Here are 7 commonly believed myths about your hair
Everyone’s got their pet peeves when it comes to their hair, and their little
“superstitions” and beliefs as well. But when it comes to our precious locks, how
much of what we believe is real, and how much of it is little more than an urban
myth? Here are 7 common myths about your hair; it’s time to stop believing in these!
1. Cutting your hair makes it grow faster
Experts may suggest that you cut your hair every six to eight weeks, but it’s got
nothing to do with making it grow. Hair grows from the scalp, so trimming the ends
will have no effect on growth. It will, however, remove frayed and split ends, which
could make your hair look thinner and cause breakage. Cutting your hair regularly
keeps it looking healthy, but it won’t make it grow faster unfortunately.
2. Plucking one grey hair causes two to grow back in its place
The good news is this isn’t true. The bad news is if you have one grey hair, it usually
means you have more. So plucking one grey hair will not cause two to grow in its
place, but it will make you more observant towards the other grey hairs that were
already growing in the first place.
That being said, it’s also not a good idea to wage war on every single grey hair you
see. Hair that is plucked too much over time will become weaker, and over a period
of time, might even stop growing back. Yikes!
3. Washing your hair causes more hairs to fall out
Don’t blame the shampoo: if your hair is going to fall out, it will regardless of what
you do (or don’t do). Just because you’re seeing more hairs falling out in the shower
doesn't mean that your shampoo is to blame, it just means that you’re not noticing
the other times your hair falls out. In fact, not washing your hair could cause dirt and
oil build-up, which could affect hair health.
4. Brushing your hair will make it healthier
Again, not true. Brushing your hair 100 times a day will do nothing more than tire out
your arm. And excessive brushing might backfire, doing more harm than good to
your hair, as you could damage your hair’s cuticles. Brush if you need to, but
otherwise leave your locks alone.
5. Colouring your hair is bad for it
While bleaching your hair is definitely one of the most harmful things you could do to
it, not all types of hair colouring treatments are bad. Removing colour from your hair
(bleaching) makes each strand thinner and more prone to breakage, but adding
colour (colouring without bleaching) actually plumps up the strands. If you really want
to lighten your hair, choose a salon such as Judena Hair, which uses ammonia-free
hair lightening products that won’t harm your hair when lightening no more than three
shades. For further lightening, they use a treatment called Smart Bond to protect
your hair. In other words, it’s perfectly okay to go darker, but if you want to lighter,
make sure you choose the right salon (and products)!
6. You can’t colour your hair when pregnant
When it comes to colouring your hair while pregnant, the risk for the mum-to- be
actually lies in the inhalation of ammonia, which is found in some hair colouring
products, not in the application of hair dye per se. However, experts say that the
levels of ammonia in hair colouring are so low that it’s not a problem, although it
won’t hurt to ensure that the salon you are visiting has a good industrial strength
ventilation system, or even better, uses ammonia-free hair colouring products, such
as INOA by L’Oreal Professional.
7. Air-drying your hair is healthier than blow-drying
While it is true that exposing your hair to overly high temperatures from a blow-dryer
could cause damage, air-drying might have its downsides as well. Blow-drying
causes damage to the hair’s surface, but a study has found that air-drying,
particularly for hair that is very wet, could cause damage to the interior of hair by
exposing it to water for extended periods of time. The solution? Use your blow-dryer
if you want to, but set it to the lowest heat setting, hold it at least six inches away
from your hair, and don’t concentrate the heat on a single spot for too long. If you
can, apply a heat protector to damp hair immediately after washing, as that will not
only protect your hair from the heat of blow-drying, it will also provide UV protection.