If it has been too long between good hair days, here's how to bring our locks back to life.
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Hair woes
If your hair isn't quite as lovely as you'd like it to be, there are three culprits to blame, says Dr. Bernard Nusbaum, owner of the Hair Transplant and Dermatology Institute of Miami.
"Damaged hair is most commonly associated with the sun, harsh chemicals such as hair bleach, colour and permanents and excessive heat or brushing. It looks dry and brittle in texture, gets knotted very easily and does not have the normal shine, lustre and soft feel of healthy hair."
According to Nusbaum, chemicals are the worst culprits as they dry out the cuticle shaft. Excessive exposure to chlorine through public pools and/or your shower head and chemical agents such as perming, over-processing with too much colour or inappropriate use of home colour products can also leave hair dehydrated, brittle and rough to the touch.
"The frequency with which the chemical treatments are applied and how harsh they are determine how healthy the hair shaft looks," says Nusbaum. Hair shafts (the individual strands of hair exposed on top of your head) are dead proteins coated with smooth cuticle layers. When the cuticle layer is disrupted, the result is split ends, frizzy texture or dryness.
Other daily damage contributors are excessive combing and brushing, which cause friction by introducing static, creating tangles that can stretch, break and even rip the hair's cuticle. Heat-generating styling equipment such as blow-dryers and curling and straightening irons produce temperatures often as hot as boiling water and with overuse can result in the cuticle bubbling, leaving the hair looking dull, fuzzy and unable to lie flat. Luckily, damage to the hair shaft
is not permanent. "Hair generally grows about half an inch per month. When this new growth occurs, it produces healthy hair and the appearance will be restored,"says Nusbaum.
