16 Jan How To Tell If Your Hair Is Damaged And The Best Products To Treat And Fix It
It feels like every day something is different with my hair. One day it’s frizzy, the next day it’s flat or it’s tangled, un-manageable, dry, blah, blah, blah. Well, it occurred me that my hair might not be as healthy as I would like, but why would I even care? It’s just dead cells…right? Wrong! Healthy hair is more important than one would think; especially, if you want to be a contender for a celeb-worthy hairstyle. Not only does a healthy head of hair look shiny, silky and overall gorgeous but also helps prevent against further damage from every day occurrences.
If you think how many times you over-brush your hair or use a heat styling tool it’s easy to see why hair could become damaged. If you protect against this, not only will it grow faster and be more manageable but it will also become more resistant to further damage ie become stronger. So now it’s time to really focus our attention on how to recognize the problem.
Damaged hair cuticle
The problem is truly the antithesis of the hair we crave. We want silky hair, yet damaged hair lacks luster. We want a full head of hair, yet damaged hair is weak and breaks. We want easy-to-manage hair, yet damaged hair is unruly. The list goes on.
Healthy hair cuticle
Here is a list of common warning signs of damaged hair.
1) split ends
2) dullness
3) brittle hair
4) tangled
5) breaks easily
A great indicator of damaged hair is how fast your hair dries. Since damaged hair cuticles are often more porous, the hair will dry faster, not to mention soak up too much color when being colored and release it too quickly. (Great reason to fix the problem, as those dye jobs are not cheap)
celebrity hair stylist, Derek Yuen
Derek Yuen, a celeb hair stylist and Sebastian Professional who has done the strands of ladies like Kate Hudson and Charlotte Ronson, says “split ends are the most common signs of damaged hair.” He also warns that the best way to prevent this is to get a haircut every 8-12 weeks. I have been in Derek’s chair unbelievably frustrated with the frizz on my head, cursing the New England humidity, but he taught me the error of my thought. He said that my hair had so many split ends they traveled up the shaft creating the frizz. He really helped me get my silky frizz-free curls back.
The truth is, the amount of damage will dictate when and if you should see your stylist. If you feel that it has become a major issue, go see your hair stylist. One of the best ways to start the mend is a haircut. Also a stylist will be able to tailor products and techniques to your specific hair type that will protect you from further damage.
Olive oil
If you only have slight damage and want to try and fix this at home, Derek recommends using olive oil. He says that olive oil, “has the smallest molecules and therefore can penetrate the cuticle layer to moisturize the hair.”
dermatologist Dr. Nicole Rogers
When you have a handle on the problem the next plan of action is to prevent future damage. Damaged can be caused by a series of factors including the environment, but one of the most common is excessive exposure to heat and hair dyes. I’m most certainly guilty of that as I cannot resist a blowout so I have begun to use heat protecting sprays. Dr. Nicole Rogers, a dermatologist from WebMD says, “you can use styling products that contain silicone and dimethicone in order to coat and protect the hair cuticle.” Derek also recommends using Sebastian’s Trilliant Spray before any heat use as it will protect the hair cuticle from damage.
These days it seems that every issue has a quick fix, but sometimes they just don’t work. Many products do not function because they are only treating the symptoms, not the disease itself. In a world of diseases, damaged hair isn’t the worst, but if we can take “fussing with hair” off our lists it will free up time to fight all our other battles.
And don’t forget to check out our feature on How Often You Should Wash Your Hair and Find The Right Dry Shampoo For Your Hair Type.
– Yiannoula Choros
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maribel
Posted at 19:15h, 18 JanuaryI am one of those people that doesn’t trust anybody to cut their hair. I try to take care of my hair with homemade products. My question is that if I want to keep my hair healthy and away from split ends, do I need a professional cut? Thanks
MarkJ
Posted at 19:38h, 31 JanuaryI have very fine hair, light ash brown naturally that is very resistant to blonding under the wrong hands. I moved, and had to try a new colorist and she overprocessed my ends so badly they were stretchy!! Found a much better hairstylist and am slowly growing out the damage. I am not willing to cut my hair short, so I have been trying a multitude of products to make my poor dry ends look healthy and soft. Nothing I’ve tried has been terribly effective. I bought the Shielo brand Antioxidant Leave In Protectant from Shielo’s website. I applied about 4 times and worked it through my ends and up to about chin level and immediately my hair was easier to comb. Upon drying and styling, it truly looks like my hair was never even damaged in the first place.
I STRONGLY, highly recommend this product to anyone with overprocessed ends. I’m sure it would work great on other hair types too.
Daniela
Posted at 15:44h, 01 FebruaryI love argan oil! It’s a great detangler, heat protectant & moisturizer. Just on the ends though, if too much gets above my ears then my hair gets greasy too quickly. I try not to use heat & since I only wash my hair 2-3x a week I rarely blow dry it. The curling iron is something I can’t keep my straight hair away from. It’s worse in the summer time when I’m out a lot. My thick hair gets really dry in the winter so deep conditioning is a must. I get trims about once every 2 months & only the split ends are cut off. I keep a straight cut, no layers so I don’t get spiting up my head.
I also pay attention to the shampoos I use. Sometimes I go for the expensive ones, and other times mane & tail works great. It depends on what my hair is like at the time.I stay away from Panteen because I know it’s the WORST product you could ever put on your hair. Seriously, that stuff should be banned. I don’t get how it gets so many rave reviews…
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Posted at 08:38h, 29 December[…] These days it seems that every issue has a quick fix, but sometimes they just don’t work. Many products do not function because they are only treating the symptoms, not the disease itself. In a world of diseases, damaged hair isn’t the worst, but if we can take “fussing with hair” off our lists it will free up time to fight all our other battles.…More at How To Tell If Your Hair Is Damaged And Best Products To Treat … […]
Marie
Posted at 17:49h, 11 FebruaryI agree with Daniela, Pantene made my hair so waxy it was horrible. I use argan oil EVERYTHING. Like I bought this kit called pro naturals argan oil system and it comes with shampoo, conditioner, hair mask and the argan oil heat protectant. Really recommend it, totally awesome. The shampoo is sulfate free of course. So I use some of that and never use heat tools because that’s what damaged my hair in the first place 🙁