There’s nothing better than a confidence-boosting visit to the salon. The dry, unkempt hair you walked in with transforms, and you walk out with the silky, smooth hair— and a spring in your step!
If only we could bottle that fabulous hair into a daily occurrence. After your first wash, it’s back to frizz, tangles, and dryness. Can you relate?
Even with the best hair smoothening products, you struggle to recreate the smooth hair you had a few days prior. Sometimes, it feels like your dreams of smooth hair are far from reality. Unfortunately, getting that envious, lustrous shine and smoothness isn’t easy for many of us.
That doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. A fine-tune to your daily habits and beauty routine can transform your hair.
We’ve rounded up our top tips for smooth hair so that the velvety, shiny head of hair you dream of becomes a reality.
How to Get Smooth Hair
“How can I make my hair soft and silky?” Asks every woman at some point in her life. Fortunately, learning how to get smooth hair is easier than you might think — despite daily battles and maybe even a thrown brush or two.
Before we dive into hair smoothening tips, we should probably look at the causes of dull hair. The truth is, your hair routine and beauty habits impact hair health. Everything from color-treating to brushing to over-washing can cause scalp dryness, lackluster locks, and dulled shine.
Inevitably, styling becomes more difficult when you’ve got unenthused strands. It’s an ongoing cycle, and to get smooth hair, you’ll need a fresh approach.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to slather mayonnaise and egg yolk over your scalp or over-condition your hair. You also don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on hair smoothening treatments and products.
Instead, follow these simple smooth hair tips:
- Nourish Your Scalp
- Sleep on a Silk Pillowcase
- Wash & Dry Correctly
- Protect Your Hair When Using Heat
- Eat Scalp-Nourishing Foods
- Apply a Serum When Styling
Ready to pour on the shine? Read on for our tips for how to make hair silky and shiny at home!
1. Nourish Your Scalp
Here at Daniel Alain, we chat a lot about scalp health. Why? Because the status of your hair’s texture, volume, shine, body — all the qualities that make you want to stand tall, walk confidently, and flip your hair a few times — depends on your scalp.
The best way to smooth hair is to prioritize scalp health. Your scalp operates as the motherboard in hair anatomy, regulating the growth cycle and influencing hair quality. So, if it’s dry, malnourished, and dehydrated — you’re absolutely going to see it in the form of flat, dull, lifeless hair.
So, what does your scalp need to produce the smoothest hair ever? According to a recent case study, the scalp needs a synthesis of essential nutrients like amino acids, B-vitamins, biotin, and vitamin E.
In the study, researchers evaluated the physiology of participants’ scalps, sampled their scalp microbiome, and extracted fungal and bacterial DNA.
I know, it sounds too science-y for a post about smooth hair tips, right? But get this: researchers observed that the healthiest scalps showed an abundance of certain bacterias.
Moisture-rich nutrients increase the scalp microbiome’s metabolic pathways, effectively transforming your scalp into a healthy, thriving organ.
In other words, your scalp is hungry for hydrating nutrients, and you can get these from hair smoothening products.
Try a simple scalp massage. Massaging vitamin E oil or INTACT 5 Hair Shedding Treatment into your scalp will feed it the moisture and nourishment it craves to produce shiny, smooth hair.
If you’re looking for hair smoothening home remedies, find our favorite dry scalp treatments and tips here.
2. Sleep on a Silk Pillowcase
Wondering how to get smooth hair overnight? To start, you can say goodbye to your cotton or polyester pillowcase. Not only does sleeping on a silk pillowcase make you feel like a Kardashian, but it’ll give you the smoothest hair ever.
When cotton fibers rub against your hair, you’ll notice more friction and tangles. Good morning, frizz!
While you wouldn’t instinctively think of bedding when it comes to hair smoothening tips, it goes back to moisture balance. Cotton and polyester absorb moisture and natural oils from your hair, stripping the lubrication you need to wake up with smooth hair.
The solution?
Switch to a silk pillowcase to keep moisture on your scalp and off your pillow.
3. Wash & Dry Hair Correctly
Washing Tips for Smooth Hair:
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Wash hair 2-3 times a week to avoid stripping away natural lubricants from over-shampooing.
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After you wash and condition your hair, splash it with cold water. The cold might feel shocking, but it’ll trigger your hair follicles to seal the cuticle and lock in moisture.
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Between washes, use a hydrating dry shampoo to keep your hair clean without dehydrating the scalp.
Drying Tips for Smooth Hair:
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Pat your hair down with a towel instead of rubbing it, which aggravates the cuticles and creates friction and frizz.
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Switch to a microfiber towel to gently absorb water and reduce breakage from abrasive towels.
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Spray a moisturizing hair protectant to seal in moisture before drying and protect the follicles from hot tools.
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Let your hair air dry until about 80% of your hair has dried naturally.
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Blow-dry your hair on a low, warm setting. As you dry sections of your hair, point the blow dryer downward. Then follow the natural direction of your cuticle, and dry from the root to the tip.
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Polish off with a quick blast on the cool setting to lock in the moisture and boost shine.
4. Protect Your Hair When Using Heat
We love to style our hair, but all that heat from hot styling tools diminishes hair shine and smoothness. Repeated exposure to heat can strip the hair of moisture, causing dryness and dandruff.
“Any kind of heat on the hair can be challenging because we are constantly trying to maintain the hair’s natural moisture balance.”
— Marco Pelusi, celebrity hairstylist
What’s a woman to do? You can retain your styling techniques and get smooth hair. Straightening your hair is a great way to lay the cuticles flat, making hair feel softer and enabling light to bounce from the hair and shine.
Follow these tips to learn how to make hair smooth and straight naturally:
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Apply a pre-shampoo treatment, like INTACT 5 to dry hair. INTACT 5 secures hair at the root and soothes the follicles with nourishing ingredients like coconut fatty acids and vitamin b5.
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Let hair air dry to 80% before applying any hot tools.
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Follow the blowout instructions we shared to bring hair to complete dryness.
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Use a high-quality ceramic flat iron on a low setting to bring out the shine. Section hair into small pieces, and brush each piece before applying heat. Start at the roots and slowly iron hair down to the ends.
5. Eat Nourishing Foods that Hydrate the Scalp
Skin is your body’s largest organ, and just how certain foods can cause acne, others can dry the scalp. Hair is made of protein cells, and your follicles feed on amino acids and keratin. Time to load up on the leafy greens, nuts, coconut, and avocado!
If you’re wondering how to get silky hair naturally, one of the simplest solutions is to stock your kitchen with bountiful proteins and healthy fats.
Loading up on nutrient-rich foods promotes healthy cell regeneration to keep the hair growth cycle functioning properly.
So, what should you stock up on during your next grocery store visit?
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Whole proteins from lean meats, fish, dairy, legumes, quinoa, and soy
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Iron-rich foods like leafy greens, fish, broccoli, oysters, and eggs
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Biotin-rich foods like almonds, cauliflower, cheese, and mushrooms
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Healthy omega fatty acids from salmon, coconut oil, and avocados
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Vitamins b12, C, E, & D from fruits, veggies, and nuts (or a daily multivitamin)
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Calcium-rich foods like dairy, yogurt, broccoli, salmon, and oranges
6. Apply a Serum When Styling
Applying a hair smoothening treatment before you style is an effective way to get smooth hair instantly. Not only will the serum protect your hair from damage caused by daily styling routines, but it’ll minimize frizz and make your hair shiny and ultra-smooth.
But with so many hair smoothening products out there, how will you know which is right for your hair type? Moreover, how can you dodge the harsh alcohols, sulfates, and parabens in everyday smoothening products? Ultimately, you’ll want a product that is gentle to your cuticles, nourishing them with hydrating, shine-boosting ingredients.
INTACT 5 moisturizes the scalp while helping you retain hair during brushing and styling.
What is INTACT Made of?
INTACT 5 is a revolutionary, first of its kind, hair shedding treatment that tackles hair shedding at the root by contracting the arrector pili (tiny muscles inside the hair follicles). After the first use, hair is fuller and the scalp is nourished.
INTACT 5's nourishing ingredients give your scalp the nutrients it needs to produce healthy, shiny, smooth hair. Plus, the patented serum is free of sulfates, parabens, silicones, oils, SD-alcohol, artificial dyes and gluten, enabling your hair to retain moisture.
The following ingredients are what make INTACT 5 the ultimate hair smoothening product.
Root Securing Technology
Often, the root of excessive shedding is an unhealthy scalp. INTACT 5’s root securing technology contains naturally stimulating nutrients like niacinamide (B3) and Seville orange that help you retain hair. Applying INTACT 5 before washing will improve the hair’s ability to stay attached to the root, meaning you’ll have more hair for styling!
Hydration Complex
Hair smoothening products need naturally nourishing ingredients like emollients and humectants to maintain optimal moisture balance. INTACT 5 delivers on this need with an abundance of hydrating nutrients, including coconut fatty acids and panthenol (B5). Hair feels smoother instantly, leaving locks shiny and voluminous.
See what people have to say about their hair after using INTACT 5.
Protect Your Hair & See The Difference!
To recap: the key to unlocking your smoothest hair ever is to make choices that prioritize hair health. As you can see, a few adjustments can yield amazing results! Take some time to redirect your hair routine, and you’ll get the smooth hair you desire — and an onslaught of compliments to boot!
Are you looking for more smooth hair tips? At Daniel Alain, our mission is to provide resources and solutions to make your hair fabulous every day.