Damaged Hair - Everything You Need To Know!

Damaged hair is going to be something that many of us are searching for a cure for at one point or another in our lives, potentially more than once. There can be many reasons for damaged hair and there can be many different ways it affects you depending on your hair type, what sort of damage has been caused, what products or treatments you’ve already tried and even environmental factors.

In this post we’re going to answer all the questions you have about damaged hair and what you can to get your hair back to its former healthy glory and feel fabulous once more.

Firstly, I’d like to start off and say that there is no judgement for whatever has happened to your hair, With a combined experience of working in salons for over 30 years, we’ve honestly seen almost everything there is to see. We have seen home hair bleaching gone terribly wrong, colour strippers ruining hair, viral “Hair Treatments” and my personal favourite, toilet bleach on hair.

Like I said, we’re not here to judge nor will we ever be here to judge, we’re here to educate and help you fix the damage that has been caused, The only way we grow in life is by trying things, Not that we’d ever encourage trying to perform professional salon services at home if you don’t have the experience or knowledge.

Let’s start off with a few of the basics on what causes damaged hair and what you can do to remedy them, then we’ll go a bit deeper and discuss more complex issues that can cause damaged hair.

What Causes Damaged Hair?

Damaged hair can be caused by a number of various different factors that can include using hot tools on your hair, using chemicals on your hair, using poor quality brushes on your hair, health related issues and believe it or not, a poor diet and environmental factors.

Heat Damage On Hair

We all use hot tools on our hair and for the foreseeable future, it’s likely we always will use hot tools on our hair, even with changing trends, styles and fashions, they all seem to require some level of heat to achieve.

Now I grew up in the early 2000s, A time when heat was used excessively, hair would be straightened on full heat within an inch of its life using your brand new GHDs and of course, nobody was using any kind of thermal protection on their hair. Why does heat cause damaged to the hair though?

Using hot tools on your hair damages it when high temperatures break down your hairs natural keratin proteins and strip away the protective moisture barrier. This can lead to dry, weakened and brittle hair that will struggle to retain hydration.

Now, I bet you’re thinking that your hair can often feel silky and soft after it’s been blow dried and straightened? That may be the case but unlike chemical damage to hair which can be visible instantly, heat damage to the hair occurs over time. The more frequently you use hot tools, the more your hairs structure is going to be damaged.

Heat damaged hair can lead it to feel:

• Dry and Rough
• Frizzy & Unmanageable
• Split Ends and Breakage
• Faded or Altered Hair Colour
• Loss of Natural Curl

Why Does Heat Damage Hair?

Let’s go into more detail about why heat damages your hair. Your hair is made up of Keratin and held together by hydrogen bonds. When you apply heat above 200°C/400°F, These bonds in the hair break, which alters the hairs shape and texture.

Now we’ve mentioned above, that the keratin bonds start to break down at temperatures above 200°C/400°F but studies have shown that hair exposed to temperatures above 185°C/365°F can experience permanent cuticle damage, Meaning even the occasional heat usage on hair can cause long lasting effects.

Now that’s not to say we’re expecting everybody to stop using hot tools all together for the rest of their lives, that’s just simply never going go happen, myself included, Not that it’s popular any more but I love using a diffuser on my hair to get those big curls!

There are ways though that you can prevent heat damage to your hair when you do use hot tools on it though.

How To Prevent Heat Damage To Hair

1. Always use a good heat protectant on your hair

A good thermal protection spray or serum will create a barrier between your hair and the high temperatures it’s being subjected to, Using something as simple and inexpensive as this can reduce damage to your hair by up to 50%!

2. Lower The Heat Setting

You saw above that we mentioned that studies have observed that the cuticles can experience permanent damage from temperatures above 185°C (365°F) so an obvious and simple step is to lower the temperature on the hot tools that you’re using.

3. Avoid Daily Heat Styling

Be kind to your hair and adjust your hair styling routine so that it doesn’t involve the use of hot tools every single day.

4. Keep Your Hair Hydrated

Keeping your hair hydrated is such an easy thing to add into your haircare routine.

5. Use Ceramic or Tourmaline Hot Tools

Personally, We would recommend using hot tools with ceramic, tourmaline or even titanium plates for better heat distribution and gentler heat styling.

How To Fix Heat Damaged Hair

If you’re starting to notice that your hair may be heat damaged or if you’re pretty confident that your hair has already been damaged, It might not be the end of the world, There are things that you can do to try and start restoring health to your hair.

Maria Nila Structure Repair Range

The Maria Nila Structure Repair range has been designed for damaged, dry and chemically treated hair.

K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask

K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask is a highly regarded treatment for damaged hair, it’s designed to repair and strengthen hair damaged by heat styling, bleaching, colouring and other chemical services.

Color Wow Money Mist

Color Wow Money Mist is a lightweight leave-in hair conditioner that is designed to hydrate, detangle and strengthen the hair.

Heat Free Hair Styling Alternatives

Heat free hair styling is actually something we’ve tried over the years, more out of curiosity than anything and honestly, I can say that some heat free styling methods have really surprised us!

There are already products you can buy on the market such as Velcro rollers or foam rollers to achieve curls and volume.

My favorite heat free way to curl hair so far though has to be the sock method.