In this hair care post, I will talk about the two parts of your hair, the three layers that make your hair shaft as well as about habits that ruin your hair, making it frizzy, dry, and damaged. Follow along and learn what you shouldn’t do when it comes to your hair and what you can do instead.
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What is our hair made of?
Hair is a complex structure with several layers, but the two main parts of it, are roots and hair shaft. The hair shaft has another three layers (explained more here): medulla, cortex, and cuticle layer. The cuticle layer is the one that decides how glossy and shiny your hair is. The cuticle is a layer of dead, overlapping cells that form a protective layer around your hair, making it very similar to the shingles of the roof. When all the cells are intact the hair looks smooth, when there are missing cells or they are damaged by heat damage or chemical damage, the hair will appear dry and/or frizzy.
The hair is made mainly (90-95%) of proteins, in particular, is made of keratin. Keratin is insoluble in water, ensuring this way the impermeability and protection for the hair.
There are a lot of ways that you can damage your hair without knowing but these are some of the most frequent ones that we do in our everyday life.
Day to Day Habits That Ruin Your Hair
1. Always Blow-Drying Your Hair
I guess for many people this is not new but I will say it anyway: don’t underestimate how damaging blow-drying your hair can be. The heat can damage the proteins in your hair, making it more susceptible to breakage. If you really need to use a blow-dryer, try to use it on the lowest heat and don’t hold it too close to your hair. 10 to 15 centimeters away from your hair should be fine.
A good way to avoid burn damage is to make sure you are always moving your hand. You don’t want to keep blow-drying in the same place for too long as it will start to heat your hair too much.
A very important step if you are using a blow-dryer is to use a heat protectant product on your hair prior to drying it. This will help keep your hair healthier in the long run.
Takeaway: Try to air dry your hair as much as possible. If you blow-dry it, use heat protection for the hair and use the blow-dryer at the lowest heat.
2. Shampooing The Whole Length Of Your Hair
This bad habit is probably one of the most common ones. You should direct the shampoo only to your scalp. The main purpose of shampooing is cleansing the scalp only. Adding the shampoo to your hair shaft is only going to make it even drier and doesn’t really bring any benefit to it.
Your hair shaft will get cleansed when you rinse off the shampoo from your scalp, some of that lather will end up on the length of your hair cleansing it.
Rubbing your hair shaft with shampoo will only cause breakage and frizz. If you already have damaged and frizzy hair, shampooing the entire length of your hair might be the issue.
Takeaway: only shampoo the scalp
3. Washing Your Hair Too Often
Also on the shampooing part, try to train your hair and extend the duration between your hair washes. Your scalp is producing oil to naturally moisturize your hair and keep it protected from the environment. If you strip your hair of it by washing too often, it will start to produce even more oil, to naturally compensate for the lack of moisture.
Try to wash your hair only once or twice a week. I know this can be hard for some people but try to do this with baby steps. If you are now washing your hair daily, try to first wash it every other day for a period of a few months so that your hair can adjust and only then try to wash once every two days and keep adding a day every few months until you arrive at the intended number of washes for a week.
Takeaway: only wash your hair once or twice per week
4. Using Hot Tools
Using hot tools is a bad habit that damages your hair, this kind of goes into the same category as blow-drying your hair. By hot tools I mean hair straightener, curling iron, curling wand, and other similar products. The heat produced by these kinds of tools can cause burns on your hair, disrupting the bonds between peptides and making your hair more prone to breakage.
If you must use hot tools, try to always use heat protectant products before. Also, try using an oil or a mask from time to time to help your hair retain moisture and protect its shaft from breakage.
Takeaway: do not use hot tools and if you do use them, always apply heat protectant products
5. Chemical Damage
Yes, coloring your hair, dyeing your hair, bleaching it, or having a perm done is definitely ruining your hair. This is being done by opening up the hair bonds and cuticles and depositing the chemical treatment (color, the products used for perm) inside the hair so that the hair stays in a certain way or with a certain color.
This process is damaging the shaft of your hair making some of those overlapping cells from the cuticle being taken off and thus making your hair less shiny. You are basically compromising the environment that protects the hair. Coloring your hair can also have a bad impact on the scalp making it drier.
When using any type of chemical product, it is extremely important to patch test it, to make sure you don’t have an allergic reaction to it. Take a small amount of product (like a fingernail) and add it at the base of your head and let it sit for at least 10-15 minutes. If you feel any tingling sensation or burning immediately rinse it off and stop using the product.
Make sure as much as possible to have your hair bleached, colored, or chemically treated in a professional environment. Even when going to a salon, always make sure you are patch tested first. This is very important as a lot of people are allergic to ingredients from coloring products.
Takeaway: avoid chemical products and if you use them always patch test them first before applying to the entire scalp
6. Skipping Conditioner
You should try as much as possible to condition your hair after shampooing, especially if you have long hair. Shampoos can be drying to the hair because of all the sulfates that they contain so in the long run if you don’t condition your hair, it will become drier and drier, ending up being more fragile and causing breakage of the hair.
If you have short hair you might not need it necessarily as conditioner is usually needed for the hair shaft of people with long hair. A very good, hydrating conditioner that I recommend is the one from Morrocanoil Hydrating Conditioner. It contains canola oil making it very nourishing for the hair shaft.
Another amazing conditioner is Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner. It contains Glycerin and a combination of oils like Avocado Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Grape Seed Oil, that help repair, strengthen and hydrate all hair types. If you have long hair, believe me, this conditioner is a must.
Takeaway: use a conditioner as often as you can
7. Styling Products
This is one habit that people don’t usually grasp at how damaging it can be. All those long-lasting products that you put on your hair like gels, mousses, and sprays can damage your hair by weighing it down and causing breakage.
Dry shampoos can cause harm to the scalp. They are spraying powder or talc on your scalp to prevent and absorb the oils from your hair. Using them too often and for a long time can cause inflammation because they don’t let the scalp breathe and they can accumulate on the scalp and together with bacteria can cause more harm than good. If you must use dry shampoo, use it only for a few hours and then wash your hair as soon as you can. These types of products prevent your hair’s natural oils to moisturize your scalp, by absorbing it and weighing the hair shaft.
Most of the time, styling products also have alcohol in them, making them over dry your hair.
Takeaway: do not use long-lasting styling products, if you do, cleanse your hair as soon as possible
8. Tight Hairstyles
Wearing your hair really tight in a ponytail or in a bun can cause traction alopecia. Traction alopecia is a form of hair loss caused primarily by your hair being pulled for a prolonged period of time in the same way. This can be caused by tight hairstyles being kept for a long period of time and usually very often. If you are a fan of tight ponytails and hairstyles try to let your hair breathe as much as you can, as often as you can.
If you just can’t stop keeping your hair in a bun or ponytail or you are demanded to keep it like this, try to at least not have it very tight, go for a loose bun as the pulling force for it won’t be as big.
The hair loss will usually be on the temples but it can be anywhere. Having hair extensions can also cause hair loss as they will get attached to your hair applying force and pulling it. Try as much as you can to not have hair extensions all the time, and maybe try out a wig if you want some long hair hairstyle.
One other thing that you can do if you like your hair in ponytails is to use a fabric scrunchie, preferably a silk one, which will be gentler on your hair. The silk scrunchies from LilySilk are definitely amazing and they are very soft on your hair.
Takeaway: Let your hair loose as often as you can. If you keep it in a ponytail, use a silk scrunchie
9. Rubbing Wet Hair With a Towel To Dry
Another one of the habits damaging your hair is rubbing wet hair too much with a towel to dry. When your hair is wet is even more fragile than normal. Using a heavy (e.g., cotton) towel and rubbing it on the hair shaft can cause your hair to be more susceptible to breakage. Instead of using a cotton towel try to get a microfiber hair turban like this one, which absorbs loads of water and is ultra-lightweight, and gently wrap your hair with it.
If you don’t have one of these turbans or don’t want to buy one you can always take an old t-shirt and wrap it around your hair. It will help absorb extra water and it will be way gentler on the hair. Both of the options are lightweight and will not pull your hair even more like a big heavy towel might.
Takeaway: use a microfiber hair turban or an old T-shirt to dry your hair
10. Brush Wet Hair
Never brush or comb your hair when is soaking wet. Always towel dry first and make sure your hair is close to dry when you are trying to brush it otherwise you risk breaking it and causing damage to your hair.
That being said, this is mostly for people with straight hair. People with curly hair can brush their hair while the hair is still damp. But be careful to be damp, not soaking wet. When you comb your hair use a wide-tooth comb like this one and start from the end of your hair and make your way to the scalp.
Takeaway: use a wide-tooth comb on damp hair
11. Not Rinsing Your Hair After Going To The Pool(chloride)
Pool water is usually treated with Chlorine, which can do a lot of damage to your hair. Try to use a swimming cap when you are going to the pool, trying to avoid as much as possible getting your hair into the water with Chlorine. Another important step is to go right to the shower the minute you got out of the water and cleanse your hair from all that Chlorine and add some moisture with a conditioner. Try to use a conditioner after going to the pool, this way your hair won’t feel as dry and frizzy.
Tip: There are some swimmer shampoos that are great for removing chlorine
Takeaway: rinse hair after going to the pool and hydrate it with a conditioner
12. Water Damage
Having long and hot showers can be relaxing for you but can do a lot of damage to your hair and your scalp. The water and the high temperatures, as well as long exposure to the water, can cause make your hair to swell up. That means that your hair bonds can open up, making your hair shaft vulnerable and prone to breakage.
Water damage is a real thing, even more, if you are living in a place with hard water (most of the European countries have hard water). Hard water can be detrimental not only to your hair health but also to your skin health.
Hard water naturally has a higher PH, meaning that it might strip away your skin and your scalp. It can also cause mineral buildup because your shampoo might not be able to wash away and sufficiently lather up, causing your hair to feel dry and frizzy after a wash.
What you can do if you live in an area with hard water is to either buy a water softener or do an acid wash. You can do an acid wash with apple cider vinegar.
Because of the high concentration of acid make sure you are using one part of vinegar to at least three-four parts of water in the beginning. And make sure you are first testing it, not putting it directly on your scalp as it might cause irritation and burns if you are not diluting it properly. You might need to dilute it even more for first-time uses.
Takeaway: is important to take into consideration two aspects: the quality of water and the exposure to it. Use an apple cider vinegar wash
Another hair damaging factor is stress. This is not really a habit, but I had to include it in here because stress is probably one of the most damaging ones. I know most of the time it cannot be avoided but it’s important to keep track of it. A healthy eating habit, doing sports three times a week, and connecting with nature can help with managing stress levels.
These were some everyday bad habits that people do that increase the damage to their hair.
How many of these damaging your hair habits are you doing on a day-to-day basis? Please leave a comment below and tell me which are your bad hair habits.
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