Did you know that common everyday habits could be damaging your hair? You’ve probably been doing them all your life, but everything from towel drying your hair to wearing tight ponytails to using too much dry shampoo are doing more harm than good. Fortunately, there are alternatives to these bad hair habits that will make your hair healthy, full, and downright gorgeous. Here are six habits that are ruining your hair and what to do instead.
6 Habits that Are Ruining Your Hair & What To Do Instead
1. Towel Drying Your Hair
Your hair is most fragile when it’s wet. Using a towel to vigorously dry your hair can lead to extreme breakage. Most towels are made of cotton or terry cloth. These materials are coarse and dry, which ends up raising the cuticle and damaging the hair. It also leads to frizz. Frizz is a major sign of damaged, dry hair in need of moisture.
What to Do Instead
Switch out your towel for a t-shirt or microfibre towel. These both absorb excess water and reduce frizz. Rather than roughly drying it, blot or squeeze your hair dry. If you have the time, air drying is the healthiest way to dry your hair. If you wash your hair at night, apply some leave-in conditioner, wrap it up turban style in a t-shirt, and let it dry overnight. This will help your hair dry quicker and keep moisture in the hair shaft.
2. Excessive Heat Styling
Constantly using hot tools on your hair wreaks havoc on your strands. High temperatures can open up the cuticle (the protective layer of hair), allowing natural moisture to escape and leaving your hair prone to damage. Blow drying your hair with high heat can lead to the rapid evaporation of moisture, drying it out. Water is essential to your hair’s structure, strength, and elasticity, and without enough moisture, your hair will look lifeless, brittle, and frizzy. Excessive heat from tools like flat irons and curling rods can damage the cuticle. Once the cuticle is cracked, future moisture loss or damage is likely.
What to Do Instead
There are plenty of heatless styling options out there from heatless curls to braided styles. If you don’t love how your hair dries naturally, you can try those techniques. If you have to use hot tools often, make sure your hair is fully dry before styling and always use a heat protectant. For blow drying, try to wait until your hair is at least 50% dry, but preferably 70 to 80% dry. You should also compensate with a damaged hair treatment such as the OUAI Thick Hair Mask one to two times per week.
3. Wearing Tight Ponytails/Buns
While it’s okay to wear your hair pulled back every once in a while, if you wear tight ponytails or buns on a daily basis you can cause your hair to break or even fall out. When the hair is pulled into a tight hairstyle, it creates tension between the hair and the follicle, and the follicle can tear. Repeated tearing can create scars in the follicle and can impede hair from growing, which typically happens around the hairline.
What to Do Instead
If you’re used to constantly wearing your hair pulled tight, give it a break every few days. Wear your hair down so your follicles can relax and you’re not putting constant stress on your strands. If you want to wear your hair out of your face, use scrunchies and claw clips, which are less damaging to your hair than hair ties, and switch it up with hairstyles like loose braids and looser half-up, half-down hairstyles.
4. Going to Bed with Wet Hair
If you’re a nighttime showerer, you may have made a habit of going to bed with wet hair, but this is one of the worst things you can do for your locks. As previously mentioned, your hair is super fragile when it’s wet. Sleeping with wet hair can cause the cuticle to lift up, leading to split ends and breakage. Not to mention the friction created from the hair rubbing against your pillow all night, creating frizz and tangles.
What to Do Instead
If it’s too late at night to air dry your hair before bed, add some hair moisturizer and wrap it up in a microfibre hair towel. This will speed up the drying process and help your hair retain moisture. Another option is blow drying your hair until it’s slightly damp. Then style it in a low loose braid so it doesn’t drag across your pillow while you sleep. Switching to a satin pillowcase can also result in less breakage and frizz.
5. Using Too Much Dry Shampoo
While dry shampoo is great in a pinch, there are downsides to using it too often. It can irritate sensitive scalps, dry out your hair, and cause scalp buildup. Buildup on the scalp can lead to scalp inflammation, itching, and even hair loss. Some dry shampoos also contain harmful chemicals like parabens, talc, cetrimonium chloride, and artificial fragrance, so always make sure to read the ingredient list.
What to Do Instead
Figure out a hair wash routine that works best for your hair. While shampooing your hair all the time isn’t always great for your hair, you should listen to what your scalp and strands are telling you. If you’re experiencing itching, flaking, visible oiliness, or unpleasant smells, it’s time to wash your hair. If you use dry shampoo regularly, make sure to use a clarifying shampoo as well as a scalp massager in order to remove buildup.
6. Taking Hot Showers
Although a hot shower is nice and relaxing, it’s not great for your hair. Hot water opens up your cuticles, allowing moisture to escape and drying out the hair. It strips your hair of its natural oils, which can leave it looking dry and brittle. Hot water also dries out your scalp, leading to itchiness and flakes, plus it makes your roots weak, resulting in frizz.
What to Do Instead
Wash your hair in lukewarm water, and finish with a cold blast. Warm water gets rid of dirt and build up, stimulates blood flow to the follicles, and opens up the cuticles on your scalp, which allows you to clean your hair thoroughly. Ending with a cold blast of water is super beneficial for your strands. Cold water preserves natural oils, helps close the cuticles, and controls breakage, frizz, and flyaways.
If you’ve been taking part in these damaging hair habits, it’s time to switch up your routine!
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