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Dull Hair? 4 Low-Lift Tips To Restore Vibrancy & Natural Color

Jamie Schneider
Author:
October 18, 2024
Jamie Schneider
Former Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Editor
By Jamie Schneider
Former Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Editor
Jamie Schneider is the former Senior Beauty Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.A. in Organizational Studies and English from the University of Michigan, and her work has appeared in Coveteur, The Chill Times, and Wyld Skincare.
Shiny Hair Portrait Sunlight
Image by Sergey Filimonov / Stocksy
October 18, 2024

Please tell me I’m not the only one dealing with dull, lifeless hair right now. Dry air and freezing winds did a number on my scalp and strands this winter, despite my commitment to weekly hydrating masks and treatments. Sometimes frigid temperatures trump even the most diligent hair care efforts—such is life!  

On the quest to counteract lackluster locks, I decided to compile some of my favorite expert-backed tips to restore hair health and shine, just in time for spring. Prepare for your strands to fully bloom. 

1.

Use an at-home gloss

Colorists often use hair glosses for slight tweaks to hair color—to correct unwanted color, add depth to your shade, or color-correct an undertone, for example. These formulas do deposit some pigment, but you can also find sheer glazes that subtly enhance the hair’s natural hue. Both versions also help smooth frizz and add a healthy dose of shine.  

Whether you use a sheer or tinted version, glosses help bring vibrancy back to your hair. They don’t have the same long wear as hair color (they tend to last for about 12 to 20 washes), which makes them great for a low-stakes, at-home venture.

2.

Apply (and ingest) antioxidants

Environmental aggressors wreak havoc on hair color over time by creating oxidative stress; antioxidants, however, help counteract those environmental stressors. Vitamin E, vitamin C, niacinamide, fatty acid-rich oils—these all help protect your hair’s precious melanin pigments, thereby maintaining the hair's natural hue. 

So if you don’t yet have an antioxidant-rich scalp serum or leave-in conditioner in your hair care rotation, consider this your sign to add one to your arsenal. The former helps enhance shine at the root and protect new growth from losing color, while the latter creates a protective buffer around the hair fibers. 

Many people also swear by ingesting antioxidants, too, to support the synthesis and protection of hair. It’s a complicated topic (read more about it here), but you can find hair vitamins that lean on antioxidant nutrients and botanicals such as vitamin C, E, turmeric, and CoQ10, among others. 

3.

Take a break from hot tools

Sure, a blowout every now and then may help your ‘do look nice and shiny, but over time, all that heat will have the opposite effect. 

You see, heat restructures your hair pattern by breaking down the hydrogen bonds in your hair; while that process gives us the curls or straight strands we want, do it daily and it can be pretty damaging. And as consultant trichologist Elizabeth Cunnane Phillips at Philip Kingsley tells mbg about heat-damaged hair: "Damaged hair will look dull." All the more reason to take a break from daily heat styling. 

That’s not to say you can’t ever blow-dry your hair again. Occasional styling is fine, so long as you protect your strands before using heat. “Protecting your hair from heat damage is the No. 1 way to help ensure shine," celebrity stylist Harry Josh once shared. You can opt for a heat protectant mist, or another styler (i.e., spray or leave-in conditioner) with protective properties. 

4.

Clean your scalp 

When buildup accumulates on the scalp—be it from styling products, dead skin, or oil—your hair can easily look dull. After all, it’s difficult for your strands to shine through all that residue! Flat, lifeless strands can signal its time for a good, purifying scrub.

"A healthy scalp is essential for both growth and color production," agrees Stanford University resident dermatologist James Kilgour, M.D. Find yourself a refreshing shampoo to invigorate the scalp and leave your mane feeling light as air. 

The takeaway 

If your tresses are in need of some major T.L.C. right now, you’re certainly not alone. Winter weather can make hair look limp and lifeless, but these tips above can help you restore your natural color in a snap—snag these product picks below, and you’ll really secure megawatt shine.

Corpus Naturals Cypress Shampoo

$ 32
Shiny hair starts in the shower. Grab this invigorating cleanser to effortlessly lift buildup without stripping your strands of their natural oils (parched hair is a one-way ticket to dullness). It contains jojoba proteins, vegan squalane, and panthenol to keep your tresses strong and shiny.
Corpus Naturals Cypress Shampoo

Leonor Greyl Serum Énergisant

$ 120
This antioxidant-rich, alcohol-free serum improves hair health and vibrancy in as little as 15 days. With green tea extract, rosemary extract, and Indian gooseberry, it stimulates the scalp and protects the hair fibers from environmental stressors that typically rob strands of pigment.
Leonor Greyl Serum Énergisant

RŌZ Air Thickening Spray

$ 39
A styler that does it all: instantly adds body and fullness, protects strands with antioxidants, and imparts shine with rice water. If you’re looking for volume and vibrancy, you can’t go wrong with this pick.
RŌZ Air Thickening Spray

Ouai Hair Gloss

$ 34
My personal favorite at-home hair gloss at the moment, this Ouai formula deposits immediate shine and smooths frizz even better than a buttery hair mask. It’s a sheer glaze, so you don’t have to worry about choosing the right shade. I get compliments on my hair color whenever I use it!
Ouai Hair Gloss

Vegamour HYDR-8 Weightless Repair Oil

$ 48
This hair oil is so lightweight that you can apply it to damp or dry strands for added shine without sacrificing your style. It contains antioxidant-rich ingredients like vitamin C oil, marula oil, and chia seed oil, so you’ll surely notice a more vibrant mane.
Vegamour HYDR-8 Weightless Repair Oil

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