7 Ways to To Make Dull Hair Shine Like Satin
One of the telltale signs you are looking old is dry, dull hair. The reasons can be many. In your 30’s oil production slows down. Hormonal changes in the 40 also shift the balance of moisture in the body. Often dullness is due to years of hair coloring which makes your hair look frizzy and lifeless.
Here’s how to get the shine back and start looking more youthful.
1. Stop Using Home Coloring
Many women notice when they color their hair at home, it tends to dry it out more than when they have it done professionally. Leave it to an expert.
2. Limit Hair Washing
Daily washing can stress out your hair. Try skipping a day or two between washing. If you have to wash every day, use a mild shampoo, and limit lathering.
3. Rinse with cool water
A shot of cold water just before you get out of the shower closes the cuticles, which will make the hair look shinier.
4. Avoid High Heat
Do you dry your hair with a blow dryer on high heat? That can give those fragile strands a workout! Try using the hot, then cool button to alternate the heat on and off. The cool button acts the same way as the cool water- closing the cuticles.
5. Use the Cone
Most blowdryers have a little “cone” that you can pop on and off the end of the dryer. This small piece is vital in keeping your hair from getting frizzed. Make sure you dry your hair to make it look smooth.
6. Use Special products if Curling or Straightening
Many women curl or straighten their hair. Make sure you add a little more product into your hair to protect it from the hot iron! I like a hydrating heat protector like Keratase Climate Thermique which softens and conditions. Another great one is Pantene.
7. Deep Moisturize Once a Week
Even something as simple as olive oil on your hair for half an hour before you wash will help soften and shine up your hair. Some women swear by two eggs white and an avocado mixed in the blender. Apply to hair from root tip. Throw on a shower cap and towel to keep the heat in and leave it on for three hours. Then wash out.
For more great tips on getting shiny hair check out this expert advice from our Fabulous After 40 stylist.
What do you do to get the shine back in your hair? Email me and let me know.
I agree with Marsha. Expensive products ruined my hair. Now I use baby shampoo and a tiny bit of conditioner that is silicone free and has no coconut oil, shea, or other stuff that coats my hair. My hair is soft, bouncy, and shiny again like it was in the 70s, except it’s gray. Looks better than when I colored it. All the products out there coat your hair, and it looks great for a day and then gets dull and attracts dirt. It also prevents moisture from reaching your hair and dries it out. Sometimes I use products, but I use a clarifying shampoo to get them out.
Hair seems dry and lifeless. I don’t color my hair either. Have curly hair, over 60 as well. Also, when I blow dry it, I use a styling brush, and my hair looks like doll hair. It’s weird. It seems to be breaking also. Do I need vitamins, or what is happening?
Hi Pat, It’s probably getting dry and breaking because just as we age, our hair does too. Have you tried using hair vitamins or Biotin supplements? I just finished the Kerahealth hair program and was impressed. It involves supplements and special shampoo and conditioner. You can check it out here:https://www.fabulousafter40.com/kerahealth-hair-supplements/.
I’ve always heard of using baking soda as a way to strip hard water mineral deposits from hair very tuff on hair but effective for that; it’s probably why you initially liked it. I have used a wen and one and conditioner to wash my hair, yet I continue to use shampoo at least once a week. I feel we have to get environmental pollution off the hair regularly, including using baking soda every 4 to six months. I have yet to find a natural method that is a suitable replacement. Although I have used mayo hair masks, beer rinses, vinegar rinses, and oils, and enjoy them on occasion. Moderation seems ok
This article states what to do less to get shiny hair, but what can I do more to get shiny hair? I don’t color my hair, I don’t wash my hair too much (I wash my hair based on weather, functional level, and need), and I don’t use an iron or blow dryer. I don’t get perms. And I’m not often out in the sun or a pool.
So I might be using written ng product, but there aren’t any sugsuggestionsre. I wish this article were more helpful.
My hair doesn’t shine the way it used to in my twenties. I color it once a month and have not found a product that will give shine to my hair and last the whole day.
My hair is already thin. I wish I could finally find something to improve the look and feel confident again.
Not only am I almost 44 years old since my breast cancer diagnosis three years ago, but my hair has also become so dull after it grew back after chemo. I would love to try your product to see if it will help. Thank you!
I would love to try these products. I also use argan oil on my face and hair weekly.
Aveeno is a great product – I would love to give this product a try – I have naturally curly hair and have to be very careful to keep the frizzies out!
Yes, I have noticed my hair getting drier with age. I, too, have been using Argan oil, applying it before blow drying. It helps make my hair soft and shiny. I would love to try these Aveeno products!
I am constantly growing it, cutting it, and changing colors. Very tired of change right now, so I picked a color to stick with and developed it into a sleek chin-length bob.
I’m 46 with brown hair and highlights; I try to use different shampoos for color-treated hair and add a tablespoon of baking soda to my shampoo about once a week to get rid of the ‘gunk’ that can make your hair dull and not so shiny.
I would love to try the Aveeno products…keep rockin’ on with your imperfect selves! :)
Thanks for the tips! I try not to wash my hair every day and have an aunt from Germany that insists you should only wash hair once a week! My scalp itches just thinking about it!
My hair is dry and damaged from years of coloring it and the flat iron. I have naturally curly hair, but I like to straighten it. You always want what you don’t have. Is that not how it always goes? I would love to try AVEENO products for my hair.
I used Aveeno for fine and limp hair for the first time, and I love it. I’m buying some today!! I have fine hair, and the Aveeno makes me feel like I have hair again. I love it!!
Aveeno is one of my favorite brands. They are one of the sponsors of the Skin Cancer Foundation, which provides free skin cancer screenings nationwide
Uh…I am 47, in full-blown menopause, and can’t use any heat because my Mom had breast cancer CAUSED by estrogen. My hair is a MESS, and nothing I do seems to help. It’s dry, brittle, and utterly different than it has been for 47 years! I’d love to win this. Thanks for the chance.
I am always looking for new hair products and am never completely satisfied. I love Aveeno; from the lotion to the body wash; I have not tried the hair products yet.
Do you all find that mid-life is like another kind of adolescence in learning to deal with changes in hair, skin, and shape? Sometimes, it feels like that to me as I find old health and beauty routines don’t work as well as they used to, and I have to find new patterns. I’m glad to have fun resources like this to help along the way. I’d love to win a set from Aveeno.
I would love to try these!
Once upon a time, my hair was shiny. I used to get hair compliments all the time. Now my hair is fizzy, limp, and dull. The shine has been replaced with mat dullness. It is depressing. Nothing seems to make a difference. I’m desperately hoping you have the answer!
I would LOVE to try these hair products!! I love the skin products already.
It is normal to lose over a hundred hair strands a day, but it becomes alarming when suddenly you see your scalp peeking through.
I would love to try this.
I would love to try the Aveeno stuff. I just started coloring this year – using a light color on my very dark brown hair to “tint” the gray. But after a few treatments, my hair got dry and weird. My mother told me to avoid color with ammonia (the late 40s and I can still get good style advice from my mother ;-) ). It has helped, but this looks like it’s worth a try.
I tried an awful lot of expensive treatments for my very dull, dry, dyed hair. Nothing at all worked for more than a few hours until I stopped using shampoo entirely and replaced it with cheap conditioner (Suave) that I massaged in carefullefteave in for about 5 minutes, rinsed out, and then started using a second rinse of a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to a cup of water. I leave that in for about a minute, then rinse it carefully. My hair has been gleaming ever since – people remark on it.
I use the Aveeno treatment, which works well as a leave-in conditioner. I haven’t seen that shine spray in the stores; I would like to try it.
I use the Aveeno products for naturally curly/wavy hair, and I love them. I don’t get cuts often enough and use OTC hair coloring most of the time. Depending on my budget and random gift certificates, I can partake in a professional job several times a year.
My 50th b-day is weeks away, and I will celebrate a bit at the super lovely salon!
I wash my hair every day during the week & use a hair straightener, so if I’m not careful, my hair can get dried out too. I switched to John Frieda hair color (it is salon quality) & use instincts Shine Happy precise shine treatment every couple of weeks to give my hair shine. Before bedtime, I put a lot of argon oil on the ends of my hair to help repair it, and then once a week, I use coconut oil for deep conditioning. On weekends I give my hair a break from all the styling. So with all of the above, it seems to cut down on the drying out factor. I know a lot of work, but worth it. Argon oil & coconut oil is your best bet for deep conditioning & repair.
Aveeno skin products are wonderful!have noy tried their hair products and would love too! Hint, hint! Hormones, weather/season and poor diet can all effect my hairs condition.
You have a hidden camera in my bathroom, don’t you!? I try not to wash my hair daily, but I have oily hair and exercise daily and sometimes… I just have to wash daily. I do avoid products with sulfates and use filtered water…
HI Channon,
LOL…well at least we can all commiserate together!
Yep, I have the same problem with the dry hair from hi-lighting. My beauician usually always does a gloss treatment after hi-lighting and that helps alot. We have horrible water out here at the lake & I have a charcoal filter on the shower to help with discoloration but still at times, it will ruin it. I use a well water shampoo sometimes. I change shampoos alot. Also use a moisturing treatment pretty often. Would love to try these from Aveeno. Bonnie
I remember being in my twenties and having shiny straight hair. Now it mostly feels like straw no matter what I do. It is still straighter than a board but very straw like.
I love Aveeno products for my skin but have never tried their hair-care products. Would love to give them a try!
My hair stylist has told me that hormones as we get older can cause our hair texture to change. Makes sense to me. I hit middle age and BLAMMO! :)