The five worst things you can do to your hair

It’s time to admit it: we don’t always give our hair the love it deserves. It’s not that we don’t want to- but life often finds a way to prevent us from putting our hair at the top of our list of priorities. If you’re reading this, thinking: yep, that’s me, don’t beat yourself up about it. Instead, take a look at this list of things you really shouldn’t be doing to your hair, and make a mental note of what you learn. That’s right- we’re not asking you to do more, we’re asking you to do less. Win-win for you! If you start to avoid these bad habits and practices where you can, you should notice a considerable improvement to your hair over time.

The list of the things you shouldn’t do to your hair is actually pretty long, but we won’t bore you with the whole thing. We’ll leave you with what we feel to be some of the most important points below to begin with:

1.       DON’T… Brush from the roots

Not a lot of people know this, but brushing early-morning, knotty bed hair from the roots can damage the hair and scalp (not to mention put you through five minutes of unnecessary pain). You should actually brush from the ends of your hair, up, working through the sections until you reach the roots- by which time, the rest of your hair will be super-smooth and easy to brush through.

2.       DON’T… Tie your hair up too tightly

As tempting as it is to scrape back our hair and put it out of the way, on top of our head, all day, using a bobble to keep it in place, you should be careful that you don’t tie the bobble too tightly. This can pull at the scalp and damage roots over time. If your bobble feels uncomfortably tight, it might be an idea to take one loop out of it, or tie a more relaxed bobble at the nape of your neck instead.

3.       DON’T… Use dirty brushes

We know, we know, who has time to wash their hairbrush? But your hair will thank you for it, and they only need doing once a month, which isn’t too taxing. Simply remove the hair, wash it with some hot water and gentle shampoo, and leave it overnight to dry.

4.       DON’T… Brush or style wet hair

You know when you pull a strand of wet hair, and it feels sort of… elastic? That’s because it us. Wet hair is far weaker, and more susceptible to snapping, than dry hair, so attempting to rake a hairbrush through it in a damp state is a big no-no. If you’re trying to speed up the hair-drying process, we recommend using a wide-toothed comb to gently work through your hair from the ends upwards, but nothing more than that.

5.       DON’T Wash your hair in super-hot water

If you’re a lover of hot showers, be aware: the steam washes the natural oils from your head, and can lead to dandruff. You can also get greasy hair from showering too much. If this is you, it’s time to invest in a good quality shower cap to keep your hair protected while you wash.