Despite the plethora of knowledge regarding hair that is available on the internet and in countless publications, it seems that most of our knowledge regarding hair care is based on advice passed down to us. Whether it’s something we learned from our grandma, our mother, or a friend, it’s funny how many of the beliefs we have today were influenced by some offhanded piece of advice we heard as a child.
While some of these tidbits are right on the mark, a great deal of these pieces of advice are nothing more than pure myth. In many cases, these mistakenly believed myths can actually lead to severely destructive results, with your hair health suffering greatly due to following clearly incorrect advice. Sadly, it can be quite difficult to unlearn many of these many myths, especially if you have been conditioned to believe them at an early age!
We are here to bust some of the most commonly believed myths out there about hair care, helping to cut these bad habits from your routine and making you an overall more knowledgeable and successful hair care enthusiast. Read below for our list of the 5 most common hair care myths and learn to separate fact from fiction in the hair care world!
Myth #1: Gray Hair is Caused by Stress
We all have heard the common refrain about some sort of stressful situation giving someone a “grey hair”. Despite how many people believe this saying, the truth is that even the most calm, relaxed individual can fall victim to premature hair graying! Hair graying is caused by a variety of factors outside of our control, almost all of them having to do with genetics. As humans age, our hair follicles produce less and less pigment, inevitably leading to gray and white hair. For some of us, this loss of pigment occurs earlier than others, an occurrence that is entirely dictated by one’s genetic makeup. So, while stress is certainly something to be avoided for a multitude of health-related reasons, hair graying isn’t one of them!
Myth #2: Cutting Your Hair Makes It Grow Faster
“If you want your hair to grow faster, cut it more often!”. Who hasn’t heard this piece of advice before? For whatever reason, it’s become a commonly accepted belief that by frequently cutting your hair, you can cause it to grow faster. As you can guess, this is nothing more than a pure myth. After all, how could trimming the ends of your hair possibly influence the growth rate of the hair follicle, which is fixed at roughly ¼ an inch of hair growth each month? Simply put, hair growth is something that takes patience and time, and no amount of frequent trimming can change that. On the other hand, if you are experiencing hair loss or impeded hair growth, there’s a variety of factors you’ll want to investigate, including scalp build-up, hormonal imbalances, and poor diet and nutrition. In these instances, trimming your hair is the last thing you’ll need, as you’ll want to pursue a more medically inclined solution.
Myth #3: Oily Hair Doesn’t Need Conditioner
When you have naturally oily, greasy hair, the last thing that you’ll want to do is coat your hair with even more moisture and product. And it’s true that naturally oily hair shouldn’t be conditioned with an extremely rich, thick conditioner, as it is far more moisture than that hair type requires and can weigh the hair down. However, even the most naturally oily hair requires some form of conditioning, even if it is a light conditioner product. You see, shampooing your hair removes its natural oils and moisture, and failing to follow up with some form of conditioner can lead to severe dryness and leakage of moisture. Therefore, whenever you wash your hair, please make sure to condition your hair, no matter how oily your hair is.
Myth #4: Shampoo Eventually Stops Working After Time
If you’ve ever heard the advice that you need to switch up your shampoo after a few months or so or else it will stop working, you can feel free to completely ignore that bad advice. No matter how long you use a shampoo for, the shampoo will always work the exact same as it did the very first day you used it! However, where this myth carries a small hint of fact is that sometimes it’s actually your hair that is experiencing the change, and thus you may require a different type of shampoo depending on what condition your hair is in due to weather and climate changes. For instance, a light shampoo that cleans your hair when it is in a more dry, moisture-deprived state in the winter may be insufficient to clean your hair when it comes time for the summer, when your hair is more greasy and oily. So no need to continually switch out your shampoo product, but do be sure to pay attention to your hair’s natural fluctuations with the seasons!
Myth #5: Frequent Brushing Makes Your Hair Healthier
For whatever reason, many have taken to the idea that frequent, regular hair brushing somehow improves the look, feel, and overall health of one’s hair. For example, a popular trend online has been the practice of brushing one’s hair for at least 100 brush strokes a day, which somehow creates softer, smoother, and more lustrous hair. This advice is nothing more than pure myth, although regular brushing can certainly help to make textured, thicker hair more manageable and less tangled and knotted. In reality, too much brushing will almost certainly lead to negative consequences, as you are simply increasing your odds of inflicting breakage and destroying your natural hair structure. Additionally, you need to get a brush with the right amount of tug and sectioning for your hair type, as you need to balance the need of sectioning and straightening your hair with the danger of snagging and breaking your hair strands.
