Have you ever said goodbye to your hair as it circled down the shower drain? It’s discouraging, right? However, don’t make the mistake of associating hair loss with hair washing! The old wife’s tale “washing your hair too much makes your hair fall out” is simply not true. That brings me to the first hair styling “Do”:
DO Keep Your Hair Clean
Your hair needs a healthy environment to grow. Just beneath the skin, sebaceous glands produce an oil called sebum. If your scalp is not kept clean, this sebum will build up, causing inflammation and clogged follicles. This unhealthy environment often turns into a condition called folliculitis, which interferes with the hair’s growth cycle and causes even more hair loss! We recommend washing your hair every other day or two. Washing it too often can leave your hair felling dry and brittle, which will cause breakage and make your hair look even thinner.
Washing your hair regularly keeps your scalp healthy, and ensures that your hair cuticle is full, not flat. Flat cuticles decrease the hair diameter, which makes your hair look thinner. Clean hair has more volume which contributes to a fuller look. Dry shampoos also help your hair look fuller and style easier.
DON’T Go for that “Wet Look”
A ‘wet look’ can be a ‘thin look’ for people with hair challenges. After you wash your hair, don’t be tempted to style it with hair gel or too much oil. Although the ‘wet look’ can be trendy it doesn’t give your hair volume! Spiking your hair, clumping your hair together, slicking it back or making it look as if you just got out of the shower will only expose your scalp and make your hair look even thinner than it really is.
DO Use the Right Kind of Shampoo
There are so many great hair loss shampoos including We Grow Hair’s Anagen products. Any good shampoo will contain a DHT blocker that is free of sulfates, formaldehyde, and parabens. DHT is the hormone that causes pattern baldness in both men and women, so a shampoo that blocks DHT will help slow down or stop your hair loss.
Shampoos that contain egg albumin (chicken egg white) are also beneficial, because they make your hair look fuller and healthier.
DON’T Part Your Hair in the Middle
No, I’m not suggesting a comb-over, however, when you part your hair down the middle it is less forgiving for those with thinner hair. Hair loss often occurs in the vertex and middle scalp area – not on the sides. Even after you’ve had a hair transplant, hair tends to be thinner on the top of your head. A middle part only exposes and draws attention to thinner hair while a side part gives the illusion of more density.
DO keep your hair short – but not too short
Longer hair is heavier hair. For both men and women, longer hair tends to lie flat while shorter ‘shingled’ hair tends to look thicker and fuller. Avoid cutting it shorter than two inches or you won’t have anything to work with.
DON’T use Contrasting Hair Colors
If you plan to color your hair remember that high contrast is not a good idea! If you have dark skin don’t use light hair colors and if you have light skin, don’t use dark hair colors. Contrasting hair colors only highlight your scalp and exaggerate any thinning that you might have. Hair color with highlights or a ‘salt and pepper’ look is much better for people who have thinner hair.
DO Have the Right Expectations
By the time a person first notices that their hair is thinning, they may have already lost approximately 50% of their original hair volume. Whether you have chosen to have a hair transplant or restore your hair with non-surgical treatments, you will never regain all the density you once had.
The good news is that by restoring hair to those thinning areas and rocking a flattering hair style, you’ll create the illusion of the most hair possible. This will help you achieve a truly satisfying look that will make you feel good about yourself and give you more confidence. It can also hide the fact that you ever had any hair loss to begin with!
I hope these Hair Styling Do’s and Don’ts have given you some ideas for how to create a great hair style so you can enjoy your best look!
