will boast its h ealth. Want beautiful, head-turning tresses? Take care of your long hair and look beaut iful every day! For Beautiful Hair Chickpeas In addition to providing zinc and folate (nutrients that promote hair health), c hickpeas are a great vegetarian source of iron-rich protein, an important combin

ation for hair growth and repair. Because hair gets its structure from hardened proteins called keratin, people who don't have enough protein in their diet expe rience slower growth and weaker strands. To increase the absorption of iron from chickpeas, couple with a vitamin C rich food such as tomatoes, bell peppers or ci trus fruit. Lentils Lentils are especially high in both folate and iron, two powerful nutrients that nourish your mane. Folate is a B vitamin that aids the creation of red blood ce lls; iron helps those blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to all body cells. With iron deficiency, a condition known as anemia, cells can't get enough oxygen to function properly. The result can be devastating to the whole body, causing weakness, fatigue and maybe even hair loss. So load up on iron-rich lentils for sturdy tresses and if you're a premenopausal woman, consider taking a multivitam in that contains iron to replace iron lost during menstruation. Strawberries Oranges often get the credit as the best vitamin C packed fruit, but did you know that just eight strawberries deliver 100 percent of your daily value? Strawberri es are a juicy, delicious source of vitamin C, which is largely responsible for the health of collagen. Hair follicles require collagen, a structural fiber, for optimal growth. Even minor vitamin C deficiencies can lead to dry, splitting ha ir that breaks easily, so eating vitamin C rich foods like strawberries can help y ou grow stronger, more resilient strands. Peanuts You may have heard about the benefits of biotin for hair health in a shampoo ad, or read in a magazine that taking biotin supplements can make your hair grow fa ster. Biotin is a B vitamin essential for hair growth and overall scalp health, but our bodies make their own biotin in the intestines, and it's also found in m any common foods. A biotin deficiency is therefore very rare, so supplements are usually unnecessary if you're eating a balanced diet that includes some high-bi otin foods. Peanuts are a great choice, as they're also high in B vitamins and f olate, which contribute to healthy hair. Kale Beta carotene is converted into vitamin A, which is necessary for all cell growt h and turnover. Skimping on beta carotene can lead to dull, lifeless hair and da ndruff, which is really just dry skin. Regularly eating kale, a leafy green vege table, is one of the best ways to pack beta carotene into your diet for healthie r locks. You can saut&eacute a bunch or two with a little olive oil and garlic, or try my delicious recipe for crispy kale chips: Cut or tear fresh kale into pi eces, place in a single layer on a baking sheet, mist with oil spray and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. If braiding your hair makes you think of Pippi Longstocking or Laura Ingalls Wil der, you re probably missing out on one of the hottest hairstyling trends today. B raids are back and in a big way: Celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Hayden Panet tiere, and Lauren Conrad (to name just a few) have all been photographed recentl y wearing their hair in braids. But these pretty plaits aren t the traditional, two-neat-braids-hanging-from-parte d-down-the-middle hair. Stylish braids can take many forms for instance, a sleek hair-band braid, twin French braids that gather into a messy updo, a single tou sled braid, or several tiny braids interwoven into otherwise loose, long hair. Braids are incredibly versatile. A single, shiny French braid can be polished en ough for the office, while two loose plaits look playful and perfect for a day o f shopping. And adding a few micro braids to casually messy hair gives you a boh o chic look that s right for night. With a little practice (or, okay, a lot, depending on your dexterity), you can e asily re-create these celebrity styles at home.

First, start with hair that s damp or dry (braiding wet hair can create a tighter braid but can also cause breakage) and that s been coated with a dollop of frizz-c ontrol mousse or styling cream. If you re after a sleek style, you ll need to have a comb and brush handy for smoothing and parting hair. And of course, you ll also n eed ponytail holders, bobby pins, and hair spray. To create a basic braid: Divide the hair you want to braid into three smooth, even sections. Take the right-hand section and bring it across over the center section; pull ti ght (or not, if you re after a loose, casual look). Take the left-hand section and bring it across the center section; again, pull t ight or leave loose, depending on the desired final look. Continue alternating sections until you reach the end of your hair. Secure with a ponytail holder. If you re leaving the ends long enough, try wrappin g a strand of your hair around the elastic to cover it and tuck it into the pony tail holder. With this technique, you can create one or two loose braids that hang down your back or behind your ears. Or create an easy updo by parting your hair down the m iddle, gathering it in two ponytails near your ears, and braiding each ponytail. Then bring the right braid up over toward your left ear and secure with bobby p ins, and repeat with the left braid. Other types of braids include: French braids. These braids start with three small sections of hair, usually at the crown (or to create the hair-band look, start behind one ear). Additional se ctions are then pulled in and added to the braid as it lengthens. Cornrows. Also called track braids, cornrows are tight, flat braids that lie clo se to the scalp. Creating cornrows is somewhat similar to creating a French brai d, in that sections of hair are pulled in and added to create the braid. Cornrow s can be straight or form geometric patterns. Dutch braids. Also called inverted French braids, Dutch braids are created by cr ossing sections of hair under one another, rather than over one another, creatin g a braid that sits on top of the head. Fishtail braids. Also called herringbone braids, this style uses two sections of hair rather than three.