Unlock the Secrets to Beautiful, Healthy Hair: Expert Tips, Tools, and Accessories

If you're a fan of a cute and effortless ponytail (and let’s be real, who isn’t?), then you'll want to hear this: not all ponytails are made equal when it comes to hair health! But don't worry, we've got some easy tips that'll help you keep your hair healthy and strong while still looking fabulous in your ponytail.

The Basics of Healthy Hair

First things first: avoid tying your hair too tightly. You might think that the tighter the ponytail, the better the look. But a tight ponytail can cause damage and strain to your hair. Not to mention, it can lead to headaches and hair loss in some cases. So, make sure to tie your ponytail comfortably and not too tightly.

Best Tool for Detangling Hair

Next, when it comes to detangling your hair, use a wide-tooth comb to prevent damage. A wide-tooth comb helps to distribute the natural oils from your scalp throughout your hair, keeping it looking healthy and shiny. Plus, it prevents pulling and tugging on your hair, which can cause breakage.

Heat Styling and Your Hair: What You Need to Know

How about heat tools? We all love a good blowout, but heat from styling tools can cause your hair to become dry, brittle, and damaged. So, on days when you wear your hair in a ponytail, try to avoid using heat tools.

How to Protect your Hair from the Sun

If you're going to be outside on a sunny day or in windy conditions, make sure to protect your hair. The sun can cause damage to your hair, making it dry and brittle. So, wear a hat or use hair sunscreen (yes, that’s a thing!). Wind can also cause damage to your hair, so tie it back in a ponytail or braid it to keep it out of your face.

Which Hair Products are Best for Healthy Hair

Many hair products contain alcohol, which can be drying to your hair. So, if you want to keep your hair looking healthy and shiny, avoid hair sprays, gels, and mousses that contain alcohol. Instead, look for hair products that nourish and hydrate your hair.

Applying a leave-in conditioner to your hair can also help protect it from damage caused by styling. It provides additional moisture and nourishment to your hair, which is especially important if you're wearing your hair in a ponytail. This will help to keep your hair looking healthy, smooth, and shiny.

How else can you maintain healthy hair? Experiment with different hairstyles, like these 8 different ways to wear a scrunchie. Wearing your hair in a ponytail every day can cause damage over time. So, switch it up with braids, buns, or half up-half down styles. And if you're worried about hair ties, boy, do we have a solution for you!

What’s the Best Hair Tie for Healthy Hair?

We're not just talking about aesthetics here; rather, this is about what’s healthiest for your hair. That's where KOOSHOO organic cotton, plastic-free hair ties come in.

KOOSHOO hair ties are not the plain old, disposable hair ties of our youth. These are ties designed for right here, right now, a moment in which you expect the best for both your hair AND this planet.

[Pictured: KOOSHOO hair ties from bottom to top: Flats, Mondos, Minis]

So what makes a KOOSHOO hair tie the best hair tie for healthy hair?

KOOSHOO hair ties (see them all here) have been engineered specifically to prevent damage to your hair. Unlike traditional hair ties that can be too tight and cause headaches, KOOSHOO’s ties lean into their organic cotton roots - one of the softest materials in the plant kingdom - to create a super-soft, forgiving, headache-free wear that will have both you and your hair smiling.

Other critical perks of organic cotton:

1. Most hair ties made with a plant-based material are made from conventional cotton, which happens to be the most sprayed agricultural crop on earth. With organic cotton you're guaranteed not to be wrapping your hair in toxic pesticides and insecticides.
2. Hair ties not made from cotton are made from synthetic materials. Don't be fooled, "synthetic" isn't some magical plant material; rather, it's plastic. Yes, polyester, nylon, rayon, luon, etc, are all just fancy words derived to hide the fact that the material is essentially petroleum-based plastic. Would you wrap your hair in Saran-wrap? So why use an unbreathable material like plastic even if it has some trendy-sounding alias to make it sound better? Plus, 15 million plastic hair ties are lost/tossed daily in the US alone which is a rather hair raising statistic, if you ask us. 

The natural tree rubber, used in place of more traditionally harsh synthetic (more plastic!) rubber, has a perfect amount of stretch, bounceback, and forgiveness to allow for an all-day hold, without the headache. And the reviews bear this out!

I've been using these hair ties for about two years and absolutely love them. I originally got them because they are organic/compostable, but they're actually better than any other hair tie I've used. Other hair ties always slip down, but these stay put. I've also found that I can take my hair out and there isn't as much of a mark where my ponytail was. Plus they look good on your wrist, I've even gotten a compliment from someone who thought it was a bracelet! - Jane P.

Eco-Friendly Hair Ties: Plastic-Free Options for Your Hair Type 

More good news: KOOSHOO makes a style of hair tie for every hair type.

Flats, as their name ascribes, are a flat organic elastic that is the stalwart of the KOOSHOO range and has garnered thousands of 5-star reviews. Lab-proven to be 6 times stronger than the top-selling hair tie in the USA, these strong-yet-gentle beauties are beloved by all, but may favour those with thick, heavy, or curly hair.

The Rounds may look like the hair ties you’re most accustomed to but that’s where the similarities end. KOOSHOO Rounds are made entirely of plants (organic cotton and natural rubber) and are hand-crafted in Japan by a 4th generation hair-tie-making family business that uses a proprietary technique to create hair ties that are at least twice as strong as the market leaders (per 3rd party lab tests viewable in the link above).

Better yet, like their Flats cousins, these Hair Ties are made from our same trademark plant ingredients, ensuring these Rounds are not only stronger during their lifetime (strong in your hair, biodegradable once done) but kind to your hair too.

To ensure there’s a hair tie for everyone, the Rounds come in two sizes: the Mondos hair elastics which fit around most wrists and thrive in thin to thick hair, and the Minis, the perfect sustainable ponytail solution for kids' hair, braids, tresses, and thin hair.

As an aside, have you ever stopped to question if you really need 50 or 100 hair ties per pack? Good news, we’ve got the answer for you in this exposé on a hair accessories industry that wins when your hair ties break!

Sustainable Style: The Best Hair Ties for the Planet and Your Hair Health

And while we’ve established that a KOOSHOO tie is the best hair tie for healthy hair, they also have the heart-filling benefit of being good for both people and planet.

KOOSHOO hair ties are made by a fully certified supply chain that ensures workers and planet are protected at every turn. This means no pesticides, plastics, or toxic dyes for the planet, and no unfair, unsafe, or un-audited working conditions for the makers. Rather, KOOSHOO believes that a hair accessory can benefit everything and everyone - your hair, your health, your planet, and the workers that build these. 

Ready to learn more about why it's important that your hair accessories are responsibly made? We answer every question we've ever received about hair ties, scrunchies and headbands in our Ponytales blogs. Looking for more targeted content, our Sustainability page goes deep about our materials, manufacturers, dyes, packaging, and product life cycle. 

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So, there you have it! With these easy tips, you can keep your hair healthy and strong while still looking fabulous in your ponytail. Just remember, take care of your hair, and it'll thank you by looking amazing when you need that extra pep in your step!

Did we miss something? Add your comments and questions below and let's keep this conversation going. Healthy hair for all!