Hair Care Routine For Damaged Hair

Dealing with damaged hair doesn’t have to be a chore. Follow our routine for damaged hair and you’ll be back to your best in no time.

What Is Damaged Hair?

Hair damage happens when aggressors such as heat, chemicals, and UV rays attack the protective outer layer of your hair (the cuticle) leaving cracks in its exterior. Once cracked, the cuticle opens up, your hair is at risk for further damages and breakage. Frizzy, dull, rough hair, spilt ends, and excessive hair breakage are the key signs of hair damage. Hair damage caused by other factors such as heat styling, chemicals, sun damage, stress.

The difference between healthy, clean hair and damaged hair is cuticle layer is intact in healthy hair whereas the cuticle layer is stripped off in damaged. This is the main reason hair looks irregular, dull, and frizzy. When these cuticles are damaged, the natural smooth cuticle layer starts to become rough, hair starts to become brittle, and split ends begin to appear. In some cases, the core is exposed and vulnerable to snapping. When hair snaps off or breaks into split ends, the hair looks frizzy and dull.

What Are The Types Of Hair Damage?

1. Dull and Dry Hair

Damaged hair lacks natural oils on the external layer of your hair. This causes the hair to lose its shine. Shampoos containing harsh chemicals can take off the natural oils from your scalp and hair. Wash your hair twice a week and use shampoos that suit your hair type.

2. Tangles

Tangled Hair is extremely common when your hair is damaged. The raised cuticles create friction between the hair strands and cause them to urge intertwined. It is usually drying and lacks smoothness and moisture which results in it getting tangled quite easily. Use a comb that has a wide-tooth, and then start combing from the bottom and work your way up.

3. Frizz

when the hair does not lay flat, it can cause frizz. Frizz is caused by a raised cuticle layer. Due to which the hair looks dry. Lack of moisture and damaged hair can cause frizz in the hair. Serums help in taming the frizz.

4. Split Ends

Split ends are an extremely common type of hair damage. What is split ends? If you see your hair ends splitting into two or more ends. If you hold onto your split and not cut your hair, you will be contributing to more dull hair. The end of the hair is more to prone damage. It can be frustrating as it takes a natural look away from your hair.

5. Excessive Hair Breakage

If you see your hair starts breaking when you comb or when you run your fingers through it, it is a sign that your hair has been damaged.

6. Rough Texture

How to identify the texture of damaged hair? The easiest way is to run your fingers through your hair, and if the hair starts to feel rough, it is a clear sign that your hair is damaged. It can be accelerated due to excessive heat such as straightening or curling tools.

Causes Of Damaged Hair

1. Heat Styling

Heat during hairstyling like straightening, curling, or blow-drying can open up to the cuticle and take away all the natural oil from the hair. High temperatures are the main cause of damaged hair. If your hair appears dry and frizzy, you should know that your hair damage is due to heat. Pro-tip to style your hair is to put the heat on the lowest temperature and use a heat-protective spray before using any type of appliance.

2. Stress

Stress makes the hair dry and eventually leads to breakages. You might not know this, but stress can have a great impact on your hair. During the time of stress, avoid any hair styling or the use of heating tools on your hair. Stress pushes hair follicles into a resting stage, which causes hair to fall.

3. Chemicals

Hair coloring and bleaching are the most common types of chemical hair treatments that damage your hair in the long-term. These chemical treatments leave the hair looking dull and dry. The hair also becomes brittle and more prone to breakage. Shampoos containing sulfates and alcohol can take away the natural moisture of your hair and damage it internally. Treatments like hair rebounding, permanent hair straightening can also alter the internal structure of the hair.

How To Get Rid Of Damaged Hair?

Here are some hair care tips that can help you get rid of damaged hair:

a. Starting right off - Hair wash guide

The first step you’ll want to focus on is hair repair. While you can’t actually make your hair heal itself, there are things you can do to make it look and feel better while you focus on growing strong, healthy hair to replace it. To get dandruff free hair and to keep it healthy, you need to wash your hair properly & regularly. Let’s start with a step-by-step guide on how to wash your hair the right way.

• Once in the shower, make sure you set the water temperature to warm so it’s not too hot and not too cold.
• Place a small amount of scalp shampoo into your hand and work in the shampoo at the scalp. It will help remove grease and oil where it’s most concentrated. From there, massage the lather down your hair fibers. If you’re struggling with knots, try our Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky Shampoo to help eliminate tangles and control frizz for up to 24 hours.
• Rinse your hair starting from the roots to the tips, allowing the water to run through the hair
• Don’t forget the conditioner while scalp shampoo cleanses, a conditioner acts as an important moisturizer for your hair. Squeeze out excess moisture from your hair and spread a small amount of conditioner onto your palms. Concentrate on spreading the conditioner onto the lengths of your hair.

b. Moisturizing hair guide

To relieve yourself of damaged hair and dandruff you must use a moisturizing anti-dandruff shampoo. We recommend you to opt for the Head & Shoulders 2-in1 Smooth & Silky shampoo + conditioner range. Moisture is the key in this case: look for products that use the terms, ‘moisture’, ‘smooth’, or ‘repair.” The levels of these are tailored differently across versions to address different hair needs:

Dimethicone – microscopic droplets of dimethicone in the shampoo are released onto each hair fiber during rinsing. When hair is dry, these droplets smooth and protect the hair cuticle, keeping hair soft and shiny.

Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, and Polyquaternium-10 – these conditioning ingredients cushion hair fibers – especially when hair is wet. They help to prevent hair tangles and make it more manageable.

Glycerin- some products in our line contain this ingredient, which helps seal in skin moisture.

c. Conditioner guide

It’s important that you don’t skip the conditioner — a good conditioner will help smooth your cuticles (the outer layer of hair), and make your hair look healthier.Because damaged hair is vulnerable to further harm, you’ll also want to take steps to protect your hair while styling.

A two-prong approach will come in handy here: avoid heat styling where you can, and use a protectant when you do.

You can also work a leave-in conditioner or finishing oil for that extra bit of moisture — paying special attention to the ends of your hair, where the most damage is likely to be.

d. Combing guide

Brushing your hair with the wrong type of comb can seriously damage your hair badly. Curly hair should always be brushed with a wide-tooth bristled brush to avoid breakage.

Another thing to keep in mind is to start from the ends then slowly move upwards, you can also start with untangling the locks with your fingers slowly. Once you have reached the crown area of your scalp start brushing the entire length of your hair. Do it for a few minutes as it helps untangle hair from roots to ends.

e. Styling your hair

We know how much you love styling you hair but with excessive styling comes the heat damage and damage from the various products used – dry shampoos, gels, mousse etc.It is essential to ensure you thoroughly wash away these products from your hair in order to avoid dirt & oil build-up.

Takeaway

Once you’ve fixed your immediate problem, it’s time to take your damaged hair treatment further.Start with your scalp; wash your scalp & hair the right way, the condition of your scalp dictates the health of your hair to a far greater degree than you might think.That means you need to take care of this little-seen part of your head.Luckily, a good scalp care shampoo and conditioner help moisturize your scalp as much as it does your hair, so, you can keep them both in great shape.

From there, you’ll want to take care when you get out of the shower: dry your hair as gently as possible and avoid styling it until it’s completely dry.This is important because wet hair is actually far weaker than you’d expect — it can easily be stretched and broken if you’re not careful.And really, that’s the key to treating hair damage: take care of your scalp, moisturize, and be gentle.