When it comes to the dos and don’ts of our hair, we’re often told to follow certain rules. However, some of our biggest hair beliefs are being dispelled by hairstylist, James Welsh, in his video debunking what he calls the most “stupid” hair myths of all time.
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1. Washing your hair too often strips away natural oils
Comparing the act of washing your hair to washing your face (which we all do daily), James simply says to “keep it clean”.
For James, who wears product in his hair daily and lives in a polluted city, washing his hair every day is a necessity.. As for stripping it of ‘natural oils in the process, he says this isn’t an inevitable result.
2. Trimming your hair every 6 weeks will make it grow faster
Over time we get split ends, and those split ends grow to extend further up the hair strand. So while having regular trims will make your hair grow healthier, according to James, regular trims won’t make it grow faster.
3. Use certain hair products will cause hair loss
Nope. According to James, this is not true.
He does however mention that if you have sensitive skin, you should avoid massaging gel or product directly into your scalp as it may cause dryness, which can lead to issues for hair growth.
5. Letting your hair dry naturally is better than blow-drying
“To an extent, yes” James reveals. Although, he also says that blow-drying isn’t the real issue. “What causes damage is product and pre-stylers with a high alcohol content,” he says, which can result in dryness and make your hair fall out. So while blow-drying is safe, James says while doing so, “it’s important to be mindful of the pressure”.
bh recommends:
6. Every grey hair you pluck, several will grow back
“It makes no sense, there is no science behind it”. Preach it James.
To put this out-there theory into perspective, James explains that if it were true, those with thinning hair would have an overnight solution… right?
So when it comes to greys, pluck them or keep them. It’s totally up to you.
7. If you don’t wash your hair, it’s going to wash itself
So the way this concept goes is that if you don’t wash your hair, your natural hair oils will wash it for you.
Well, according to James this isn’t the case. Natural oils will cause greasy hair, which will cause hair to shed and become dirtier.
8. Hair products are making your hair fall out
Image credit: @gentlehairdos
Hair products aren’t to blame when it comes to your hair falling out.
In fact, a few loose hairs in your hands and sink when washing isn’tcause for alarm at all. James says “shampoo hasn’t made them fall out” and in fact, on average it’s normal to shed anywhere between 50 to 100 hairs a day.
“Hair is dead, it’s already dead” he explains. “The only thing making it worse is pure bleach”, or high alcohol levels in certain products.
So when it comes to washing your hair or adding some product here and there, James says it’s a-ok.“[The] only thing these products are doing is coating your hair, which comes off when you wash it.”
Check out the rest of the video, here.
Main image credit: @mondayhaircare
Have you ever believed any of these? What other hair myths have you heard?
I’ve heard about #5 a lot but it’s good to know that it’s not the blow dryer!
Some good common sense advice.
Excuse me but no. 8 – hair products can totally make your hair fall out. If you choose products which irritate your scalp, it can totally lead to causing your hair to fall out.
Interesting, I always wondered about the no washing hair trend, whether the hair cleans itself in the end, like they claim.
There are too many to even mention. Especially the one: eat extra protein bro for hair growth. omg which century do we live in. Oh, the one that profits form (feed waste byproducts) protein powders maybe?
Great Hair Care Tips try not to over wash my hair in Winter I only wash it once a week, in Summer because you tend to sweat more I wash it more often when needed.
Interesting article!
No 2….I wish I could have my hair trimmed. I have iso hair. No hope of a hair cut here in Melbourne. Hairdressers have just reopened this week. They are already heavily booked!
Some of those sure are ridiculous.
I can’t believe people have actually believed these myths, they don’t make sense.
I have always wanted to treat oily scalps
haha i always pluck my gray hair
Interesting and informative article.
I have not heard of all of these but I disagree with #3 / #8.
There are products (I or brands) out there which induce my scalp to lose more hair than normal. I lose hair all the time, it is normal but when I am losing 10x or more hair after washing it with a particular shampoo which happens again after a ‘break’ and again after another ‘break’, it isn’t a coincidence, it is that product.
Not every product does it, I find that it is common with certain brands and is probably linked to an ingredient rather than a product type.
I wash my hair daily. Here in QLD it gets really hot and I find if I dont wash my scalp daily it gets itchy and my hair looks dirty.
I’m sceptical about the blow dryer thing…
I never blow-dry my hair I prefer it to dry naturally 🙂
A very interesting read. I knew some of these were myths, didn’t know about others though.
I’ve got oily hair & I’ve found that washing it daily seems to make it oilier. I wash every couple of days.
Oh wow Rose – my thoughts are with you there in such tough lockdown times there. Maybe check up all bh’s styling articles and do some gorgeous longer hair styles? That’s all I can think of.
I swim a lot in an olympic pool for laps and they put calcium hydrochloride in it – I wonder what that does?!
Interesting advice about pre-blow dry products. I thought that, for example, you needed heat protection prior to blow drying but I’m wondering if that’s what James is referring to. Maybe need to make sure there is no alcohol in the heat protection otherwise it sounds like you’re better off without it.
The blow drying the hair one was interesting. I always try to let my hair naturally dry.
I like washing my hair daily in summer and every second day in winter so I’m glad I’m not damaging it by doing so which was a concern to me:
Oh dear, I feel a bit silly.
I only wash my hair twice a week.
Good to know
drops everything and runs to pluck out the greys
Great article, I’m going to be checking my hair products for high alcohol content from now on!
Love James. I have curly hair that I rarely put product in, so I wash my hair once every week or two depending on the season and if I have reason to (like went to the beach, did a workout)
I had not heard that about grays… Nobody has time to pluck all the grey from my hair lol I need to get a bleach done ASAP
Used to wash my hair daily but I don’t anymore. Unless it’s really hot and I’m sweaty after exercising then I would.
I have heard these so many times!!! It always makes me laugh!!!
????? No way ever
I heard few of them.
🙂
Some of these are so stupid I must agree with Lisa359 that one can hardly believe that some people actually think they are true.
I’ve heard some of these
Washing my hair too frequently aggravates my SD and using certain HC products that irritate my scalp does cause more hair loss. I see the build up in my shower, so don’t agree with no 8
Good to know plucking grey hairs do not cause them to grow more haha
Thank you its good to know these things .I’m going to start to wash my hair more often.
I have heard about a few of these
I used to believe cutting your hair made it grow faster but I no longer believe this as it never did grow faster when I did.
Great article. This was very enjoyable to read, although I already know all these things.
yep spot on, particularly hair is already dead, yep its dead keratin so treat it how you will!
Some of these are commonly believed still
I most liked to know about hair cuts don’t make it grow faster. This is helpful.
silly myths.
Who made them up in the first place and why?
I’ve always been told trimming hair will make it grow faster. Now I know the truth. Thanks
that’s a relief
Incredible, my mother used to blend aloe vera with rosemary water for our hair, I think it works!