You spend a lot of time massaging popular shampoo brands into your scalp, comb out your hair carefully and religiously before and after a bath, and go natural on your moisturizers with coconut oil and aloe vera — but for some annoying reason, you still can’t achieve that perfect, healthy-looking hair. Worse, you get what you most dread: split ends.
The truth is, the reason behind your bad hair days may be quite simple: your habits. If you’re doing these following routines every day, expect those split ends to keep cropping up the moment you get rid of them:
You tie your hair when it’s still wet
The hair stretches naturally when it’s damp. No problem with that. But when you stretch it further, say, by combing your hair hard and pulling it back in a tie, that’s when it becomes vulnerable to breakage, and therefore split ends. The damage is worse when you tie the hair up, in a top knot, for instance. That causes a lot of stress and tension in that area, again causing the hair to break.
To avoid this, it’s simple: wait for your hair to dry out before putting it in a bun. If you must use the hair dryer though, set it in the coolest setting. Keep it at least five inches away from your hair. Glide through the strands with care. Be careful not to tug those knots while untangling. Use your fingers or a wide-tooth comb. If you need to tie your hair in a bun while wet, use snag-free bands.
You shower wrong
Yes, there’s a wrong way to take a bath, girl. One, you may be over-shampooing. As you know well, shampoo strips off natural oils. Over time, as you apply it every day, this could lead to dryness and frizziness, creating more knots. More knots mean more hard brushing and combing. And that ultimately leads to your hair breaking. So try to go easy on your shampooing. You don’t need to do it every day. In fact, you can do it thrice a week, at max.
Another way your bath causes split ends is the water you’re using. Hard water contains high levels of magnesium and calcium which dries out the hair as well. Use it too often, and you have strands splitting here and there. The best way to avoid this is to have soft water instead. Consider water softener installation Park City, Utah companies offer.
You don’t use hair SPF
A lot of people think of sun protection as for the skin only. But your hair needs it also as much as your skin does. When you’re overexposed to the sun, the protein and keratin bonds, elements that keep the hair strong, flexible, and shiny, become damaged. You probably notice it yourself that after a week or two of being under the sun at your beach vacation, you’re left with strands that are weak, brittle, and dehydrated. The very elements that make for split ends.
To prevent sun damage then, you’ll have to give your hair some TLC through SPF. Look for a hair sunscreen that has organic sunflower seed oil, shea butter, and coconut oils in its ingredients. These effectively help in shielding your mane against UVA and UVB rays, while giving it the moisturising it needs under the sun.
Who would have thought that these simple habits are the culprits behind your bad hair days? Now that you know though, say goodbye to these routines for a healthier, softer, silkier, hair.