Hair care, like other beauty practices, has only gotten more airtime over the years. People are now more aware and careful about the products they use. As part of this, you might be aware of the common practices that end up destroying your hair, like excessive use of heat styling tools, too much chemical usage, etc. But you might not know that there are simple everyday things we all do that are causing more damage to our hair than we realised.
Showering with hot water
We all know the comforting power of a hot shower, but this daily practice is far worse for your hair than you can imagine. Bathing or washing your hair with hot water strips away a lot of the natural oils and nutrients from your hair. So, when shampooing, make sure you turn the temperature down and always wash off conditioner with cold water, as it helps close the cuticles and reduce frizz.
Using the wrong towel to dry hair
Often, we either use the same towel to dry our hair and bodies, and worse still, messily scrub and pull our hair to get all the water out. This technique causes immense damage and breakage as well as frizz. Normal terrycloth towels can be harsh and cause considerable friction in our hair as well. What you can do, is get yourself a microfiber towel or one specifically made for drying your hair. Or, in the meantime, use one of your old cotton t-shirts to softly draw out the water.
Overusing dry shampoo
There’s no denying that dry shampoo has become one of our everyday go-to hair products. And while it’s great that we have such an effortless way to refresh our hair when we’re feeling too lazy, too much dry shampoo can be really bad. Using too much, too often causes the build-up of the product in your hair, clogging the pores on your scalp as well as stripping your hair of its essential nutrients.
Using bad brushing techniques
Often while brushing our hair, we use a lot of force to remove tangles and knots, which results in breakage. Instead, brush sections gently and slowly work out the tangles and use a softer bristled brush. Similarly, using bands that are too tight for your hair, end up pulling and breaking it. Next time, stretch, pull and test out new hair elastics before you buy them.
Sleeping on the wrong pillowcase
While you might think this one is a little pretentious, in actuality, the kind of pillowcase you sleep on can affect your hair. The normal cotton pillowcases we use cause a lot of friction and frizz in our hair, causing knots, breakage and hair fall. A silk pillowcase that’s much softer and smoother is a highly suggested switch as it doesn’t tug on or mess with your hair as you sleep.
