No One Wants A Bad Hair Day
A great haircut can take years off your age and make every day a good hair day. Healthy, luscious, voluminous locks can be a major asset in the beauty department but the sad reality is our hair like our skin is subject to aging. This leads to dry, brittle locks, thinning, and graying. The rate at which we shed strands or go grey is mostly down to genetics but the strength, shine, and vitality can also deteriorate through environmental and lifestyle factors.
1. Acute Stress
Subjecting your body to constant stress, worry, and a negative mindset damages your physical and mental health and also impacts the health and vitality of your hair and skin. Chronic stress damages the hair follicles causing hair to thin and shed and can also accelerate the graying process according to the health experts at Forbes.
2. Poor Diet
Nutritional deficiencies stunt hair growth, impact the structure of the hair, and cause it to become dry and brittle. If you live off a high-fat, high-sugar diet, you are likely lacking essential vitamins, nutrients, and amino acids derived from healthy proteins which are the building blocks of healthy hair and scalp.
3. Hormonal Changes
Fluctuating hormones and hormonal imbalances, particularly during your period, pregnancy, and menopause or if you have thyroid issues can impact healthy hair growth and accelerate graying. There is also evidence that an unhealthy diet can throw your hormones out of balance.
4. Toxic Chemicals
Regularly subjecting your hair to the toxic chemicals in hair dyes, bleaches, sulfate shampoos and conditioners, perms and straightening treatments can damage the health of your hair, making it dry, brittle, and more susceptible to loss and graying.
5. Environmental Assault
Oxidative stress from excessive exposure to the sun’s harsh UV rays, pollution, toxic chemicals, alcohol, smoking, and an unhealthy diet can damage the hair follicles and speed up hair aging and graying.
6. Heat Damage
If you always use a hairdryer and heat styling tools like straighteners and curling irons you are drying out your hair, damaging its condition, and triggering loss according to Women’s Health. Let your hair dry naturally and use heat protection products.
7. Tight Hairstyles
Pulling your hair too tight and constantly styling it in ponytails, braids, and buns, using tight elastics puts pressure on the hair follicles and damages the hair bulbs. This causes breakages, split ends, and porous hair and will also give you headaches.
8. Product Misuse
It’s important to understand your hair type and use products suited to it. When you use the wrong shampoo, conditioner, and styling products it can cause a chemical build-up, dryness, and excess oiliness. It’s also best to use clean products that are free of sulfates, fragrances, and chemical nasties.
9. Excessive Washing
You don’t need to wash your hair every day. Overwashing hair strips it of its natural oils and this can damage the hair follicles, slowing down healthy growth, and putting you at risk of hair loss and graying.
10. Skipping Conditioner
You may not need to condition your hair every day, especially if you are prone to oily locks, but always skipping conditioner altogether or not using it properly will dry out the hair. It will also make it more prone to damage, breakages, and split ends. If oiliness is an issue, apply conditioner to your strands only, not the scalp.
11. Salt and Chlorine
You might love the beach, but salt water can be an enemy to the health of your hair. Ditto swimming in chlorinated pools can strip hair of moisture and damage its structure and condition. Wear a cap or use protective products.
12. Rough Drying
Your hair is sensitive to tension and damage. If you vigorously rough towel dry your hair it can put pressure on the hair follicles and cause excess friction leading to breakage and frizz.
13. Wrong Hairbrush
It’s important for the health and condition of your hair to brush it regularly. However, if you use a brush that’s too harsh like boar brittle and round brushes or one not suited to your hair type you are pulling on the strands and causing them to snap. It’s also best to brush hair when it’s dry as wet hair is more fragile.
14. Unhealthy Scalp
Healthy hair also means a healthy scalp. Pollutants, product buildup, not washing your hair regularly, stress, a poor diet, bacteria, and fungal infections all negatively impact the health and condition of your scalp. If you ignore the health of your scalp it can lead to dandruff, hair loss, and irritation.
15. Neglecting Trims
Don’t neglect your maintenance. It’s important to have regular trims, ideally every six weeks, to improve and maintain the appearance, texture, and condition of your hair. A good trim will also remove split ends, and promote healthy hair growth.
16. Sleep Deprivation
Not getting enough sleep or having poor-quality sleep affects your overall health and wellness. This in turn wreaks havoc on your hair, disrupting healthy growth and speeding up the graying process.
17. Lacking Activity
A sedentary lifestyle, and not getting enough physical exercise and activity decreases circulation in the body and impacts the health of your hair which can lead to shedding and graying.