Tangling, knotting, frizz, dullness, breakage: these are all signs of very dehydrated hair. The good news? There are easy ways to treat and prevent not just the annoying symptoms of dryness, but the dry, dehydrated hair itself.
Typically dry hair appears flat and dull, think no shine. Dry hair is also usually more difficult to manage and when you touch it, it has a noticeably brittle texture i.e. knots and tangles, etc. If your hair isn't maintaining a blow-dry this can also be a sign that your hair is lacking hydration levels.
“You can tell when hair is dehydrated because it's porous: it puffs up in humid weather, gets frizzy and looks dull. Every hair type needs hydration to keep the hair's cuticle smooth.
When your hair feels like straw, it's usually due to a lack of moisture. Treatment typically depends on what's causing the lack of moisture in your hair. In this article, we'll review the common causes of dry, brittle hair, and what you can do to fix the problem.
Using products that are designed to nourish the scalp and hair can definitely speed up this process, but on average you'd be looking at six months to a year to fully see a difference in your hair's condition.
By sliding a strand, or a few, between your thumb and forefinger, you might be able to feel for the health of your hair. A smooth, easy slide, likely means your hair is healthy, while a rough and bumpy feeling means you likely have some damage.
Drinking at least two liters of water a day will help the strength of your hair, increasing growth. Dehydration immediately halts hair growth. As previously stated, our hair needs moisture (preferably soft water for your hair).
You can use products that have ingredients to hydrate and moisturise your hair. Avocado, coconut, olive and almond oils; aloe vera, shea butter and glycerine can help hydrate and moisturize your hair. Ensure your conditioners include some of these ingredients too in order to lock the water content in your hair.
The more moisture for thick, coarse dry hair, the better. So use a rich, rinse-out conditioner after every shower, and follow it up with a moisturizing leave-in spray before styling. Once a week, apply a deep conditioning mask. Allow it to penetrate for five to 15 minutes for a silky, smooth result.
Hair health
Drinking enough water keeps your hair hydrated. As such, one can truly avoid hair loss, hair fall, dry hair, brittle hair and itchiness. Your scalp remains hydrated and healthy by having the correct amount of water in the diet.
Using a harsh shampoo. Blow-drying your hair too often. Heat damage from straighteners or a curling iron. Harsh chemicals like dyes, perms, and relaxers.
If there is an improper supply of water to hair follicles, it may result in hair getting dull, brittle, lifeless, dry, and easy to break. That's how dehydration is one of the major side effects of hair loss. Dehydration for a short period does not have significant consequences.
Hair needs moisture and vitamins to stay healthy. If you're dehydrated, your body will direct much-needed moisture to more critical functions, leaving your hair to fend for itself. Growth may slow or stop, and the hair shafts may become brittle and develop split ends.
A professional hair stylist will be able to diagnose your hair's condition in more detail, but in general, damaged hair breaks easily when pulled and has visible split ends (due to fragile bonds), while dry hair is often accompanied by white flakes of skin and a coarse, rough texture.
Your Hair Appears Dull
Dullness is a sign of hair damage. Hair with damaged cuticles will lack the smoothness and shininess that come from a smooth cuticle layer and properly moisturized hair. Damage that shows itself with dullness could be caused by pollution, UV rays, product buildup, hard water, and more.
If the cuticles are too close together, it can prevent moisture from being soaked up. This is known as low porosity. If the cuticles are too far apart, it has the opposite effect: Moisture can easily get into the hair, but it doesn't stay long enough to nourish and moisturize your hair. This is high porosity hair.
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. Low porosity hair is hard to hydrate while high porosity hair loses moisture easily.
Water and your hair
Drinking enough water helps energize and support hair growth from root to tip. It also helps prevent split ends and a brittle hair texture, as well as fosters a healthier scalp meaning you'll have fewer chances of developing problems like dryness, itchiness, or dandruff.
Yes, you can wet natural hair everyday, and it is actually advised to do so to maintain moisture. Let's be clear though: by wetting your hair, we don't meanwashing it. We simply mean rinsing natural hair either in the shower or spritzing water over your hair.
Unhealthy hair usually has a rough texture, lack of shininess and luster, have split ends, lack of moisture and elasticity even after treatment and easily broken. Damaged hair will also get tangled up and result in knots due to hair dryness.
If at any point your hair feels rough, dry, and brittle and as if random strands are sticking out, this is a sign that your hair is unhealthy and damaged. Under such circumstances, you should consider seeking out treatment for your hair as quickly as possible and not let your damaged hair continue to grow out.
Moisture overload occurs when there is too much moisture and too little protein. This is the second kind of imbalance your hair can experience. Moisture overload tends to affect those who have high hair porosity, causing it to look limp, stringy, and even greasy.
Hair texture
People with very dry hair do not need to wash their hair daily, or even every other day. Instead, washing the hair less often will help preserve the natural oils in the scalp and keep hair well moisturized. Washing their hair weekly or even every other week might be enough for people with very dry hair.