Have you started to notice your hair feels different? Perhaps it lacks a soft feel, movement, and the shine it once had. It may be hard to swallow since most of your hair care efforts are meant to achieve the opposite results. But if you aren’t sure, we are here to help you identify and how to tell if your hair is dry or damaged.
If your hair feels stiff and has become frizzy, your worst nightmare may come true as your hair may have become dry or damaged. The good news is it’s a common problem that can be fixed. After knowing how to tell if your hair is dry or damaged, the journey to recovery can begin.
With lots of patience, the right products, a proper hair care routine, and commitment, you, too, can tell dry or damaged hair to be gone. Having dry or damaged hair is not a pretty look, but it is not a sin either, especially when you, like the rest of us, use your heating tools a little too much, abuse bleach, wash your hair with hot water, etc.
Sometimes dry or damaged hair could be blamed entirely on external factors; however, what, in fact, is in your power is how you tackle the problem. And though dry or damaged hair is more common than you think, the very first step is knowing how to tell if your hair is dry or damaged.
Products Reviewed In This Article
Best Moisturizing Shampoo & Conditioner: Love Beauty And Planet Hope And Repair Shampoo And Conditioner
⇣ Jump to ReviewBest Deep Conditioning Mask: SheaMoisture Intensive Hydration Hair Mask
⇣ Jump to ReviewBest Microfiber Towel: AQUIS Microfiber Hair Towel
⇣ Jump to ReviewBest Hair Serum: Garnier Fructis Sleek And Shine Anti-Frizz
⇣ Jump to ReviewHow To Tell If Your Hair Is Dry Or Damaged
In general terms, you have damaged hair when your hair breaks easily when pulled and has visible split ends (due to fragile bonds).
Damaged hair has a brittle, straw-like appearance. The hair shaft is fragile and prone to breakage, resulting in split ends and stray, unruly hairs. It will feel stiff upon touch with little movement.
It is the same with dry hair, which is often accompanied by white skin flakes and a coarse, rough texture.
Dry hair and damaged hair can be used interchangeably, but damaged hair refers more to the overuse of products or hair processes that have ruined the hair shaft.
Dry Or Damaged Hair Causes
Pollution
If you live in a city where high pollution levels or constantly style your hair with heat-styling tools, your hair may become dry and brittle very quickly.
Hot water
Steamy showers may be very relaxing, but extreme water temperatures damage your hair as it is your skin. Hot water can strip natural oils from your hair and make it look drier, thus delaying any attempt at a repairing process.
Over-processing
If you are consistently dying, bleaching, or perming your hair, you will likely see chemical damage. Over-processing damage typically appears in the form of extraordinarily frizzy, dry, and brittle hair.
Frequent use of styling tools
Every day you use your favorite heating tools, every day is more likely to cause harm.
Experts suggest giving your hair a break and skipping the blow drying, the straightener, the curling iron, and even your signature ponytail to ensure your hair gets at least one day to recover.
Poor diet
If you want to keep growing thick, shiny locks, then make sure you’re staying hydrated, limiting your exposure to alcohol/smoking, and making sure you’re getting your daily vitamins.
Bad shampoo habits
Generally speaking, unless you have highly textured and natural hair, then you should wash your hair 2-3 times per week. Washing too frequently or too infrequently can both result in damage.
Stress
As with diet, stress affects every major system. If you’re experiencing moderate stress, you will have difficulty growing healthy, shiny hair. You may also notice increased shedding.
Inappropriate brushing
If you ever brush your hair while it is wet, just don’t. Brushing wet hair causes strain when your hair is most vulnerable. Even while dry, only brush your hair while styling to minimize breakage.
How To Choose The Best Products For Dry Or Damaged Hair
When picking out the best products for dry or damaged hair, it is necessary to consider important factors such as your hair type, hair texture, what kind of ingredients are better than others, etc.
There are tons of products for damaged hair, so how do you pick those that will actually work for your tresses? It’s simple, do a label check for the ingredients.
Look for gentle yet nourishing ingredients infused with moisturizing actives to repair damaged hair and all Hair Damage Types. Replacing your current shampoo and conditioner with this will make your hair soft, smooth, and shiny.
In addition, the best products for dry or damaged hair must help repair damaged hair and improve hair strength and vitality.
If your hair is already predisposed to be easily damaged, dull, and dry, then you should go for products, including shampoos, conditioners, etc., to address those problems.
How To Repair Dry Or Damaged Hair Care Routine
Step 1 Employ a moisturizing shampoo & conditioner:
Love Beauty And Planet Hope and Repair Shampoo and Conditioner
Switch out your old shampoo and conditioner for products designed to help hydrate and condition the hair. Make sure to rinse thoroughly since any product left behind can lead to buildup and the dull look of dry hair.
You can try Love Beauty And Planet Hope and Repair Shampoo and Conditioner. This damage repair shampoo and conditioner duo is infused with coconut oil for hair and nourishes while helping to prevent hair breakage and split ends.
The perfect duo for dry hair and damaged hair care, the sulfate-free shampoo, and silicone-free conditioner are designed to repair damaged strands and help prevent split ends visibly.
Lock in moisture and let your strands keep flowing strong and free with our coconut oil-infused shampoo and conditioner for deeply nourished hair and damage repair.
Step 2 Apply a deep conditioning mask:
SheaMoisture Intensive Hydration Hair Mask
Those with dry or damaged hair need to make a hair mask, like the new revolutionary metal detox hair mask, part of their hair care routine and use it once weekly to add moisture and shine to their hair.
SheaMoisture Intensive Hydration Hair Mask is specially formulated for dry and damaged hair. It is a deep conditioning hair treatment masque that smooths and fortifies for stronger, healthier frizz-free hair.
This SheaMoisture deep conditioning hair treatment infuses hair with a powerful dose of moisture.
How to use SheaMoisture Intensive Hydration Hair Mask:
- Apply deep hair conditioner generously.
- Use a wide tooth comb to distribute the hair masque evenly from root to ends.
- Leave in for 5 minutes.
- Rinse thoroughly.
Step 3 Wash hair with lukewarm water
Wash your hair with lukewarm water and rinse off the conditioner with cold water to keep your tresses smooth, shiny, and manageable.
Step 4 Use a microfiber towel to dry hair:
AQUIS Microfiber Hair Towel
Proceed to use a clean cotton t-shirt or a microfiber towel and squeeze out the excess water. This will absorb the excess water from your hair without stripping it of moisture and keep your tresses from turning frizzy.
AQUIS Microfiber Hair Towel is pricey but totally worth it if you care about restoring your dry or damaged hair.
Drying with an AQUIS leaves hair up to 5x stronger than traditional drying methods. Eliminate frizz, damage, and breakage from friction and heat for stronger, smoother, shinier, healthier hair without adding anything to your routine.
How to use AQUIS Microfiber Hair Towel:
- Gently plop or scrunch to remove water.
- For hands-free drying: Flip your head over & place a towel on the back of your head.
- Twist the towel until snug and secure by tucking the ends under the neck.
- Leave on for 10-20 minutes to reveal strong, ready-to-style hair.
Step 5 Apply hair serum: Garnier Fructis Sleek And Shine Anti-Frizz
Lastly, using a hair serum to keep the moisture intact and protect hair from external damage like pollution and UV rays is important. Make it a part of your hair care routine to prevent further damage.
We recommend using Garnier Fructis Sleek And Shine Anti-Frizz. Garnier Anti Frizz Serum brings the frizz-taming power of Moroccan argan oil; this Anti Frizz serum penetrates into frizzy, dry, unmanageable hair for lasting smoothness and shine
The hair serum offers up to 72-hour frizz control, even in 97% humidity, for straight-to-wavy/curly hair types. A cruelty-free, vegan formula with no animal-derived ingredients, parabens, sulfates, or DMDM hydantoin.
The Sleek & Shine Anti-Frizz Serum is infused with an exclusive list of ingredients, including argan oil, natural oil from Morocco, and Kera-system; a combination of vitamin E, plant protein, and conditioning agents.
Common Questions Dry Or Damaged Hair
how do you tell if your hair is dry or damaged? What does it look like?
Dry hair has a brittle texture to the touch, and stray hairs and split ends may be visible when you look in the mirror. You might also notice an itchy scalp and dandruff if you don’t take care of your hair properly.
Dry hair may become easily knotted and break the hair follicles, causing you to lose more hair than normal.
How To Tell If Your Hair Is Dry Or Damaged and How long does it take to fix damaged hair?
After learning to tell if your hair is dry or damaged, the fixing process begins by using products designed to nourish the scalp, and hair can speed up this process.
On average, you’d look at six months to a year to see a full difference in your hair’s condition.
Should I cut my damaged hair?
Split ends are a sign that your hair has been weakened from chemicals and exposure to heat, wind, and sun, Blaisure adds. Trimming is the best way to keep ends from fraying and causing further damage.
Does damaged hair still grow?
Fortunately, in most cases, you can eventually grow the damaged hair as long as the follicle has been preserved.
Why is my hair so dry even with conditioner?
Our skin glands produce less sebum making our tresses feel perpetually dry. Having low hair porosity or even high hair porosity and using the wrong products can also contribute to having dry hair, even when using a conditioner.
Should you avoid heat styling if you have dry or damaged hair?
You don’t necessarily have to avoid heat styling altogether. A good option is to lower the temperature on your heat styling tools and apply a heat-protectant product before curling or straightening your hair.
Dry Or Damaged Hair Care Routine Video Tutorial
The video below will tell you how easy it is to establish a proper hair care routine that will help you restore life to your tresses.
Repairing damaged hair will take time, but if you follow these steps, you should start seeing improvements.
