Less Is More: Why Too Much of a Good Thing Can Be Bad for Your Hair
Too much of a good thing...isn’t always a good thing. Take your hair, for example. Doing too much of what you consider to be healthy habits can backfire on your locks, leading to dry, dull, damaged hair and even hair loss. Yes, good hair habits can cause hair damage. Not cool, we know!
It’s a delicate balance to take care of your hair properly, especially aging hair that needs some extra love. But we have to be careful not to show our hair too much love. Too much washing, brushing and styling can lead to undesirable outcomes, and that’s something no one wants. Here’s what we mean when we’re talking about hair health.
How Good Habits Can Cause Damaged Hair
Some of the habits that lead to damaged hair are obvious. Bleaching your hair too often can weaken it, using hot tools too often can cause breakage, and not taking proper care of your locks can wreak havoc on hair health of the entire strand and root and even hinder hair growth. Those are obvious and things you’ve probably been told time and time again, but you might be surprised to know that some of your good habits can also lead to damaged hair.
Take washing your hair, for example. If you shampoo and condition your hair too often, it can actually dry your hair out and also make it greasy. Yes, it can actually give you dry and oily hair. Over-washing strips the hair’s natural oils away, leaving it dry and brittle. Those natural oils are important! Over-washing also triggers your scalp to produce excess oil at the root, which gives you oily hair. Washing your hair two to three times a week is generally the best course of action, but that frequency can vary based on your hair type and lifestyle.
Brushing your hair too much can also damage it. Brushing, especially aggressively and frequently, can break off the hair if you’re not careful. Also if you’re brushing your hair while it’s wet, it’s even more likely to cause breakage. Instead, a wide-tooth comb gently pulled through as needed will be less likely to hurt your hair.
And let’s consider keratin treatments. Keratin is known to help strengthen hair because it builds up that protein in the hair follicles, keeping hair vibrant and bouncy. But if you do your keratin treatments too frequently, it can cause protein buildup on the hair follicles, which weakens the hair and can also make it feel dry and stiff. The weaker your hair is, the more likely it is to break off.
Your Healthy Hair Checklist
Abiding by a cheat sheet of good hair habit guidelines can help you maintain shiny, beautiful hair that’s not constantly breaking off. This list of 6 tips can also help you recover from years of unintentional hair damage.
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Wash your hair two to three times a week (unless your hair texture or activity level requires more or less washing)
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Use a wide-tooth comb to detangle
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Use dry shampoo between washes to minimize any excess oil
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Use shampoo, conditioner and styling products tailored to your hair texture and type, like Better Not Younger’s Bounce Back Super Moisturizing Shampoo for Curly Hair if you’ve got lots of curls
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Only do salon treatments on your hair as recommended by hair-care professionals
- Use hot tools sparingly and use a heat protectant spray
Keep Your Other Hair Habits in Check
For the hair habits you know are borderline problematic if not done right, just make sure you’re not doing too much of them. If you blow dry your hair often, make sure you’re not ripping a brush through your hair, and use a heat protectant spray. A quick blow dry won’t be too bad on your hair if you treat it gently.
A flat iron and curling iron can be tricky as well. Your hair should be completely dry before you use these hot tools, and they’re best when not used every single day if possible. Even when you use a product to protect your hair from the heat, some of it can still penetrate through and over a prolonged period of time, it will start to wear your hair down.
The same goes for your salon visits. Find a hairstylist who knows what they’re doing in taking care of your hair and scalp. If they’re using the best styling products on your hair and scalp and taking your hair-care concerns into consideration, they can help you heal dry hair and minimize hair loss—and give your hair growth a boost.
One Last Thing
Better Not Younger’s products are specifically designed for aging hair, gray hair, thinning hair, dry hair and all the hair types aging women are rocking. With your healthy hair checklist and go-tos like dry shampoo, heat protectant spray and targeted shampoo and conditioner, you can maintain proper hair health without worrying about your good habits leading to damaged hair. It’s all about figuring out what works—gray hair and all!
Tell Us: What tips do you follow when keeping your hair habits in check? Share in the comments below!