With all of the hair and styling advice out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and confused over what hair care path to follow. So we spoke with Davines Technical Education Manager Sunny Brewer to debunk some hair care myths and common misconceptions, to help you curate the best care routine (and practices) possible.
Your hair grows an average of six inches per year — this means your ends have been through a lot of wear and tear. While this won’t make your hair grow faster, regular trims are still a key part of maintaining healthy hair and avoiding further splitting your ends. “You still need regular trims,” Sunny says. “Normal wear and tear can cause a lack of density throughout your hair, making it look finer, unmanageable, and unhealthy. Regular trims help combat split ends and hair that is at risk of breaking.” Be sure to check out our blog post on how to prevent split ends to learn more.
“You can’t get split ends to revert back to a perfect state, but you can mend them with products like Heart of Glass and Naturaltech Nourishing that contain our Biacidic Bond Complex. Using a hair glaze for blondes protects the hair from thermal damage, which can also cause split ends. And remember what we discussed: consistent trims remove the wear and tear that causes split ends!”
While using heat tools without the proper protection will damage your hair over time, there are many different thermal and heat protectant products that can help you maintain healthy hair even with regular styling. According to Sunny: “Heat protection offers general protection, while a thermal protector protects the hair up to a specific degree that is tested. If you use a blow dryer or hot tool that heats up to around 450 degrees, use a thermal protector. You’ll notice a huge difference in the integrity of your hair and the longevity of your color.” Even with heat protectant products, let your hair air dry a bit before applying heat to help minimize the potential for damage.
Wearing a hat won’t cause you to lose hair — however, if there is friction or the hat pulls the hair in any way, it could cause a loss of hair in that area. Sunny says, “A hat doesn’t cause you to lose your hair, but the stress it could cause on the scalp could cause a loss.”
“If you apply conditioner on the scalp, it could congest the follicle and lead to hair loss,” Sunny says. “Most conditioners are just designed for lengths and ends — but Renewing Conditioning Treatment can go on the scalp due to its anti-aging properties.”
This is a myth! No matter what your hair type, you should still use conditioner. “We have to address issues at the scalp as well as what the lengths and ends need to stay healthy. To help control excessive sebum production, I recommend Rebalancing Shampoo from Naturaltech.”
“This comes from the idea that shampooing less will slow down oil production that can come from over-stimulating your scalp. This is very much an individual, lifestyle-based concept, as we aren’t just shampooing to remove oil from the scalp, but also dirt and impurities.” Help restore a healthy scalp and hair balance by learning more about our products for oily hair.
As it turns out, this can actually cause some hair issues. “If you're going to bed with wet hair and you have thick, coarse hair, more than likely you're waking up with damp hair,” Sunny says. “This could also cause the buildup of bacteria or fungal growth, similar to how when we use a bath towel…if it doesn't dry, it ends up smelling like mildew. The same can happen for the hair and scalp, and this could cause the onset of dandruff.”
“The other thing we must consider is that having a sealed cuticle helps to protect the hair. When you go to bed with a wet head, you can sometimes rough up the cuticle, depending on how you sleep. If you must go to bed with damp hair, make sure to dry it first thing in the morning if it's still damp, so you have the ability to get all the moisture out of the hair and seal the cuticle.” Check out our blog post to learn more about how to sleep with wet hair to avoid cuticle damage.
“Nope! A cold is a virus.”
According to Sunny, this is true! “It can help seal and close the cuticle — when the cuticle is compact, light is able to reflect better off of your hair. Of course, products like hair oil can help create immediate shine if you don’t like ending your shower with a chilly rinse.”
There is some truth in this. “There has been some new research stating that stress can cause gray hair to happen quicker. To keep it simple: there are pigment-producing cells that live at the base of our hair strand and determine pigment. As we age, the cells that produce pigment gradually die off. So, in the conversation of stress and gray hair, it actually speeds up that process concluding that you can gray quicker from stress.” If you’re going gray and are ready to embrace the change, be sure to get more info on how to enhance gray hair from our other blog post.
Sunny says that this is technically false. “It has to do with the individual follicle. So, if you tweeze a gray hair, then another gray hair will grow back, but it will not encourage the follicles around it to start producing gray hair.” For those looking to rock their grays, read our post on how to make gray hair shiny silver to learn more about key ways you can make your hair look its best.
Sunny says, “this is closely related to the friction and stress one could experience from wearing a hat. If you are pulling your hair back tightly or pulling it up and twisting it around tightly, it could cause hair breakage.” Be sure to check out our blog post on natural options to treat thinning hair if you’re experiencing excessive loss, as well as our Energizing family.
There are a lot of benefits to brushing your hair — from scalp stimulation to the proper distribution of oils, gently brushing your hair is a key part of maintaining overall hair health. Be sure to read our blog post to learn more about how to properly brush your hair and the benefits of brushing.
“Aside from causing a loss of hydration and moisture, UV rays can also cause hair sensitivity (especially if you’re color-treated) and fade color pigment. Our SU line is designed to protect your hair before or after sun exposure.”
It can be easy to get overwhelmed by all of the (often contradicting) hair advice out there, so we hope that this has helped answer some of your most common questions. And if there’s any other questions that you still have, you can’t beat the wisdom of Davines stylists — book an appointment at your local salon for a personal hair care consultation.
by Lauren Hannel, staff contributor
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