The 6 mistakes that are ruining your hair!

We know you can’t always help it, but some common hair care habits are more likely to ruin your hair than you think. Here are 6 mistakes you should avoid if you want to have healthy hair.

Straightening your hair every day, the most common error

Using the hair straightener in the morning and sometimes also later in the day for a quick touch-up is routine for many of us. But did you know that this habit can damage your hair? With every successive use of the straightener, your hair fiber becomes weaker, more brittle and increasingly dry. If you absolutely can’t go without your favorite tool, use it at a lower setting – between 250°F et 375°F – twice a week at max, and try to avoid going over the same section of hair multiple times or holding the straightener in one place for too long.

Brushing wet hair too aggressively

When hair is wet, it is more fragile and sensitive to damage. Still, we are often in a hurry to detangle our hair so we can move to the drying and styling phase, which means that we may brush it too aggressively. This increases the risk of pulling at the hair strands and causing breakage. To avoid this, it’s best to use a brush that is gentle on your scalp, like the Altesse Studio detangling brush made from bio-sourced nylon, which is specially designed to eliminate knots effectively without any pain or breakage.

Using a plastic hairbrush: an unsustainable choice!

The list of reasons not to use a plastic hairbrush is long:

• The stiff, pointed bristles of plastic hairbrushes can damage your scalp and hair
• Plastic hairbrushes tend to pull out your hair while detangling
• Plastic hairbrushes produce static electricity
• Plastic hairbrushes are neither sustainable nor durable

Switching out your regular plastic hairbrush for a boar bristle brush will turn this ordinary hair care step into a truly nourishing ritual. Sturdy and long-lasting, boar bristle hairbrushes are gentle on your scalp and distribute the natural oils it secretes evenly through your strands, leaving your hair nourished and shiny. What’s more, this type of hairbrush does not produce static, helping to reduce frizz. No wonder it is THE hair care accessory to get your hair looking healthier and healthier by the day!

Washing your hair every day

Washing your hair on a daily basis can throw the sebaceous glands in your scalp out of balance, causing them to overproduce sebum to compensate. This creates a vicious cycle in which you feel like you have to keep washing your hair every day to combat greasiness. However, over-washing actually strips your locks further of their natural oils, especially if you use shampoos high in surfactants and silicones! The best way to avoid this is to reduce your hair-washing frequency and brush it twice a day with a high-quality boar bristle hairbrush instead. This helps to cleanse the scalp of the sebum accumulated at the root and move it through the strands, leaving your hair evenly coated in its own natural oils.

Wearing your hair in tight hairstyles

Ever heard of traction alopecia? It’s a kind of hair loss caused by hair being excessively pulled, especially at the top and sides of your forehead. To avoid developing this condition over time, don’t wear your hair in tight buns or ponytails and opt for looser styles instead. Swap out your tight hair elastics for satin or – even better – silk scrunchies, which won’t tug too hard on your hair or cause unnecessary friction.

Sleeping with wet hair

We’ve all done it, but sleeping with wet hair can promote the growth of bad bacteria and disrupt the delicate balance of the scalp. Wet hair also tangles easily, meaning you can wake up with more knots. So, make sure your hair is dry when going to bed, and try using a silk pillowcase to prevent your hair from getting dehydrated and frizzy while you sleep.