A Hair Care Expert Shares 3 Nonnegotiable Tips For Healthy, Thriving Strands

Healthy, full, thriving hair—we'll go ahead and assume it's on your list of beauty goals. And, look, you can find tons of tricks out there for a thicker mane—but sometimes it helps to head back to the basics. So when we spoke to Nancy Twine, founder and CEO of Briogeo and member of the Conscious Beauty at Ulta Beauty Advisory Council, on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast, we made sure to tap the hair care expert for her essential tips. 

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Healthy hair starts from within. Twine wholeheartedly agrees: "So much of feeling beautiful really comes from the inside," she says. "It's how we talk to ourselves, how we eat, how we prioritize our self-care." 

We likely don't have to tell you that stress is not good for the body, and the link between stress and hair loss is well understood. (Just know that there is much you can do to support the regrowth process.) And on the subject of food, plenty of nutrients have been linked to faster hair growth—just check out our running list. Twine reflects on her personal diet, specifically how focusing on her gut health helped transform her skin and hair. "I noticed profound changes both mentally and physically," she notes, thanks to the gut, skin, and brain connections. 

If you want healthy hair, you've got to clean and stimulate the scalp. Too much scalp buildup (excess oil, products, bacteria, and overall gunk) can suffocate the follicle root, which is literally the source of hair growth. Too much inflammation up there can limit growth and eventually lead to shedding. 

"One of the foundations for healthy, strong hair is making sure that you have the right protein and moisture balance," says Twine. Finding moisturizers is perhaps an easier venture: Simply pick your favorite oil or hydrating conditioner. "A lot of people don't know how to solve the protein part of it," she says. "And protein is the building block for creating resiliency within your hair, which is the ability to resist breakage from pulling or tugging." 

You can read more about protein treatments for hair here, but generally, you'll want to look for products with buzzwords like keratin, biotin, hydrolyzed quinoa, amino acids, bond-building, or silk protein. Or, you can create Twine's favorite DIY rice water rinse: "Growing up, one of the remedies we used at home was a rice water repair treatment. Basically, take rice and soak it in water overnight, then strain out that water, put it in a spray bottle, and spray down your hair." We have another tutorial here, if you'd like a full how-to, or you can leverage the power of rice protein with Briogeo's Don't Despair Repair Rice Water Protein + Moisture Strengthening Treatment.