No matter what kind of hair you have, if you’re a girl you probably hate it. If you have straight hair, you curl it and if you have curly or wavy hair you probably wish it was straight. It’s just a girl thing. I don’t know why that is but girls are never happy with their natural hair so we take extreme measures to change it. Taking a shower is a long process for girls because after our shower it takes hours to get our hair to dry without frizz or poof or making sure our part is on the right side. However, in our conquest to make sure our hair looks flawless there’s a good chance it is being extremely damaged.
Bleaching, perms, ironing, blowdrying and coloring are only a few of the ways that our hair is becoming damaged at such young ages. Bleaching and perming your hair penetrates the cuticle which alters the strength of the hair, making it weaker. Both of these methods leave your hair dull looking with split ends. Flat-ironing and blowdrying hair are also bad if you do it daily because adding such intense heat causes changes to the hydrogen bonds that hold your hair together. Coloring isn’t as bad as bleaching but there are still consequences. Highlights and coloring can damage hair because they change the inner structure of your hair which causes a look of dryness, especially when you frequently color your hair to try and hide gray hairs. (CBS news-November, 2008)
I did research on what to do if your hair is already damaged and the best advice is to make sure you use more conditioner than shampoo because it can restore natural oils in your hair and make it healthier. Make sure to leave in the conditioner for 5-10 minutes. Additionally, try letting your hair dry naturally instead of using heat to dry it. Letting it dry naturally will make sure it doesn’t get damaged more than it already is.
References:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quora/how-do-you-bring-life-bac_b_3805181.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/8-ways-youre-damaging-your-hair/
This article is definitely very relatable to most girls! I have very thin and naturally straight hair but I find myself curling it almost every other day and if I don’t curl it I use alternative heat sources like a blow dryer or something on it. Its ridiculous the measures we take to have so called perfect hair. It takes so much of our time and I even believe that the status of hair can stress girls out to endless measures. I personally can say that i have said “I just want to chop my hair off” due to the frustration that can be caused by styling hair. We should all say a big thank you to Seventeen magazine! Below is a list of “roll out of bed hairstyles” that can save us time and a lot of stress. Enjoy!
http://www.seventeen.com/college/roll-out-of-bed-hairstyles
I found this post so easy to relate to. Although I try to avoid using heat on my hair I still find that my hair can look dead or damaged. I struggled with ideas considering I use reparative conditioner in order to combat this problem, however I have never been suggested to leave conditioner on for a longer time. I was always taught as a child that leaving conditioner on for too long could cause your hair would cause it to look greasy but maybe this is exactly what I need in order to give my hair a lively look again. Also reading through the comments I found it comforting to find that I am not the only one struggling with the water change difference here.
For those who have found the water in the dorms to be particularly harsh on your hair here could be some reasons why.
http://www.malibuc.com/content/Cn_Hiding_In_The_Water_Effects.aspx
It’s been common knowledge that doing anything unnatural to your hair generally is not good for it. I personally have been getting highlights (bleaching) my hair for over five years and find that it is necessary I cut the ends every month or so. I’ve wondered how it’s possible to actually measure the strength of something as small as a strand of hair but a a simple experiment I found, conducted by a high school student, did just that. The researcher dyed hair samples and then measured how many strands it took to hold a pencil as compared to before. Here is the link: https://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2006/Projects/S1429.pdf. The hair was not still attached to a human head, but I feel as though this experiment was a pretty good representation of what chemicals do to our hair. And although the same size was small, the results were consistent with the hypothesis.
It really frustrates me actually how broken my hair has been since coming to college. The shower heads in East Halls that are a power washer to my head probably do not help either. Recently I went to the hair salon downtown and they gave me products to buy that would decrease breakage in my hair before using my hair dryer or straightner. She also shared with me washing your hair only three times a week because overwashing leads to more oil, so washing less will stop this cycle. Here are more products and tips to follow to avoid breakage! Really enjoyed your blog!
http://healthmeup.com/photogallery-healthy-living/hair-loss-10-ways-to-reduce-hair-breakage/23583/2
This is such a prevalent topic for girls our age and I am so glad you brought light to the subject. Your research has lead me to a little research of my own that has helped me and I think could help others. http://www.webmd.com/beauty/hair-repair/how-not-to-wreck-your-hair
Although you say that conditioner helps to restore our natural oils in order to make our hair healthier, I found an article that actually states the opposite. Nicehair.org is a website that has tons of facts about hair care, products, remedies, and myths. According to the website, conditioner actually does nothing for our hair at all. Basically, conditioners are filled with chemicals that create a shiny, glossy look for our hair, but in reality, the product is doing nothing to better our hair follicles. The article states conditioners “fill in damaged parts of the hair and increase reflective surface area on the hair shafts.” Check out the article for more info: http://www.nicehair.org/hair-care-advice/is-conditioner-bad-for-your-hair
I have extremely curly and frizzy natural hair and wear it straight about 90% of the time. This post is extremely relevant for me because even after a haircut, it doesn’t take long for me to start to see damage again because of all the heat I apply to my hair. I have also dyed it and gotten highlights several times, and always worry about the negative effects it will have. This post brings attention to something that most girls should pay attention to, because at a certain point damage can become irreversible, and I don’t think anybody wants to get to that point. I checked out an article about the best ways to fix hair damage as much as possible to see what can be done, and if offers some great tips! http://www.allure.com/hair-ideas/2010/undo_hair_damage#slide=7
In addition to the risks related directly to the health of our hair, The National Cancer Institute has stated that there is a risk that hair dye can cause cancer. There are roughly 5,000 chemicals used in hair dye and some of these chemicals have been reported to be carcinogenic in animals. There have also been epidemiologic studies that founded an increase risk in bladder cancer in hair dressers. However, these findings are still very controversial amongst scientists and other researchers and could very well just be a small correlation.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/hair-dyes#r2
In addition to the risks related directly to the health of our hair, The National Cancer Institute has stated that there is a risk that hair dye can cause cancer. There are roughly 5,000 chemicals used in hair dye and some of these chemicals have been reported to be carcinogenic in animals. There have also been epidemiologic studies that founded an increase risk in bladder cancer in hair dressers. However, these findings are still very controversial amongst scientists and other researchers and could very well just be a small correlation.
your post is really interesting because lately since I’ve been doing my hair more often I’ve been noticing it look dead. I found this article from the American Academy of Dermatology and it has some tips on how to keep your hear healthy. https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/health-and-beauty/hair-care/tips-for-healthy-hair
You should check it out!