You Can't Repair Damaged Hair (Here's What You Should Do Instead)
Hair cannot heal itself.
All the products claiming to heal damaged hair is part of marketing. Commercials and ads use fantastic visuals that show how a certain product can fix your damaged, dry hair. But, it can’t. Hair is dead. That’s why you it doesn’t hurt when you cut it. So all hair damage is permanent.
Why Your Hair Gets Damaged
Hair is typically damaged from hot tools and chemical processes.
Blow dryers, curling irons, and straighteners use heat to style your locks. According to Chicago-based hairstylist Anna Jackson, heat dries out your hair. So obviously, curling irons and straighteners are worse than a hairdryer since it exposes your hair to ceramic plates for a prolonged period of time.
Chemical services like perms, lightening, and coloring break the bonds of your hair to work. When your hair loses its healthy structure, the cuticle raises and lacks moisture and shine. It becomes drier, easily tangles, is more likely to break.
We speak from experience. One writer has long, damaged hair that looked like a bird’s nest. She says it takes FOREVER to detangle and brush her hair. And if she didn’t curl it (which resulted in further damage), she would look like a frizzy, untamed lion.
What Can You Do to Help Damaged Hair
We’re not going to tell anyone to abandon hot tools and stop coloring your hair. We absolutely love our curling iron to get some beachy waves and we live by balayage highlights. Here’s what you can do to help your hair and prevent future damage.
1. Trim Your Ends
You can’t save damaged hair. You must cut off your split ends. If you don’t, it will continue to break and infect your healthy hair, and you’ll end up losing length anyway. While you don’t need to go in for the chop, cut off as much as you feel comfortable with.
We spoke to an experienced hair dyer who went from black to platinum blonde in multiple balayage sessions. She would cut off an inch off the ends of her hair between sessions to keep her hair as healthy as possible.
2. Use Hair Masks
Hair masks are thicker and more concentrated than regular conditioners. These formulas use vitamins and oils to provide moisture to the surface of your hair cuticle. After you’ve cut off your split ends, a hair mask can temporarily help fill in the gaps and bond the hair cuticle to prevent further breakage.
Most people do a mask every week or two. You’ll need to judge how often your hair needs it, based on the mask type and how oily your locks and scalp gets.
Here are a few of our favorite masks, which are designed to coat your hair and smooth the cuticle. While you can also use a DIY recipe with ingredients like eggs, honey, olive oil, and avocados, we personally find DIY recipes really hard to wash out. So, we recommend these:
3. Hair Serums and Oils
We love using hair oils because it gives hair an instant shine. Spray this right after washing your hair. But use it sparingly because you don’t want your hair to feel greasy.
Hair serums are like a multivitamin for your hair. Again, none of these products will heal your cuticles, but it’ll help your hair keep its luster.
4. Be Smart About Shampoo
You shouldn’t wash your hair every day. We know, it sounds disgusting. But shampoo can strip your hair of moisture. So, try to shampoo every other day or every third day, depending on how oily your hair is. On non-shampoo days, you can use a dry shampoo to control oil.
Here are some dry shampoo recommendations.
The type of shampoo you use can also impact how your hair feels. We’ve noticed a difference when I switch up my shampoo and use something with oil.
Macadamia Professional Nourishing Repair Shampoo has a few different types, depending on the texture of your hair. One writer has medium to coarse hair, so her budget go-to is the TRESemme Keratin Smooth Color Shampoo. Feel free to get the matching conditioner.
But also, whatever shampoo you choose, make sure it’s color-safe. Nobody wants to drop $200+ on balayage, use a special shampoo to prevent damage, and end up washing out all your highlights. These two options are color-safe.
5. Gentle Styling
Don’t break your hair. You may have played with your hair when you were younger and broken off split ends when you were bored. It’s a terrible idea, like tearing a piece of fabric. You won’t get that clean edge and you’re more susceptible to future damage.
Don’t use a towel to vigorously dry wet hair. Instead, blot and squeeze to prevent tangles.
Then, use a wide tooth comb or a wet brush to detangle your hair. Be careful though, because wet hair is more vulnerable to breakage.
Spray your hair with a heat protectant before blow drying. If possible, let your hair air dry.
Use your curling iron or straightener on the lowest possible heat setting that still gets the job done. So, if you hair can curl or straighten at 350 degrees, don’t use 450.
And of course, choose elastic bands that don’t pull and damage your hair.
6. Swim and Sun
When the summer months roll around, almost everyone hits the salon to lighten their hair. While we willingly may damage our hair for color, it’s best to avoid the sun, chlorine, and salt to prevent further damage.
Sun exposure and UV-rays can dry out your hair and fade your color. The chlorine in pools and the salt in the ocean can also break down your hair. You can opt to wear a hat and/or swim with your hair above the water.
If all else fails (because we’re mermaids), fall back on hair masks and serums to keep your locks healthy looking.
7. Hair Vitamins
You may have heard about the Tati and James Charles drama. Some say that it started because of hair vitamins, which promise hair growth and thicker locks.
We are not medical professionals. And supplements are not FDA-approved. But according to Michelle Henry, a clinical instructor at Cornell Medical, some popular ingredients in hair vitamins are biotin and collagen.
Hair vitamins come in pill forms and gummies.