Are you making one of these common mistakes? A healthier routine starts here.
Habit 1: Setting the Heat too High
Turning your blow-dryer’s heat on full blast or cranking up your straightener can cause cuticle cells to break, making hair lose its smoothness, or worse, causing it to snap off.
How to break it: Blow-dry hair on medium to low heat, pointing downward to prevent cuticle breakage. Keep hot irons in the medium to low range too, and don’t concentrate on any section for over four seconds.
Habit 2: Skipping Trims
If you want to grow your hair out, you may be tempted to skip trims altogether. But straying from the scissors won’t lead to long locks as fast as you think—untrimmed hair runs the risk of split ends which can break off unevenly.
How to break it: Make a trip to the salon about once every two months to keep your hair free of split ends and looking and feeling healthy.
Habit 3: Brushing from Top to Bottom
Most people brush their hair from the root to the tip, but this motion pulls hair out of its follicle and can cause strands to shed.
How to break it: Instead of working from the top down, start midway through and comb out tangles in that section. Once that area is smoothed out, move up until you’ve made your way to the root.
Habit 4: Rough Towel Drying
Vigorously rubbing just-washed hair with your towel can harm hair cuticles, causing breakage and frizz.
How to break it: Instead of rubbing, tousle hair with your hands. Then dab it with your towel to gently remove moisture.
Habit 5: Over-Washing
Shampooing daily can wash away the healthy oils your hair needs to stay looking lustrous.
How to break it: Depending on your hair type, it’s best to wash every other day at most – some even recommend as little as once or twice a week! In between washings, use dry shampoo or experiment with hats and headbands.