Have you ever been interested in these crazy hair myths that you’ve heard and you’ve sat back and doubted to yourself… could it actually be true? You’ve maybe heard them all — cutting your hair frequently will make it grow faster or don’t use conditioner if you have oily hair— those hair myths that have been around for so long, we’ve believed them as scientific fact. But, trust us when we say, there is a lot of fake news out there when it comes to defining how you should care for your hair. Here we round up 7 common hair myths that might be ruining your hair:
1. Natural Oils Are Good for Your Hair
Opposing to popular belief, most raw food ingredients (like coconut oil, avocado oil, and honey) are unable to penetrating the hair shaft deep enough to make any lasting improvement. Plus, they can leave a sticky scum and make strands feel greasier. When an expert hair-care product lists coconut oil as an ingredient, it’s not at all the same as what you buy to cook with. That’s because high-quality hair-care products use a delivery system specially formulated with a nano-size element of the coconut to deliver the deep, long-lasting moisturizing advantage you crave, without leaving locks oily.
2. Trimming Your Hair Makes It Grow Faster
Cutting the split ends of your hair doesn’t affect the follicles in your scalp, which define how fast and how much your hair grows. An average of a quarter-inch Hair grows every month—whether or not you cut it. Although scheduling your trim every four to six weeks helps certify that your hair has minimal split ends, it doesn’t help it grow. Lightly trimming the ends, also known as ‘dusting,’ will improve the elasticity and texture of the hair by preventing split ends from growing up the hair shaft. In other words, don’t let this myth buster discourage you from regular hair salon visits; the extra cash spent is well worth it if you want healthy-looking, beautiful hair.
3. If You Pluck One Gray Hair, Two More Will Appear in Its Place
For those of you who have plucked those irritating gray hairs from your head, you don’t have to panic that they are coming back with a vengeance. The indication that pulling a gray hair will cause 2 more to grow in its place is simply not true. Your nearby hairs will not turn white until their own follicles’ pigment cells die. Expert tells that plucking a gray hair will not make two grow back in its place. But you should still put the tweezers down. Pulling hair puts pressure on the follicle and your scalp and plucking a hair out can cause it to grow back with a courser texture and unusual growth pattern.
4. You Have to Brush Your Hair 100 Times a Day
Whether you were told this one by an older family member, a friend in the locker room, or maybe a teen magazine, you have maybe heard some iteration about how many times a day you should brush your hair. Is 100 the right answer? No. That’s an extreme amount of brushing that could actually damage hair or worsen hair loss for women with thinning hair. While brushing is important—it helps distribute oils from the scalp throughout the hair—it should be done softly and only as needed to comb hair. Always use a brush with a wide tooth comb or easy bristles.
5. Same Shampoo Every Day Will Stop Working
While we agree that it can be enjoyable to mix up shampoos from time to time, there’s no proof that using the same shampoo over a long period of time would have any influence on how well it works. If it cleaned your hair the first time you used it, it will clean your hair the 100th time you use it, too. It’s fine to use the same shampoo every day, as long as you are using the right formula for your hair condition and type. Of course, if you go from not dye to getting into a diy routine, we recommend swapping your regular shampoo for a color defensive shampoo to help preserve color and keep hair hydrated.
6. Going to Bed with Wet Hair Prevents Damage
Do yourself a kindness and dry your hair before hitting the hay. Not only can going to bed with wet hair leave you with a wet pillow, but it can also cause cuticle damage and a bad case of bedhead. While most people think they’re going relaxed on their hair by letting it dry naturally and sleeping on it wet, you’re risking curl and matting. When the hair is wet, the cuticle is not totally sealed, so the friction of the pillow causes frizz. Hair is at its weakest when it’s damp. The main danger (other than cosmetic ones) is the damage of the hair when tossing and turning while sleeping.
7. You Can’t Use Hair Oil If You Have Oily Hair
Hair oil is great for smoothing curl and adding shine, but those with oily hair may cringe at even the thought. Hairstylists guarantee that all hair types can benefit. Unlike products that sit on the hair’s surface making the impression of healthy hair, some oils have a great ability to penetrate the hair’s cuticle and actually make it healthier. Oils, like argan oil, will restore elasticity, moisture, shine and softness to hair that’s been damaged from thermal stress and chemical treatments. The important to this is where you apply it. You should still apply oil from the midshaft of the hair down to the ends and avoid using the product to your scalp.
Above are the most common hair myths you hear about your hair! Some hair myths are fairly obviously untrue, but some unproven pearls of wisdom – whether imparted by a hairdresser or friend– could be less easy to spot and confusing. Next time you hear a fact about hair, ask yourself whether there’s any proof.
