Although nourishing hair is a significant step of hair care, it focuses on your hair strands only. Good hair care includes different factors such as scalp condition, your daily nutrition, lifestyle, or emotional health. By listing seven deadly sins in hair care, this blog will help you check if you are on the right track with hair care processes.
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1. PRIDE - Only The Hair, Bypass The Scalp
When experiencing hair loss, most people tend to focus solely on the problem - the hair strands that shed. However, your hair has its natural growth cycle where new hair strands replace those that leave your scalp. Meaning even when you are suffering hair loss, new hairs may be growing in follicles though you can’t see them immediately. Thus, don’t spend all your effort on retaining your existing hair strands. Instead, you can spend more time caring for your scalp and hair regrowth.
Ask yourself if you’re worrying too much about your hair loss, shifting focus away from your new hair regrowth. If the answer is yes, you know what to do now!
2. GREED - I Want Them All
Are you trying to apply all hair growth products at once? If yes, please stop!
We all know that hair care products are now more diverse than ever, with options that aim to support hair growth and manage hair loss. However, applying all of them at the same time may potentially harm your hair health (and your wallet!)
Overusing products can contribute to build-up, affecting your scalp's ability to absorb nutrients due to layers of residue. Your hair also looks dull, greasy from product build-up. Again, it’s not only a waste of your money but also a burden on your scalp and hair.
One crucial rule to remember is that treating hair loss takes time. A basic regime may be all you need, as long as you do it right. Be consistent and persistent. You might need lots of patience, not hair care products, before seeing improvements.
3. LUST - The Illusion Of Appearance
Healthy, robust hair is appealing, and you may tend to spend more effort on the external look of your hair. However, instant solutions to change your hair appearance from the outside might not deliver satisfactory and sustainable results.
A healthy scalp nurtures healthier hair. Your scalp can be seen as soil. Unless being tended properly, the scalp becomes less “fertile”, making hairs “wither” sooner or later. Without enough proper caring, your scalp is more likely to become itching, irritating, and eventually ends up being wasted. How do you feel when the effort spent on your hair will just go unrewarding?
In brief, carefully evaluating your hair condition thoroughly inside out will be the best way possible to improve its wellness!
Tip: Find out how lack of sleep affect your hair health HERE.
4. ENVY - Tell Me What’s That You Are Using
It is good to know what kinds of hair care products your friends are using, for example, to treat hair loss. Still, it is not a good idea to think that those products will work well on you.
As every individual is different, their hair is also unique. Products that work magically on one may cause harm rather than benefits to others. Using inappropriate products can put your hair under worse conditions since in some cases they can be too harsh not only for your hair but also for your scalp.
Alternatively, spending some time to understand your scalp, to learn about your hair type and characteristics, you can become your own "hair expert". It is good to have inputs from people who have been there, done that. But stay skeptical because not all you hear about are desirable for your hair!
5. GLUTTONY - The More The Better
Washing your hair is a daily routine you never miss? Do you believe squeaky clean hair is healthy hair? Let us tell you this: daily wash can be both beneficial and harmful!
Your head should be clean, it is true, but excessive wash potentially strips off the much-needed oils (aka sebum) that your scalp produces to protect and moisturise your hair. Consequently, you can experience an itchy scalp and dry, frizzy hair.
However, how often you should wash your hair depends on many factors, such as your hair type or texture. Your individual needs will determine the cleansing frequency. That is to say, adopting daily washing can be helpful when done with a complete understanding of its benefits and necessity for your hair health. Otherwise, take it easy, one wash at a time! Frequent cleansing may be beneficial when done with a shampoo formulated for your hair type.
Listen to your hair and its own rhythm, you’ll find out the best routine for yourself!
6. WRATH - All The Force I Have
Being too harsh with your hair is a mistake you should avoid by all means. Giving your hair a rough, vigorous wash may seem like the best way to remove dirt and dandruff, but at the same time, you are “torturing” your scalp with too much force.
Be gentle, care and tame your hair with love, not with force! As wet hair is much more susceptible to breakage, you may want to be extra tender with it. It’s best to gently rub wet hair with a soft towel, and don’t comb more than needed. In addition, a soft scalp massager, which is much more gentle than scrubbing and exfoliating your scalp with your nails, might be a helpful assistant for your hair washing routine.
7. SLOTH - It’s Still Good Enough
It is always a nightmare when seeing lots of hair shedding during and after each wash. However, postponing your hair wash is not a helpful way to save your hair strands.
The exogen phase could be subdivided into two stages: “early exogen” (actively retained hair shaft) and “late exogen” (hair shaft still in the follicle but ready to be shed). When you wash your hair thoroughly in the shower, hairs in “late exogen” are more prone to fall. This is normal, and shedding allows new hair to grow and eventually take its place.
Shampooing too infrequently may leave residues on your scalp. A balanced cleansing routine is essential for a healthy scalp. And the fear of losing hair strands during lathering and rinsing turns out to induce more hair fall. By the time you feel itchiness, notice dandruff and an unpleasant scent, do yourself a favour: Wash it!
By now, you should have insights into focusing on ways to help maintain your hair's health while avoiding common mistakes. As promised, here's the HAIR CARE CHEAT SHEET to make your confidence more solid. We hope you'd love it!
