Caring for Long Hair: Two Rules You Should Break, and One You Should Always Follow

If you have long hair (meaning several inches below your shoulders or longer) you probably have already noticed that your tresses need some extra-special care that shorter haircuts don't require. Many beauty magazines make recommendations for hair care that are well meant, but these suggestions are not one-size-fits-all. Here are two rules you can break, and one rule never to break.

Rule #1: Only use combs or "vent brushes" on your long hair, because bristle brushes cause split ends and breakage.

This actually isn't a bad rule to follow 90 percent of the time. It is better to carefully comb out any snarls or knots in your hair, and to use "vent brushes" to comb your hair on a day-to-day basis. Natural or man-made bristle brushes can cause split ends or breakage, especially if your hair isn't entirely dry when you use them, or if you over-use these brushes.

However, if you have long hair and want to prevent the ends from becoming dry, brittle and split, you should wash it less often than folks with shorter hair do. At most, you should be washing your locks every other day, and many owners of long hair only wash their hair once or twice a week. While this will keep dryness and breakage to a minimum, this can sometimes lead to unsightly greasiness at the scalp.

The solution to the greasy look is the boar hair brush. Used sparingly, this type of bristle brush will keep your hair looking shiny and healthy all the way to the tips. With several dozen strokes, this type of brush will redistribute the oil at the scalp all the way to the tips of your hair. The brush can often tame frizziness during humid weather as well. I keep a boar hair brush in my desk at work, and when my hair is looking frizzy or greasy, I take it to the restroom and run it through my hair for twenty strokes or so, leaving my hair looking much more professional and put-together in mere minutes.

Rule #2: Only use conditioner on the tips of your hair.