Even though you cannot undo a damaged hair fiber, there are things you can do to avoid the damage altogether.
Apply a deep treatment containing fatty acids, silk proteins, emollients, and humectants once every week as well as visit your doctor to identify any prevailing medical conditions that could be affecting your hair health.
First off, determine what is wrong with your hair. Within this section we discuss three major causes of damaged hair, ways to reduce this impact, and tips on how to make your ends healthy again.
Mechanical Damage
What causes mechanical damage?
Hair breakage caused by wear and tear is known as mechanical damage. Snagging combs and brushes through your strands, tugging at them with tight headbands or ribbons, and even subjecting them to natural forces all contribute to this over time. All these extraneous environmental factors lead to individual strand breakages due to erosion of cuticles’ protection layers which prevent shininess resulting in a disheveled appearance.
How does damaged hair get fixed?
Some chemical repair products exist (keep reading), but our experts say split ends or severe breakage cannot be repaired in salon treatments. The answer here would be a haircut or potentially a total chop so as not to allow for other splits on the way up.
To cover up possible signs of mechanical damage, take off the most basic tools from for some time and use Vernon François Nourishing Water or Ceremonia’s Guava Beach Waves designed specifically for this type of styling. Additionally using JVN Complete Nourishing Hair Oil Shine Drops and No Frizz Vanishing Oil made by Living Proof will tame frizz while adding shine once healing has begun.
How can further damages be avoided?
“Wet hair is very fragile; handle with care,” advises celebrity hairstylist Bridget Brager who suggests using a wide-toothed comb or wet brush. Her advice is to mainly work from the ends of your hair upwards and allow hair to dry as naturally as it can before styling. The same type of hair should be used when blow drying.
Another way to lengthen your hairstyle? Use satin/silk pillowcases, scarves, and bonnets while sleeping for protection. According to Hill, “Create a signature sleep style that allows airflow through the hair into the scalp so as not to cause matting in the occipital area during sleep.” She lists twists, pin curls, big braids, or even pineapple techniques among the best examples of nighttime hairstyles.
Chemical Damage
What causes chemical damage?
Do you love hair color and retexturizing treatments? Keep an eye out for chemical damage which is a sneaky form. Once in a while, if one has gone through chemical processing and is accompanied by a well-planned and systematic hair care routine, he/she should not worry about it but if it is done too often or too roughly or without proper caring, it will lead to gradual decay of cuticles.
Strands lose moisture-holding ability when their cuticle layers are damaged making them look dry and lack luster elasticity leading to breakage. TLDR: Bleaching can make the hair appear plump while re-texturing makes daily styling easier but chemicals destroy protein structures with time.
How to repair damaged hair
One cannot fail to mention how bond-building hair products have become popular in recent times since they have been good at what they claim to do.
Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil or K18 Biomimetic Hairscience Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask are two examples of talked about formulas available while Living Proof Triple Bond Complex and Bumble and Bumble Bond-Building Repair Treatment also promise that they will strengthen your locks and resist future harm.
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How to prevent further damage
Bond-building products help but regular maintenance is a must for prevention. As Brager puts it regular trims reduce split ends from fraying so as not to break off (and save you from more drastic damage!).
Heat Damage
How does heat damage occur?
Heat tools may be our saving grace in having perfect hair, yet if you are to rely on them excessively, your length will suffer long-term consequences. Like with chemical processing, repetitive heat applications erode the cuticle and degrade strands thus causing them to break eventually. Even high temperatures can cause instant damage burning actual strands that one is trying to style.
How to repair damaged hair
Although it is impossible to completely reverse heat damage from hair, regular trims and a change of what you use on daily basis may work wonders. Ensure that both shampoo and conditioner do not have harsh sulfates.
Vegamour’s duo is powered by vegan silk proteins for those desiring increased hair growth or alternatively these picks by Briogeo and Alterna for people grappling with more dryness which will help them regain softness, shine, and moisture.
How to prevent further damage
Before thinking about any other product or tool remember one basic rule: air dry or power dry with fingers and remove most of the moisture before applying hot tools.
Instant thermal shields include Oribe Invisible Defense Universal Protection Spray or Mizani Heat Screen Heat Protectant Spray for this purpose only.
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Brager suggests decreasing the temperature of your hot tools all together even when you use heat protectants. If you think about it, this blow dryer that Dyson is so much in love with, though it has fast drying time for hair, always try to use a lower heat setting than normal. You cannot be too careful.
One of Brager’s favorite products is T3’s Smooth ID which can tailor settings to suit your hair type. In order to preserve your hairstyle, one may find it easier to stick to your natural hair. Brager quotes “Style when necessary and let your natural texture flow whenever possible,”
