Ones of the biggest secrets to healthy looking, shiny and bouncy hair, I’m convinced, is to get it trimmed at least once every eight weeks. Since your hair grows at an average of about 1/2 inch every month, if you are trying to grow your hair out, then you can just opt to get it “tipped” and get the dead ends removed so that the length is left largely intact.

But make sure you tell you stylist you are trying to grow it out, or kiss your length goodbye every time you go to get a trim. When most stylists see any sort of dead end, they go for the jugular, and usually remove more than they need to unless you make it known that you are growing your locks out longer.

I think that one of the biggest secrets to keeping beautiful, frizz free curls in your hair is that same, that is, getting trims often. Because you are constantly having the dead ends removed, and this is the primary reason that the cuticle of the hair shaft looks so roughed up and frizzy all the time if you go too long in between hair cuts, getting these frequent mini maintenance trims is key to really maintaining the health, integrity, bounce and shine of your head of hair. It will also make your curls more intense since you don’t have the dead ends weighing them down.

You may want to look into a protein based heat protective spray to spray on you curls every time you blow your hair dry, or if you are going to use some sort of heated styling tool on your hair. I just watched a video of a stylist who advised that most people (including me) don’t know it, but every time you blow your hair dry or use hot styling instruments on it, it actually loses some of it’s protein fibers.

A good heat protectant that contains these proteins will help to not only ward off any heat related styling damage, but also will help to replenish those lost proteins as well. Once in a while, you may want to try a vinegar rinse on the hair, to remove any styling product buildup and to help restore shine.

The natural acids in apple cider vinegar help to not only cleanse away dull and drying deposits from hair styling products, but they also help to increase the surface reflections, which hence increases the shine factor, which as any of you with curls know, is the main attraction of curls – that and separation and bounce!