The causes that make hair dry and brittle can be:
- of internal causes: low sebum production, hormonal dysfunctions, food shortages, genetic inheritance
- of external causes: aggressive cosmetic treatments (colouring, bleaching, ironing), aggressive cosmetic products, dehydration due to atmospheric agents (sun, salt, cold, wind) or simply the chlorine in the swimming pool.
When the hair is dry and stressed for one of the reasons listed above, the altered cuticles are raised just like in the photo below leaving the cortex exposed and facilitating damage to the keratin.
If the terminology used confuses you, don't worry.. I was talking about the elements that make up our hair.
It is a topic that I have dealt with in detail here: HOW and from WHAT is hair made? Everything you should know! . If you want to give targeted care to your hair it is essential to know the structure of your hair so I suggest you take the time and read the article before continuing to read this article.
Keep in mind that if the damage occurs at the level of the cortex, the hair appears brittle, damaged, not very elastic, very dry and very difficult to untangle but above all it seems dull and very rough to the touch.
Dry and brittle hair: is henna to blame?
Another cause not listed above but which could cause dryness in your hair is the wraps with a mix of henna and dyeing herbs or the wraps with healing Ayurvedic herbs .
But I spoke in depth about how to prevent dry hair in this specific case in this article: Dry and Frizzy Hair: Henna's Blame? Does henna dry your hair? or in the video listed below ▼
Remember to subscribe to the YouTube channel for new tutorials -->> SUBSCRIBE
Is your hair dry and brittle?
If you still have doubts about the true state of health of your hair, you can determine it yourself. A healthy and strong hair is soft and supple, flexible when subjected to traction.
To understand if your hair is healthy and consequently flexible, hold a hair between your thumb and forefinger and pull. Healthy, undamaged hair will stretch approximately 1/3 of its length and should then return to its original length.
If the hair is damaged, it cannot return to its original shape, while brittle and dehydrated hair will most likely break when under the tension of the traction.
If you recognized your hair in the description just made, keep in mind that you won't get miracles overnight! Why?
Once damaged, it is difficult, if not impossible, to restore hair to its original condition.
Dry and brittle hair: what to do?
I bet that the first thing you do when you see that your hair is dry and frizzy is to resort to "nourishing" compresses based on vegetable oils and butters on the whole hair (including the scalp) to try to remove that unpleasant sensation of damaged hair and exhausted. But you're not the only one doing it. The whole world of the web uses oil-based hair masks as the panacea against all hair ills :))
But that can turn out to be a mistake and an absolutely unnecessary remedy for your hair!
We forget that there are very few cases in which the hair is dry even at the roots. Most of the time it is the lengths and ends that are dry, dehydrated, frizzy due to any of the causes listed above.
In addition, it is not said that the lipid film of the hair is damaged and therefore needs to be replenished with "nourishing" masks. But it's very likely that it's a lack of water that's making your hair frizzy and dry.
Therefore, frizzy and dry looking hair depends not only on how damaged its lipid film is, but also on the amount of water present in the hair structure: the less water there is, the more frizzy the hair will appear.
I warn you that making a moisturizing or "nourishing" mask will not be enough to be able to repair the damage, but making these hair wraps regularly will help you prevent dryness and reduce the likelihood of split ends and weak, brittle and brittle hair. they break easily.
In addition, if you alternate these hair masks, the new regrowth, the new hair will have a hydro-lipid film that will tend to damage less because hopefully less abused by you and above all because you have taken care of it consciously by constantly rebalancing the hydro-lipid film according to their needs.
Now that we have understood the causes that lead hair to become dry and brittle, we can learn more about what to do and whether to prevent dryness we need to MOISTURIZE or NOURISH our hair in the next article here on the blog!
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