10 Ways You're Ruining Your Hair but Don't Know It

Everyone knows that endless flatironing, bleaching, and using tons of styling product aren't exactly the best thing for your hair. But ponytails, clarifying shampoos, and repairing masks seem pretty harmless, right? The truth is, there are many healthy-ish or NBD habits that can actually lead to breakage, damage, and excess shedding. Here,10 sneaky little ways we're making our hair hate us (so you can stop doing them ASAP).

The Culprit: Detangling Wet Hair
Wet strands are especially delicate, so ripping through them post-shower with a brush or comb can lead to serious breakage, explains Rachel Bodt, senior colorist at Cutler salon in NYC. Instead, use a wide-tooth comb or a Tangle Teezer (it's equipped with flexible bristles that are gentle enough to use on wet hair) while you're still in the shower and your hair is coated with conditioner. Bonus: Your conditioner will be more equally distributed and your hair will be insanely shiny and soft allover.

The Culprit: Your Perma-Pony (or Bun) Positioning
We're all guilty of wearing the same topknot or low pony for days on end. Unfortunately, repeatedly placing tension on similar areas can result in hair weakening and even excess shedding, says Bodt. Make sure to switch up your style regularly and use snag-free hair ties (these neoprene Emijays are super cute!) or Goody's Spin Pins to secure with the least possible tearing.

The Culprit: Sleeping With Wet Hair
It's so easy to twist freshly shampooed hair in braids or a messy bun, pass out, and wake up to tousled mermaid waves. But if you're dandruff prone, this is a huge mistake. Since flakes can be caused by a fungal infection, resting your wet head against a warm, damp pillowcase for six to eight hours a night will encourage the white stuff to show. Try to shampoo a few hours before bedtime or rough-dry your hair on medium heat until its nearly dry, then hit the hay.

The Culprit: Using Too Many Protein Masks
Protein-packed hair masks are great for repairing bleached and damaged hair. However, your hair needs a balance of moisture and protein. If you load it up with just protein, it can leave your strands parched and brittle, according to Bodt. To ensure you're getting enough nourishment, swap your conditioner for a mask just once a week and alternate between hydrating and repairing treatments.

The Culprit: Only Using UV Protectant Outdoors
Of course it's important to spritz sunscreen on your hair (and everywhere!) when you're hitting the beach or hanging outside all day. But even when you're not getting lots of fresh air, you need to stay protected. Skipping this step can screw up your color because sitting near windows, the light from your computer, and even fluorescent office lighting all add up to color fading. A quick spritz will save you major $$$ at the salon and keep that flawless balayage in tact.

The Culprit: Touching Up More Than Just Your Roots
When you DIY your dye job, it's tempting to apply the product all the way down to your ends and not just touch up the new growth. Avoid this temptation! Pulling the color all the way to your ends can dehydrate your hair and result in uneven color (since the length of your hair will end up being colored over and over and over). To make sure you only tint your roots, apply conditioner from the mid-shaft of your strands down to prevent the dye from running, suggests Bodt.

The Culprit: OTT Detoxing
If you love using hairspray or salt spray (who doesn't?!), you know the importance of a good clarifying shampoo to eliminate buildup. But relying on this deep cleanser too often can strip your hair of the good oils it needs to stay healthy and protected, Bodt explains. Try using them once a month and always apply a moisturizing mask after to re-hydrate the squeaky clean strands.

The Culprit: Your Lifetime Blowout Bar Membership
We get it. Blowouts make everything better. But if you're hitting up a jam-packed blowout spot more than once a week, you may be risking excessive heat damage. "Some blowout bars focus a little too much on doing hair quickly," says Ricardo Rojas, a celeb stylist in NYC. This means they might be turning the heat up a too high and not protecting your strands as much as they should. Ask your blow-dry stylist to rough dry your hair instead of starting the blowout when your hair is wet and to keep the dryer on a lower heat setting when possible. And BYOP (bring your own protection)! We love Tresemme Thermal Creations Heat Protection Spray.

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Understanding Hair Loss -- the Basics

What Is Hair Loss?

Hair grows everywhere on the human skin except on the palms of our hands and the soles of our feet, but many hairs are so fine they're virtually invisible. Hair is made up of a protein called keratin that is produced in hair follicles in the outer layer of skin. As follicles produce new hair cells, old cells are being pushed out through the surface of the skin at the rate of about six inches a year. The hair you can see is actually a string of dead keratin cells. The average adult head has about 100,000 to 150,000 hairs and loses up to 100 of them a day; finding a few stray hairs on your hairbrush is not necessarily cause for alarm.
At any one time, about 90% of the hair on a person's scalp is growing. Each follicle has its own life cycle that can be influenced by age, disease, and a wide variety of other factors. This life cycle is divided into three phases:

• Anagen -- active hair growth that lasts between two to six years
• Catagen -- transitional hair growth that lasts two to three weeks
• Telogen -- resting phase that lasts about two to three months; at the end of the resting phase the hair is shed and a new hair replaces it and the growing cycle starts again

As people age, their rate of hair growth slows.
There are many types of hair loss, also called alopecia:

• Involutional alopecia is a natural condition in which the hair gradually thins with age. More hair follicles go into the resting phase, and the remaining hairs become shorter and fewer in number.
• Androgenic alopecia is a genetic condition that can affect both men and women. Men with this condition, called male pattern baldness, can begin suffering hair loss as early as their teens or early 20s. It's characterized by a receding hairline and gradual disappearance of hair from the crown and frontal scalp. Women with this condition, called female pattern baldness, don't experience noticeable thinning until their 40s or later. Women experience a general thinning over the entire scalp, with the most extensive hair loss at the crown.
• Alopecia areata often starts suddenly and causes patchy hair loss in children and young adults. This condition may result in complete baldness (alopecia totalis). But in about 90% of people with the condition, the hair returns within a few years.
• Alopecia universalis causes all body hair to fall out, including the eyebrows, eyelashes, and pubic hair.
• Trichotillomania , seen most frequently in children, is a psychological disorder in which a person pulls out one's own hair.
• Telogen effluvium is temporary hair thinning over the scalp that occurs because of changes in the growth cycle of hair. A large number of hairs enter the resting phase at the same time, causing hair shedding and subsequent thinning.
• Scarring alopecias result in permanent loss of hair. Inflammatory skin conditions  (cellulitis, folliculitis, acne), and other skin disorders (such as some forms of lupus and lichen planus) often result in scars that destroy the ability of the hair to regenerate. Hot combs and hair too tightly woven and pulled can also result in permanent hair loss.

Source: Understanding Hair Loss

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