Do you suffer from damaged hair? Damaged hair has several causes. Your hair can be damaged by blonding, dyeing or external influences. In our blog we give 15 tips to prevent, care for or repair damaged hair.
Having damaged hair is extremely annoying for a number of reasons:
- Your hair feels like straw;
- Your hair is full of split ends;
- Your hair is impossible to style;
- Your hair looks dry and frizzy;
- Your hair is not elastic and breaks easily.
All these reasons ultimately affect how you feel. Because you have to walk down the street with that head of hair. And with (severely) damaged hair, you quickly feel insecure. Because we can imagine how frustrating that is, we decided to write this blog.
In our blog we give 15 tips for damaged hair and explain in detail how to treat, care for and repair damaged hair!
1. Cut split ends
The first tip to treat damaged hair may not sound like the advice you want to hear. Do you have split ends? Then it makes sense to have the split ends cut off. This often already makes your hair look a lot better. This will prevent your hair from further splitting.
It is wise to have your hair trimmed regularly, approximately every 4 to 12 weeks, depending on how fast your hair grows.
2. Do not wash your hair too often
A shampoo cleanses your hair and removes the natural sebum on your scalp. Your hair cuticles are opened. Sebum is needed to cover your cuticles and keep them healthy (this requires brushing your hair or running your hand through your hair). Without sebum, your hair cuticles are vulnerable. For dry or damaged hair, it is a good idea to wash your hair every three or four days. Washing less often will make your hair less likely to dry out. The natural oils on your scalp can then reach the ends of your hair better.
3. Use conditioner after washing or rinse with cold water
Have you washed your hair with shampoo or treated it with a hair mask? Then it is important to finish the wash with a conditioner or cold water. It is good to rinse your hair with cold water. This has the same effect by flattening your hair cuticles, keeping them strong for longer. So you can also repair damaged hair this way. The advantage of a conditioner over lukewarm or cold water is that it contains nourishing ingredients to treat damaged hair.
Dry and damaged hair can use extra care. It is wise to add a leave-in conditioner to your hair routine.
4. Pat your hair dry
Do you use a towel to dry your hair? Then it is tempting to rub your hair as it dries faster. This will only damage your hair more, as the cuticles will open and break off faster due to the friction.
A cotton towel has rough fibres, these can damage your hair faster by rubbing it dry. A microfibre towel has smaller and finer fibres and has good absorbency, this is gentler on your hair.
After washing, also take time to dry your hair gently: Use a dabbing motion when doing this. So pat your hair dry or wrap the towel around your head like a turban and let it dry that way.
5. Sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase
Sounds luxurious doesn’t it? Apart from the fact that you might sleep more comfortably on these, the fabrics are also very smooth. This allows your hair to glide along them more easily. This is in contrast to cotton, for example, where rough friction is more likely. The hair scales are therefore less likely to be damaged with satin and silk pillowcases than with cotton ones, for example. So immersing yourself in luxury is in this case a good way to care for damaged hair!
6. Sleep with your hair tied together
Another way to reduce friction while sleeping is to wear your hair together. By sleeping with your hair tied up, in a loose bun, low ponytail or braid you prevent even more friction between your pillow and hair. Use a scrunchie, for example.
Do you regularly wear your hair fixed or in a ponytail? Then it is wise to use an elastic without a metal connector or a scrunchie. Also make sure not to always wear your ponytail in the same place. That way, you do not create weak spots in your hair.
7. Try to brush and comb as little as possible
Friction between hair and brush is one of the biggest causes of damaged hair. A no-brainer that you want to avoid brushing and combing, but this is not always easy. Therefore, some tips for when you really can’t do without it. By brushing or combing, you create friction in your hair. This can damage your hair. Take your time to comb your hair gently. Use a detangling spray (spray that detangles your hair) or serum and use a wide-toothed coarse-tooth comb. This is another way to minimise friction and prevent damaged hair.
8. Avoid tousling your hair
This tip is actually logical if you look at the previous tip, but we still think it is important to mention it. With backcombing, you brush or comb against your hair, forcing the cuticles open in order to get more volume.
As you can imagine, if you have damaged hair and the cuticles are already fragile, this is not recommended and best avoided.
9. Avoid hot styling tools
Do you blow-dry or style your hair often? Then you may notice your hair getting drier. The heat from a hair dryer or styling tool evaporates the water in your hair, leaving your hair dehydrated. Damaged hair is often caused by straighteners or other styling tools. Reason enough not to use them if you already have damaged hair.
Do you want to use them anyway? Then apply heat protection to your hair first. Heat protection often puts a protective layer around your hair so that it can retain moisture better. A heat protection spray also closes your cuticle so your hair becomes less dull. It provides some protection from the heat, but that doesn’t mean you can set your tools to the maximum temperature. For straighteners, curling irons and hair rollers, keep the temperature as low as possible and make sure your hair is not dripping wet when you blow dry. Let it air or towel dry a little first. This will help repair damaged hair.
10. Avoid chemical treatments
Most say that: “I have damaged hair from blonding“, “I have damaged hair from dyeing” and “I have damaged hair from perm”. And it’s true, these treatments are not good for your hair.
The chemicals affect your hair cuticles as well as the inside. Think, for example, of decolourising pigments and rearranging keratin chains. All the more reason not to use chemical treatments if you already have damaged hair.
11. Avoid the pool and the sea
We also often get questions from customers with damaged hair due to swimming. And of course, this can have two causes. Hair damaged by chlorine in swimming pool water and by salt in sea water. Chlorine actually works the same as a chemical treatment. Salt, on the other hand, creates the previously discussed friction between your hair, damaging the hair cuticles.
12. Cover your hair with a hat or scarf
Damaged hair from the sun, weather and other external influences is unfortunately also common. But here you don’t necessarily need to avoid anything. In fact, you can give yourself a fun fasion makeover! For example, wear a hat or wrap a nice scarf around your hair. This significantly reduces the exposure to external factors, and allows your damaged hair to recover better.
13. Eat plenty of food with vitamin A
Varied diet is important, by eating good ingredients you can provide your hair with building materials from within. The sebum on your scalp protects your hair and keeps it “oiled”. This keeps hair cuticles flexible and provides a protective layer over them. Vitamin A is important for the production of sebum, which can be found in fish, meat, dairy products, vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower) and fruits (tangerines and oranges). This way, you can prevent damaged hair.
And if you already have damaged hair, you can use a healthy diet to ensure that the new hair (under the scalp) has the best foundation to grow and is less likely to be damaged.
14. Ask your hairdresser for advice
If you literally have your hands in your (damaged) hair and are at a loss for solutions, pay a visit to your hairdresser. He or she can look at your hair very carefully and do a detailed analysis to determine its condition.
Damaged hair, extremely damaged hair or dry damaged hair? Whatever the outcome, they can give you the best advice and tips for your damaged hair.
15. Use the right products for damaged hair
Dyeing, blow-drying, styling, swimming, sunbathing… All great fun, but not so good for our hair. Besides the tips above, in most cases you need special products for damaged hair. These products repair hair from the inside out. In particular, it is repair shampoos, conditioners and restorative hair masks that treat and repair damaged hair. The most intensive way to condition, nourish and repair your hair is to use a hair mask. Masks thoroughly nourish and moisturise your hair to keep it strong and soft instead of brittle and broken.
