6 Hair Care Habits Gone Wrong: Things to Do Instead

Just when you thought you were doing the right thing but, honey, you are destroying your hair.

And you don’t even realise it, do you?

In our desire to keep our hair as beautiful as the ones we see on shampoo ads, we usually do things that could damage our hair at the end of the day. These are not just about the obvious sinners like heating, bleaching and dying. In this article, you will learn about the other things we are all guilty of doing that could punish our hair in a significant way.

From merely brushing the hair when it is wet to towel wrapping for a few minutes, we cannot wait to see plenty of guilty faces after we reveal the things we did not expect to hurt our hair in the long run. So, enough the chatter. Here are the common haircare habits you should never do again and the practices that you can do instead to help prevent total damage on your hair.

Brushing the Hair Right After a Shower

We all like the smooth sensation of letting our hair slide through the bristles of our hairbrush while it is wet. However, brushing the hair after stepping out of the shower and doing a quick towel rub can put more tension to the hair. Too much stress from pulling can cause hair breakage.

Instead, let your hair a bit dry (for straight hairs) or moist (for tight curls) before gently combing it with a wide-tooth comb.

Doing Tight Ponytails, Buns and Braids

Similar to brushing the hair when it is wet, tightly pulling the hair back to do some ponytails and other intricate hairstyles can stress out every strand of your hair. If you are not like with your long hair hanging freely, tie your hair loosely by using silky scrunchies instead of rubber bands.

Recommended reading: Tips for Beautiful and Healthy Skin

Combing a Hundred Strokes a Day

We hate to say this, but giving your hair 100 strokes of combing before going to bed is nothing but a myth. This habit neither stimulates the blood flow in your scalp nor improves the hair growth. The truth is that our hair never really needs a hundred brush strokes a day because doing so can cause friction that leads to hair cuticle damage eventually. Just give your hair the proper combing it needs, and you are good to go.

Wearing Tight-fitted Swim Caps

Covering your head with super tight personalised swim caps can protect your hair from too much exposure to heat and chlorinated water when taking a pool dip. Most athletes are used to wearing tight-fitted swim caps to avoid distractions from hair strands the get through in the water. Then again, tightness can stress your hair out. Choose swim caps that are made to give your hair gentle protection.

Read 5 Types of Swim Caps that Exist: Characteristics and Benefits Compared to know what’s best for your haircare.

Washing the hair every single day

As a general rule of thumb, we are told to wash our hair as often as needed, but that does not mean every single day. By often, hair experts mean washing the hair every two to three days. Overwashing can strip the natural protective oils from your hair, making it dull and less shiny. Of course, some people might have excuses for this rule, especially if they work out and sweat a lot every day.

Recommended reading: Easy DIY Hair Masks for All Hair Types

If you think you can’t stand your sweaty hair, try washing and scrubbing the hair and scalp but make sure you are conditioning the ends alone. This way reduces your hair contact from chemical substances found in shampoo and conditioning products.

Towel Wrapping and Rubbing

The hair shafts are more vulnerable when wet but pulling them into a tight towel wrap or rubbing excessively with a towel won’t make them better. Let the towel absorb the water by wrapping the hair for a couple of minutes and then unwrap to air dry.