Not Protecting Hair From Heat
Stacey Guerra, Senior Stylist at Butterfly Studio Salon in New York City
"One of the surefire ways to sabotage your hair goals is overusing hot tools (especially using metal brushes during blowouts) and not pre-drying the hair before styling. Too much heat on the hair causes ends to become dry and brittle, which leaves you with broken ends and diminished shine.
Heat is not a friend to your hair, but since we have to use it to achieve most of today’s looks, it’s important to protect your mane with leave-in conditioners and serums. Pre-drying while using a natural bristle brush also cuts down your styling time and the amount of heat aggressively applied to hair. Kerastase Resistance Ciment Thermique Blow Dry Primer, $37, is a great leave-in to use on damp hair before blow drying. Just some subtle changes that make a difference in your hair care routine.”
Shampooing Too Often
Justin Anderson, Los Angeles-based Celebrity Colorist; Co-Founder and Creative Director of dpHUE
“I have to agree that jumping from stylist to stylist really works against your best hair dreams and goals. Every colorist has their own vision of how to achieve the best look for you and way of achieving said vision. Jumping around makes this hard to achieve the client’s end goal. Colorists also use different color/products, which in some cases can be destructive and strip the hair. It really works against you.
I really suggest sticking with one colorist and work with that person to achieve your hair color dreams. Also, if you’re making that kind of investment in your hair, you want to protect it, so switch to a shampoo that doesn’t dull your hair color. I am a strong believer that women shouldn’t wash their hair every day, so I swear by dpHUE Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse, $35. It’s a great substitute for shampoo; it cleanses hair without stripping it of its natural oils.”
Forgetting to Take Care of Natural Hair Underneath Extensions, Braids and Weaves
Taliah Waajid, Atlanta-based natural hair care specialist, and Founder, Taliah Waajid Hair Care
“One of the worst habits when it comes to weaves and braids is that women neglect to condition the hair and maintain it; we can sometimes sort of ‘set it and forget it.’ With braids, we have to maintain the moisture balance of the hair while it’s in a long-term protective style, and sometimes the mistake with weaves is that we forget the hair underneath the sew-in extensions because it’s not visible. If we don’t take care of the moisture balance of our hair, it can dry out, which leads to breakage and damage. Our hair requires moisture and maintenance regularly, even in protective styles.
The solution to this is applying some product for moisture balance. The Protective Styles line that I created addresses all these needs and Healthy Hair Under There Bamboo, Avocado and Peppermint Conditioning & Restoring Serum, $10, is perfect for braids and weaves: it stimulates the scalp, strengthens the hair and helps condition and restore our hair’s natural strength. It has a directional nozzle so you can apply it to any protective style: braids, twists, crochet, two-strand twists, weaves and updos.”
Over-Shampooing Hair
Heather Packer, Stylist at Red Door Salon and Spa in New York City
“One of the bad habits I see is people who are over-shampooing their hair. Some clients say they don’t feel clean unless they shampoo every single day, that they feel dirty. This is a common misconception. Obviously, if you haven’t shampooed your hair in a week, it’s dirty. But if you washed it yesterday or the day before and it’s not piled on with products, it’s not dirty. The natural oil coming from your scalp and down your hair strand is a good thing for your hair: it helps keep it moisturized and healthy.
If you must apply water to your hair every day, just rinse and condition it; don’t shampoo it every day. Unless your scalp is super greasy to the point where your hair is just gross, shampooing your hair 2-3 times a week is more than fine and enough to properly cleanse your hair. I like Hairstory New Wash Deep, $40, as a great alternative to shampoo: it’s a detergent-free cleanser that contains argan oil and apple cider vinegar to remove buildup and dirt without stripping your hair.”
Sleeping With Wet Hair
Amanda Scott, Stylist at the Serge Normant at John Frieda Salon in New York City
“One of the worst habits I see is people constantly putting wet hair into a tight ponytail/bun and/or sleeping with it wet. When hair is wet, it’s very elastic and flexible’ it doesn’t have the same strength as it does when it’s dry. Wet hair pulled into a ponytail can break with little effort and sleeping with wet hair is basically ensuring a breakage haircut.
I recommend clients never sleep with wet hair or use a small ponytail holder/elastic on wet hair. If they need to sleep with it wet, I would recommend a braid/braids so the hair is secured at the ends where the elastic can be safely removed. In terms of product, I recommend Snobgirls products, like Snobgirls Hydramend Prestoboost, $23. They make leave-in conditioner sprays, creams and capsules – created solely for the creation and maintenance of hair health only. Using products like these will give hair needed protection and will hopefully prevent damage to wet hair styled for day or night.”
