COMMON PRACTICES THAT MAY BE DAMAGING YOUR HAIR

In our quest to grow our hair out, we sometimes do things that damage our Hair. While genetics and health issues have a connection to hair loss, there are several Common Hair Practices that may be damaging our hair unknowingly.

(Photo Source: Pinterest)

When it comes to how best to take care of our hair, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions but understanding your hair and scalp type will help you come up with a simple hair routine (Regime) that can keep your hair healthy and thriving.

Identifying the common practices that may be damaging your hair and putting simple changes in place can prevent further damage and improve hair condition.

RELATED: HEALTHY HAIR HABITS

Here are the Common Practices That May Be Damaging Your Hair.

Over-manipulation

In a world of different lovely styles available, it is understandable to want to try everything out. But we need to understand that over-manipulation is unhealthy for our hair.

Avoid excessive combing and too tight bun.

Instruct your stylist not to pick your edges too tightly and be gentle on your scalp as well. Too tight hair cause breakage and thinning edges and we do not want that.

Go for Low Manipulation or Protective Styles. Remember, you are able to retain length when you style your hair and leave in for at least 5 days before switching up styles.

Over Shampooing

Excessive use of shampoo or washing the hair all the everyday strips your hair of natural oils.Weekly wash is recommended but you can also get away with washing your hair every 2 weeks.
When shampooing, you should concentrate on your scalp alone while washing, the lather will wash your ends as you go so your ends aren't dried out.

Skipping Conditioner

Never ever skip Conditioning your hair after Shampoo. Conditioners help restore nourishment to hair that might have been stripped off by the shampoo.

(Photo Source: Black Hair Information)

Replacing Shampoo with Cowash

Conditioners are formulated to Condition or to add Moisture and not to Cleanse. Cowashing is basically used to keep moisture level and refresh the hair in between wash days. Many conditioners cleanse quite alright but they do not cleanse effectively as a shampoo would.
Cowashing instead of shampooing means you would have product build-up with time which would eventually lead to life-less curls.

Excessive Use of Heat

Excessive use of blow-drying, flat ironing is harmful to your hair especially for permed or coloured hair. It is temping to want a straight hair or want to try to achieve those popping curls. But our hair is better off without them.

Too much use of heat can leave the hair brittle and can cause split-ends which occurs when the cuticle is damaged and peels back.

Instead, let your hair air dry and try the heat-less means of achieving curls such as perm rods or flexi rods.

Use of Towels

Using towels to dry your hair is like throwing all the efforts of the wash day into a gutter. Towels are harsh on our hair, and the rubbing it roughly through the hair is worse. The whole process will pull and snap your hair and this results in Breakage.

Towel use also dries out the moisture you have painstakingly added to your hair, thereby drying it and causing Split-ends.

Opt for a micro fibre towel or an old cotton t-shirt as these are of finer texture and absorbs excess water without stripping the hair of moisture.

At the end of the day, we are trying to grow healthy hair with little to no stress. So keeping your hair Regime as simple as possible and avoiding the common practices that may be damaging your hair are the key. Do the basic and let your hair flourish. Your hair will definitely grow.

And when you are looking for inspiration, be careful about it. Don't compare your progress with someone else's as we all have distinct hair to an individual and different circumstances surrounding our growth.

Focus on healthy hair and all other things (Length, Volume and Definition) will come naturally.

Be motivated but not Intimidated! 

What other common practices that may be damaging your hair can you think of? 

I'm curious to learn about them. So let us discuss in the comments section.

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