Looking for luscious locks this summer?

The Coconut Oil Mask
The vitamins and essential fatty acids that are naturally found in coconut oil nourish the scalp and help to remove sebum that builds up from the hair follicles. Coconut oil also moisturises the hair, which prevents hair breakage and slows down hair fall, while giving it both shine and a healthy appearance. At the end of the day, soak and massage coconut oil into the hair and scalp for a few minutes and cover with a turban. Leaving the oil in overnight allows for maximum absorbance and will leave hair strong, soft and shiny.
 
Tip: Coconut oil is an excellent natural sunscreen, especially during summer, when you know that your hair will be exposed to the elements more than usual. Spray some coconut oil on the hair for the ultimate natural nourishing protection.

The Caffeine Coffee Rinse
Coffee is excellent at balancing pH for hair and is also really effective in stimulating your hair roots by improving its structure and growth. Apart from making hair stronger and smoother, caffeine also gives your hair a natural sheen and makes it more manageable.
 
Tip: Pour pre-brewed cooled coffee into dry hair and allow to sit for 20 minutes before rinsing with cold water and finishing with conditioner.

The Vitamin E Drench
Vitamin E is extremely good for hair and has been an essential ingredient in body lotions, shampoos, and conditioners for years. You can use it individually in capsule form to work from the inside out, or even mix vitamin E oil with coconut oil and apply it to your scalp for an effective hair mask.
 
Tip: Leave in overnight for extra-nourished shiny hair.

The Cold Rinse
A super steamy shower can be rough on your hair and can leave it coarse and dry. Rinsing with cold water, on the other hand, helps to seal the cuticles and strengthen the hair, helping it grow longer and maintain its health.

Trim The Ends
Snipping your hair more often helps in faster hair growth and removes split ends. Regular styling makes your hair prone to split ends and damaged cuticles, so trimming the lower portion of your hair every six to eight weeks is always worthwhile, as it ensures that the damage is minimum; this promotes the growth of healthy hair too.

Lay Off The Heat
High heat styling tools make your hair look better for a moment and worse for a lifetime afterwards. There are so many other options out there, such as rag curls, rollers and braid waves. If you can allow your hair to air-dry as often as possible or select the cold settings when using a blow dryer, this will also make your hair look shinier!  

Tip: If you do have to use hot air, maintain a distance of at least six inches between your scalp and the blow dryer nozzle.
 
Don't Over-Colour Hair
Whether you have highlights or lowlights, they will have a direct impact on how healthy or unhealthy your hair will look. Over-colouring causes dry split ends, lacklustre appearance, breakage, and plays havoc with the overall health of the hair. Ultimately, when you dye hair, you are destroying the first layer to change the colour within, and when the barrier of the hair is destroyed, you have nothing left to protect the hair.

Do's and Don'ts
It is very important to protect your hair from the heat to achieve healthy hair. Try to avoid detergents, polymers, damaging alcohols, and ammonia which are found in traditional shampoos in the form of ammonium lauryl sulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate.
These ingredients are added to make the shampoo feel thicker and richer in your hand, and also to create the foaming lather that people have come to expect. These ingredients work against your hair and will only dry it out instead.
Use products with natural oils, like coconut, jojoba, etc. Apply a light nourishing conditioner to the ends of your hair so the strands aren't weighed down by any extra product. If you feel your hair is dry, use a hair mask once a week to moisturise.
During the night, loosely tie your hair back. It is also worth investing in a 100 per cent silk pillowcase that causes less friction and static to the hair, which creates less tangling when you move around during the night. This also decreases hair fall.
(Asgar Saboo is a UK-based hair stylist who has worked with scores of celebrities and dignitaries the world over - including Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Rekha, as well as supermodels Cindy Crawford and Twiggy, and Hollywood actress Eva Longoria.)