Haircare Mistakes to Avoid
Haircare Mistake No. 1: Stop using products loaded with harsh chemicals.
Do you pick up the cheapest bottles of shampoo and conditioner from the drug store? While there’s nothing wrong with trying to save money, many of these ultra-cheap hair care products (and even some of their more expensive counterparts) are loaded with harsh chemicals that can damage your hair.
Not every ingredient with a long scientific name is bad for your hair, but there are a few to watch out for like sulfates. These chemicals do a really great job of cleaning your hair. They’re so good at what they do, but they often strip your hair’s natural oils away. Look for bottles that say “sulfate-free,” and avoid common sulfate ingredients, such as sodium lauryl sulfate, to keep your hair clean and gorgeous.
Haircare Mistake No. 2: You don’t wash your hair often enough.
Infrequent washing can be just as bad as shampooing too often. Not only will unwashed hair look less than optimal, but it can also actually cause major problems for the scalp. The detergents in shampoo are made to remove sebum, oil, etc. When healthy sebum acts as a protection for the hair shaft and helps your strands look glossy. But when there’s a build-up of sebum, it causes the hair to stick together and look oily and greasy. Also, sebum resists water, so it can be a struggle to remove if you wait too long.
Haircare Mistake No. 3: You dry your hair with the wrong towel.
What do you do when you get out of the shower after a head bath? If it involves vigorously rubbing your hair with any random towel in your bathroom, then twisting it up into a tight turban to dry, you might be damaging your hair.
Wet hair is more fragile than dry hair and needs to be handled delicately. Rather than scrunching and squeezing the water out, use your fingertips gently to shake out the excess water. You can also blot hair with a soft cotton fabric to help get the moisture out. It might take more time to completely dry out, but your hair will be in much better condition.
The towel you use matters. Old terry cloth towels tend to be very rough to use on wet hair. Plus, the tiny thread loops in the fabric act like hooks for your hair, causing major frizz. Switch to a microfiber hair towel, which is more gentle on your strands comparatively.
Haircare Mistake No. 4: Using a blow dryer that’s too hot.
Few people enjoy sitting under a blow dryer for an extended period of time, so they use the most powerful setting to speed things up. That’s a major disaster. It can actually burn your hair! Even if you’re short on time, blow-drying is not the answer to getting a quick style.
The best hairdryers have multiple power settings. Always use the lowest setting when you go to dry your hair. Even though it takes a longer time to dry, your hair will look a lot smoother and stay healthier. Use the cool setting to lock in your style toward the end of your blowout.
Haircare Mistake No. 5: You’re teasing your hair too much.
Big, voluminous hair is on-trend. But since most of us weren’t born with naturally thick hair, we rely on a trick to get a boost: teasing. We backcomb our roots to make it look like we have plenty of volumes. Is it a totally harmless technique?
Wrong. While there’s nothing wrong with teasing your hair for an occasional special event, like a wedding or birthday party like once in a blue moon. As backcombing your hair can harm the cuticles and leave the strands vulnerable to breakage. Daily backcombing just isn’t worth the long-term damage to your hair.
Haircare Mistake No. 6: You don’t protect your hair at night.
How does your hair look immediately when you wake up in the morning? If it’s super tangled and you look like you just got out of a storm, you’re probably damaging your hair while you sleep and causing yourself a major styling headache in the morning.
Just like old terry cloth towels, your cotton pillowcase usually isn’t the best choice when it comes to protecting your hair. Switch to a silk pillowcase. It doesn’t grip the hair like cotton or synthetic fibers, so it’s more likely that you’ll wake up with smooth, tangle-free locks. Plus, silk usually has a soft feeling to it, creating a pleasant sensation as soon as your head hits the pillow
Or you could always opt for a silk nightcap instead. It will offer even more protection.