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In growing and maintaining a beautiful head of hair it takes so much more than just the products you use to support luscious, healthy locks. Promoting healthy hair growth hinges on a well-rounded diet and careful treatment of your strands, and even the smallest mistakes such as washing too frequently, overusing dry shampoo or even turning to the wrong products can cause your locks to look weighed down and dull, or in the worst case, fall out.
At this point in your life it may be second nature to brush through your hair immediately after a shower, but it’s this very habit that could be ruining your good hair day and making it increasingly difficult to achieve the locks of your dreams. Before you drag a harsh brush through your soaking wet strands, there’s one thing hair stylists want you to know about brushing hair straight out of the shower, and what you should be doing instead.
One of the most important factors in having a great head of hair is actually keeping your strands attached to your scalp. Fallout is one of the biggest struggles women and men alike suffer from in their self care routines, and it can be difficult to pinpoint the cause of your thinning locks. However, the problem may be as simple as brushing your hair when it’s wet.
“Right after washing, your hair strands are literally saturated with water. Saturation makes the hair strands less elastic. Brushes use a lot of tensile strength and can easily break off wet hair,” explains hair expert Ghanima Abdullah. When you take a brush to wet hair, even if you’re being gentle, there’s a good chance you’re ripping your locks out from the root. When made a habit, this can cause long term damage to your strands, snapping and pulling at the pieces that do stay attached.
Unfortunately the same rule goes for styling your hair right out of the shower as well. It’s common practice to use a brush to help you blow-dry and style, but this may be the root of your problems. “Using a brush on wet hair while blow-drying will damage your hair. It combines heat and pulling on hair that already has low elasticity,” warns Abdullah. If you’re set on styling your strands, it’s important to be gentle and keep heat at a distance. “Detangle first, then use a dryer to blow your hair from a 12-inch distance, minimum. This will help keep you from literally boiling the water out of your hair and creating bubbles in the hair strand.”
As for brushing wet locks, your best bet is going to be to invest in a shower specific comb which can help to separate your strands without tugging and creating breakage. “A wide-toothed comb without seams will help smooth the outer layer of the hair strand, the cuticle, while detangling. This means it will be easier to remove tangles,” suggests Abdullah.
If you use this comb in the shower while you still have a mask or conditioner coating your locks, this will make for an even more gentle detangling process, preserving your hair and smoothing it out in the process. “As there is no 100% harmless way to brush wet hair, you should use detangling cream or serum to soften wet hair and make it slicker for safer detangling,” adds professional hair stylist and founder of the MyStraightener blog, Monica Davis.
It may take a little extra thought and effort, but properly caring for your hair particularly after the shower will make a world of difference in the long run for preserving your strands so they can look their best everyday. You don’t have to invest in a slew of expensive products to achieve a great hair day so long as you can treat your strands gently to keep them shiny and intact.
Purchasing a wide-tooth comb may be your best investment in order to detangle your locks after the shower so you don’t have to worry about breakage and tugging with a typical brush. It may take a minute to break the habit of dragging a brush through your hair after every shower, but being more careful with your locks is the best way to ensure beautiful hair for years to come.
