8 Hair Crimes That You’re Probably Committing: Hair Care Mistakes to Avoid

We’ve all been guilty of a hair crime at one time or another, so our aim is not to blame or shame. Instead, this article will tell you about some of the hair crimes you may be committing and what to do instead to keep your hair shiny, supple, and healthy. 

Negligent Hair Styling

While you’re free to style your hair how you want to, many hair crimes are committed in the styling phase. In the following sections, we will talk about a couple of hair styling crimes you may have committed.

Burning Your Hair

Burning your hair is one of the most common hair crimes. Every time you apply heat to your hair, heat damage could follow. 

Even if you only pass the flat iron through a hair section once, you could still end up with visible hair damage. The higher you set your heat styling appliance, the worse it is for your hair. 

Here are some signs that your hair is fried: 

• Crunchy feeling hair. 
• Split ends. 
• Dry hair that won’t hold onto moisture. 
• Difficult detangling sessions.
• Hair dullness.

If you’ve been heat styling your hair every day and haven’t noticed damage yet, consider yourself lucky. The chance of incurring heat damage increases every time you apply heat to your hair, especially if you’re not using a heat protectant. 

If you flat iron, blow dry, or curl your hair daily, we strongly recommend cutting back.

Over-brushing Your Hair

Your hair brush looks innocent enough, and it is harmless in most cases, but it could ruin your hair if used too often. Over-brushing your hair is one of the lesser-known hair crimes that we inadvertently commit. 

If you brush your hair often as a nervous habit or to make sure that every single hair is in place, you could end up with breakage over time. When you brush your hair, you could potentially lift your hair cuticles, making your hair more prone to damage.  

To keep your hair as healthy and strong as possible, only brush your hair until the knots are out. Any brushing after that is excessive and can be bad for your hair. 

Wash Day Mistakes

Hair washing offenses may be as common as hair styling crimes, but they are no less serious. Knowing how to wash your hair efficiently and gently is key to preserving the health of your strands. The following sections will reveal a couple of hair washing crimes many commit.

Drying Your Hair with a Bath Towel

Wrapping your hair in a bath towel after washing it may be part of your daily hair routine, but it could be an obstacle to moisturized, healthy hair. A traditional bath towel is not gentle enough for most people’s hair. The towel’s fibers brush up against the hair, stripping it of moisture and even yanking out entire hair strands. 

Instead of using a bath towel to dry your hair, you can try one of the following options: 

• Allow your hair to air dry whenever you have time. Air drying your hair is, by far, the healthiest way to dry your hair since there is no manipulation involved. 
• Wrap your hair in a cotton t-shirt. Any t-shirt will do. The t-shirt will dry your hair efficiently without snagging or roughing up your strands. 
• Use a microfiber hair towel. Next to air drying, the microfiber hair towel is your best drying option. Microfiber is super soft to the touch and absorbs excess moisture efficiently. 

Using a Sulfate Shampoo 

The sulfate/ sulfate-free shampoo debate has been going on strong for several years, and the majority of experts agree that sulfates are harsher on the hair than non-sulfate sulfate shampoos. This has prompted the formulation and sale of sulfate-free shampoos.

Using a sulfate-filled shampoo is an official hair crime, and your hair could suffer as a result. 

Prolonged or frequent use of sulfate shampoos can lead to: 

• Chronically dry hair. 
• Allergic reaction symptoms in people who are sensitive to sulfates. 
• Damage and breakage due to prolonged hair dryness. 
• Styling issues due to a lack of moisture.

Hair Care Product Misuse

The products that we apply to our hair can either improve our hair’s condition or totally destroy it. In this section, we’ll explore hair product-related crimes that you may be committing. 

Using Too Many Products

Using ten different products on your hair every wash day can be damaging to your hair. Why? Hair products have the potential to leave build-up on your hair, and the more products you add, the greater your chances of build-up. 

Build-up is not good for your hair because when your hair and scalp are covered in build-up, your scalp may become clogged, and your hair may no longer be able to take in moisture. This leads to perpetually dry, brittle hair that is prone to breakage. 

Also, when you use a ton of different products at once, their effects may counteract each other, giving you an undesired result. 

Using Too Much or Too Little Product

It can be difficult to determine how much of a product you should use, as the product packaging may not always specify that information. Yet, it’s important to make sure that you’re using just enough product to achieve your desired result.

Imagine a scenario in which you’re using a heat protectant before straightening your hair. Using too little heat protectant may leave some of your hair unprotected, leaving the door wide open for heat damage. 

Another helpful scenario concerns leave-in conditioners. Overusing leave-in conditioner can leave your hair limp and lifeless, so it is best to pay attention to how much product you’re using.

How Much Product to Use

A good rule of thumb is to start with a quarter-sized amount of product and increase as needed. For instance, if you use a quarter-sized amount of shampoo and find that this is not enough to cover all of your hair, add more. The same goes for conditioners and most other hair products. 

If your hair is long, thick, or coarse, you may benefit from using more product. But if you have short, fine, or thin hair, a smaller amount of product may be exactly what you need. 

Outright Hair Abuse 

Sometimes we outright abuse our strands, and this is one of the boldest hair crimes you may commit. Read the following section to learn about how you may be abusing your hair. 

Avoiding Hair Trims

Everyone needs to get their hair trimmed every so often to control split ends. If you have never gotten your hair trimmed, you may have noticed that your hair looks damaged and split. It’s never too late to get back on track with trims, though. Make an appointment with a hair professional or break out the scissors and do a DIY trim!

Overprocessing Your Hair

Overprocessing your hair can damage it severely. Here are several ways that you may be overprocessing your hair: 

• Using a chemical relaxer or perm, especially on hair that is already processed. 
• Going from a dark color to a dramatically lighter color in a short amount of time. 
• Coloring already processed hair.

To preserve your hair’s health, limit chemical processing as much as you can. Whenever you do process your own hair, try to minimize the damage by following the instructions on the hair color/relaxer/perm packaging. And if you’re not experienced in hair color, perms, or relaxers, have a professional do your hair.

Not only do you know about several hair crimes, but you know what to do instead. We hope that this article is helpful to you as you seek out information on proper hair care.  

Author: Andrea Reyes

Andrea is a mother, wife, writer, and natural hair enthusiast of 15 years. Currently on her natural hair journey, she’s been trying countless products and techniques to understand and embrace her natural hair. She is the creator of NaturallyTextured.com, a new website featuring informative articles that share tips, tricks, and techniques aimed to help others learn to love their hair through proper hair care. She writes with the hope of making hair care easier to understand and implement.