If your bathroom is littered with hairdryers, irons, and styling products, this article is for you. Of course, if you care for your hair and use heat protectants, that’s good. But you can still unknowingly make a few mistakes that sooner or later will negatively affect the condition of your hair.
Many of these may be fairly obvious, but using dry shampoo instead of regular washing, can be disastrous if not done properly. It happens both in the short and long term. Determine your hair type. Once you know this, you will understand exactly what rituals and means your care should consist of. If you’re not sure, it’s best not to experiment. Instead, find a stylist you trust and get recommendations.
Harmful Habits That Weaken Your Hair
Here are some harmful habits that damage your hair, and you need to quit them immediately.
1. Comb Wet Hair
This advice is as old as the world; the usual comb and wet hair strands really should never meet. “People often don’t know that wet hair is elastic, so it stretches more easily and, as a result, becomes weaker,” celebrity stylist Justine Marjan explains.
Of course, today, you can buy combs that are designed specifically for wet hair. But you should not use a regular boar bristle brush for dry styling. “You need to be extremely careful with wet hair – it is more fragile and can easily break if you wield the comb too aggressively,” the expert added.
2. Alcohol Abuse
Like the rest of the body, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages also harms your hair. Alcohol causes extreme dehydration in the body; as a result, hair thinning occurs. If you don’t quit this habit in time, further hair loss is ensured.
You can get expert help to cut back on alcohol. You need to trust the rehab process, and it will surely help you on this road towards sobriety. Once you recover, your overall health condition will also improve with time.
3. Sleep On Cotton Pillowcases
It turns out that the recommendation to sleep on silk pillows is not a marketing ploy. Sleeping on cotton pillow causes split ends and also makes your hair frizzy. And cotton takes all the moisture out of the hair, absorbing it like a sponge. Yes, the fabric is very soft and durable, but rubbing hair against it is a bad idea. It is better to use silk or satin pillowcases to ensure good hair health.
4. Styling Your Hair At Too High Temperatures
There is a certain temperature to which you can heat your hair before it burns out. “The statement that the higher the temperature, the better the hair is styled is nothing more than a myth,” Marjan explains. She recommends using curling irons and flat irons that are automatically programmed to the ideal 185-degree styling temperature won’t hurt your hair much.
The same goes for the hairdryer. “If you have thin, porous hair, dry it in the lowest temperatures, but not cold air,” advises Holly Mills, hairstylist. And one more piece of advice is never to use a hot tool on wet hair (some people actually do).
5. Trim Your Ends Too Often
Marjan and Mills agree that cutting hair is vital to keeping hair healthy. But its frequency depends on the specific type of hair. Each of us has heard at least once: if you want to grow your hair, cut split ends every 4-6 weeks.
However, Marjan says that this is not entirely true, and cutting them frequently won’t fasten hair growth. It will depend only on the health of the hair, the growth cycle, and home care. The ideal time between haircuts will vary from person to person,” the expert added.
6. Wash Your Hair With Hot Water
The same rules apply to water temperature as too hot styling. In the same way, hair can burn when using tools that are too hot; hair can also be destroyed by hot water. Too hot water certainly doesn’t burn the strands but rather dries them out, making hair brittle or prone to breakage. Hot water also removes more sebum from the scalp, which can lead to excess sebum production. This damages the hair at the root and causes excessive shedding.
7. Improper Diet
Limiting yourself to essential nutrients, e.g., zinc, protein, and fatty acids harms the health of your hair. Thus, when a person drastically cuts calories from his diet to lose weight, it will cause harm to his hair. It is important to have a balanced diet and not restrict your body from essential nutrients. These are necessary not only for the well-being of your body but also for having healthier hair.
8. Walk With A Tight Tail All The Time
Ponytails are a quick and easy way to style your hair when you don’t have time or the mood for more complex styling. However, pulling the tail too tight can damage the roots. Change the style of the ponytails. Constant pulling along the hairline can lead to traction alopecia. If you don’t want your hair to show up on your face, you can use bobby pins.
9. Towel To Dry Your Hair
As with a pillowcase, this way of removing moisture after shampooing can lead to hair weakening. After washing with hair, you need to be careful. If you dry them with a stiff cotton towel, it will cause too much friction. It will expose the top layer of the hair, causing it to fade and become frizzy. Alternatively, instead of a regular towel, use a T-shirt or a special towel to dry safely.
Take Away
Haircare is important to maintain the overall beauty of a person. Young mothers often complain about the problem of hair loss. We mentioned some reasons that might be responsible for thinning your hair. You need to get rid of these habits to ensure good hair health.