6 Tricks for Shiny Hair

It doesn’t take a village to get a glossy, mega-watt mane. Here are a few easy tricks to give your hair mirrorlike shine, just in time for fall.

1. One of the best secrets to getting shiny hair is using a boar-bristle brush. The gentle bristles distribute your scalp’s natural oils over the hair shaft, making your mane lustrous and smooth.

2. When you blow-dry your hair, point the nozzle down the hair shaft to help smooth the hair cuticle so that it lays flat and reflects more light. When you point the nozzle up or into the hair shaft, you get more frizz and a dull finish.

3. Rinse with cold water. Blast your mane with a cold-water rinse at the end of a shower to seal the cuticle of the hair, allowing for maximum glossiness and smoothness -- plus less frizz.

4. Deeper hair colors reflect light best, so tint your tresses one or two shades darker than your natural color to amp up your hue’s luster factor.

5. Straighten your hair. Curly hair bends and curves, making it more difficult for light to bounce off of each strand evenly. The sleeker and straighter the hair, the greater the glint.

6. After following steps 1 through 5, top off your already shiny hair with a smoothing cream or serum. It blocks your locks from humidity and frizz, and will help maintain your beautiful, smooth, shiny style.