Haircare: The Mistakes That Will Ruin Your Hair.

Daily hair care may sound very simple, but many of us continue to make mistakes that cause damage to build up and ruin our hair. We all want to have healthy and luscious locks, but sometimes we can unknowingly damage our hair by making simple mistakes in our hair care routine. To encourage better hair care practices, today I’m going to share some of my knowledge on the most common hair-damaging mistakes.

Washing hair every day.

I used to be one of those people who washed their hair every day because my scalp would become oily quickly and it bothered me. However, I soon realized that this was actually doing more harm than good. Washing your hair every day can strip away its natural oils, leaving it dry, brittle, and easily damaged. As a result, my hair appeared dry and unhealthy.

Solution: It’s best to wash your hair every 3 days if possible. If you have very oily hair, use a dry shampoo in between washes to absorb excess oil.

Using an old, unclean brush.

Ask yourself: “When was the last time I cleaned my hairbrush?”

When you get out of the shower with clean hair and use the same old, dirty brush, you put right back all of the dirty gross build-up of oil and bacteria on the brush to your hair, which can cause scalp irritation and oily hair.

Solution: Clean your hair brush regularly. You can do it once a month or as often as you like. It’s super easy to clean. Just put some shampoo or dish soap in a bowl of hot water and let it soak for 5 minutes. After that, just start scrubbing it with a soft brush to get everything off.

Using the wrong hair ties.

All the old-school hair ties or rubber bands need to be gone. These will destroy your hair. Anything that catches your hair and rips it out is obviously really bad for your hair, and these are some of the worst culprits. If you want to wear it, try to keep it to a minimum.

Solution: Use a scrunchie or an invisibobble. These are designed to be gentler on your hair. Scrunchies are made with soft, gentle fabrics that don’t pull or tug on your hair, and they are typically looser than elastic hair ties, so they don’t cause as much tension. Invisibobbles, on the other hand, are made from a stretchy plastic material that is designed to be flexible and gentle on your hair.

Using shampoo the wrong way.

It’s extremely important to know how to use shampoo. The first rule of shampoo is that it never goes on your hair’s ends. Shampoo is meant for your scalp where the oil and all the dirt are. This never goes on your hair’s ends because it will dry them out. The only reason you’ve gotten away with using Pantene on your hair’s ends for so long is that Pantene doesn’t actually work. It doesn’t actually clean your hair, so it will not dry out your ends.

Solution: Dilute shampoo in your hand before applying it to your scalp and roots, and let the suds run down the length of your hair when you rinse.

Never using a hair mask.

Everyone should be using a hair mask once in a while. Hair is like skin. When you’re 18, you don’t have to do much to it, but as you get older, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep it looking good. So you need basic maintenance to keep it healthy, which is a hair mask. It’s a thousand times better to prevent damage in the first place than trying to go back and reverse the damage.

Solution: Use it once a month if your hair is healthy. Once a week, for damaged hair. Every two weeks, if your hair is in the middle of healthy and damaged. Personally, I skip conditioner and always use it after shampooing my hair.

Drying hair with a towel.

When hair is wet, some of the bonds that hold the hair together are actually broken, and it becomes more fragile. That means you should be more gentle with wet hair than with dry hair. One of the absolute worst things you can do with your hair is quickly spin the towel over it. It’s really easy to pull a hair, put tension on it, snap it, and break it without realizing it. It also creates a lot of knots and tangles in your hair.

Solution: Gently squeeze excess water out of your hair, or take a microfiber towel or an old t-shirt and just press it into your hair. You don’t need to move it a whole. Just press it into your hair so it soaks up the water.

Sleeping with wet hair.

Your hair is weaker when it’s wet. Sleeping with wet hair can cause breakage and lead to tangles.

Solution: Make sure to dry your hair thoroughly before going to bed.

Believing some hot tools do less damage.

Some hot tools advertise themselves as safer than other hot tools, as in they do less damage, but this is really misleading. All the hot tools will damage your hair. Do not fall into the trap. Don’t pay some jacked-up price for some secret magic temperature because it doesn’t exist.

Solution: If you want to protect your hair while using hot tools, use a heat protectant. That’s all you need.

Detangling naked hair.

Never start detangling your hair before you start putting your products in it. Detangling naked hair is much harder and takes a lot longer because the brush does not go through it nearly as easily as when you have products in it.

Solution: Apply leave-in conditioner first. Not a leave-in treatment, not a leave-in serum, not a leave-in cream. Leave-in conditioner is a base product of your routine. This is the easiest way to prevent dryness and keep your hair super hydrated. On top of that, it’s an amazing detangler, which reduces the risk of breakage when you’re brushing your hair.

Showering without protection.

The most dangerous time for your hair is when you’re in the shower. Let’s say you washed your hair yesterday, you don’t need to wash it today, but you still do need to take a shower. You must understand that water is your hair’s worst enemy. The only time you ever want it wet is when you’re washing it. All the other times, you need to protect it from liquid, water, and even humidity too.

Solution: Always use a shower cap in the shower. Use the one with a terrycloth liner because it’s going to absorb the humidity when you’re in the shower.

X, Hani. ❤