Ask the Experts: Fix Your Hair Mistakes March 9, 2019 12:56
Here are 5 common hair blunders that you might be making – and how to fix them!
I’m sure most women can admit to making a beauty mistake at least once before – but we’d like to think they’re now a thing of the past, right? Wrong. Unfortunately there are more than a few beauty crimes still being committed, especially when it comes to maintaining, styling and even brushing our hair.
We asked new Director hairdresser Emma Bleackley to give us a few hot tips and she has whittled down five hair sins that may surprise you, and how to fix them.
Are you a repeat offender?
Hair Mistake #1: Drying Your Hair With a Normal Towel
Why it’s a mistake: With a regular towel, the fibres and rough texture can snag and tug at your locks causing damage and unwanted frizz.
The fix: It’s time to swap your regular towel for a microfiber one instead. As a tip, remember to not rub your hair too vigorously, instead squeeze the excess moisture out.
Hair Mistake #2: Skipping Heat Protection
Why it’s a mistake: We all know that over-styling our hair with a hot tool can lead to dryness, split ends and brittle locks. Not using heat protection before blow-drying, straightening, or curling leaves your hair exposed and more prone to damage.
The fix: By adding this one simple step to your haircare routine will literally save your locks from destruction. Simply apply a heat protectant spray or cream to your strands before blowdrying and styling. Most formulas also contain moisturizing oils and proteins, so they’ll hydrate as they protect.
Try: Alterna...all their products contain heat protection up to 232 degrees
Hair Mistake #3: Brushing From Your Roots
Why it’s a mistake: You may not know, but there is a right way to brush your hair! It’s a common mistake to start brushing out your knots from the roots and dragging downwards. All this means is that you’re having to fight more tangles to get to the ends, which ultimately weakens the entire hair shaft that leads to damage.
The fix: Our hair is at its most delicate point when wet, so avoid brushing your hair straight out of the shower to deter extra tugging and broken strands. Ideally you should wait until your hair is at least half dry before running a brush through the ends first and work your way up to the roots. If you must brush while wet, try spraying a nourishing leave-in conditioner first to help detangle.
Hair Mistake #4: Blow Drying Sopping Wet Strands
Why it’s a mistake: For all of the busy women out there, this one may be hardest to stick to. Blow drying sopping wet hair is a no-no because it is the main culprit for drying hair out completely. Plus the longer you have to dry your hair, the more heat damage it will cause.
The fix: After showering dry your hair as much as you can first with your micro-fibre towel, then try to all it to air-dry for at least 15 minutes. You can go make a coffee, apply your make-up and even get dressed during that time. By letting your hair dry naturally for as long as possible means retaining more moisture in the hair less time with the blow-dryer – which can lead to heat damage.
Hair Mistake #5: Shampooing your hair too often
Most people love when their hair looks shiny, healthy, and clean, and you would think that you could attain this look by washing your hair as often as possible. However, if your hair isn't looking the way you want, you should watch out for some signs you're washing your hair too much. Washing too frequently can actually be bad for your hair, and cutting down on those shampoos can end up being really helpful for your locks.
"Over-washing your hair can lead to dreaded dryness and brittleness, to the point that no matter what products you put into it, it is not going to style properly. True healthy hair is hair that will look good no matter how you choose to style or wear it that day.
There isn't an exact number of times you should wash your hair a week — it depends on your hair texture, your natural oil production, etc. — but as a rule o f thumb try shaping half as many times in a week as you condition
