One popular habit that originated during the heights of the Natural/Curly Hair Movement is that of spritzing the hair with water frequently or on a daily basis to moisturize or refresh it.
However,
contrary to popular belief, repeatedly spritzing your hair with water actually
does more harm than good.
Here’s
why:
When
water comes into contact with your hair shaft, it causes the outer protective
layer – the cuticle – to swell. When this layer is swollen, ‘gaps’ are created
that makes it easier for whatever moisture you do have in your hair to escape
or evaporate – which is actually the opposite of what you wanted by spritzing your
hair with water in the first place.
But
more detrimental than moisture loss, is mechanical damage!
It
is very typical, for you to first spritz water on your hair, then pick up a
brush and brush your hair! Dragging the brush along the hair shaft, while the
cuticle is swollen (and much more susceptible to damage) chips away the cuticle,
which creates lots of ‘cracks’ and ‘holes’ along your hair shaft.
Repeatedly
doing this for months and months or years and years can leave you with hair
that frizzes easily, loses moisture easily, splits/breaks easily, and with hair
that looks dull!
So
instead of blaming your hair type, could repeatedly doing this habit be the
real reason why your hair looks and behaves the way it does?!
If
you’re guilty of this, STOP immediately! Also, feel free to reach out to us for
ways that we can help you address this – this could be through an appointment
where we can assess your hair, repair it with an in-salon treatment AND provide
rehab recommendations (both product and routine).
