Q: Colored hair is often more brittle, making it more vulnerable to heat. Try to avoid overusing curling irons, flat irons, and blowdryers when styling your hair to keep the hair healthy and stop fading. If your style really requires the use of these items, then make sure you apply a heat-protectant spray first. Many of the common ingredients in hair products can dry, bleach, or strip hair dye. Look for specifically color-safe hair products while especially avoiding products with alcohol, peroxide, or ammonia, which can strip color and weaken hair. In addition to color-safe products, you should use products for your particular hair typefine, thick, oily, dry, etc.since these will promote healthier hair and counteract the drying and brittleness that dyeing hair can lead to in general. Keeping in moisture and preventing over-drying of colored hair is important to keeping the hair healthy. By using a hair mask once a week, you can help protect dark-dyed hair. Make sure the product you use is paraben free with aloe, and leave the hair mask on for a full hour with a shower cap over it to help it most effectively penetrate your hair. If you prefer hot oil treatments to hair masks, you can substitute these instead, but avoid using both unless you have extremely dry hair since both can leave your hair looking greasy. UV rays are some of the biggest enemies of hair dye. While you no doubt want to show off your lustrous locks in the sunshine, you should still try to minimize sun exposure. Use this as an excuse to show off some of your best sun hats. Obviously, no one wants to permanently avoid sunshine. Though less effective than a hat or simply avoiding UV rays, you can use a leave-in hair treatment with UV absorbers to help filter the UV rays. For effective UV absorbers, look for products with benzophenone-3 or -4, polyquaternium-59, cinnamidopropyltrimonium chloride, or butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane. Especially during the summer, the draw of pools and hot tubs can prove too strong even though you know the chlorine is terrible for dyed hair. In these instances, rinse your hair with fresh water before going swimming. By wetting the hair with regular water first, you will limit the chlorine absorption in the pool. Rinsing chlorinated water out of your hair as soon as you get out of the pool or spa will help as well, but you're still better off avoiding chlorinated water completely when you can.
A: Avoid overusing curling irons, flat irons, and blowdryers. Use color-safe hair products. Use a hair mask once a week. Avoid too much sun. Use leave-in treatments with UV absorbers. Stay away from chlorine.

Q: Using essential oils will not cure your insomnia or the root cause of it. However, essential oils can help you calm down and relax before bedtime and may help you fall and stay asleep. Essential oils are distilled from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, or roots of a specific plant. They are highly concentrated and you won't need to use much to reap their benefits. If you have insomnia for a longer period of time, see your doctor to rule out a more serious condition. Each essential oil has a different effect on the body and mind. Learning about the different essential oils will help you identify which ones may help you sleep. Chamomile essential oil is a powerful calming agent. It can also help lift mood and aid depression. Lavender essential oil is an excellent choice to relieve stress, but can also be used as an anti-depressant, and sedative. Marjoram essential oil can help ease anxiety and stress, fight fatigue. Valerian essential oil can help relax and calm you and may aid occasional insomnia. Vetiver essential oil can help relax and calm you and may help you fall and stay asleep. Once you've identified the essential oils that may help you sleep, buy one that you like and a carrier oil. You can buy essential and carrier oils at many stores and online retailers. Consider buying several different essential oils to aid your sleep. That way, you can choose a scent you like best on any given day. Because essential oils are so concentrated, you'll need to dilute it with a carrier oil to best use it. Some examples of carrier oils are: sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, olive oil, and sesame oil. You can buy essential oils and carrier oils at most health food or nutritional supplements retailers either online or in the store. Because each essential oil has different properties and may not be ideal for all users, it's important to read the label of any essential oil before you use it. It's also a good idea to do a skin patch test before using an oil. You can find out about the oil's contra-indications by reading the label. For example, you wouldn't want to use valerian if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Before you use the essential oil in a bath or for a massage, do a skin patch test. Add 1-2 drops of diluted essential oil to the inside of your elbow. If no irritation occurs after 24 hours, then you can safely use it on your skin.
A:
Understand how essential oils aid sleep. Know the best essential oils to aid sleep. Buy an essential oil that will aid your sleep. Read the label.