With the hair industry constantly revolutionising and introducing us to new and exciting products, it’s easy to get trigger happy with our hair care routine. You may think adopting a more-is-more mentality is the key to your healthiest hair yet, but as it turns out, that’s not always the case.
In fact, you could very well be doing too much of a good thing. So to help you cut back, we’ve put together a list of the products you’re probably overusing, how they’re damaging your hair and how often you should really be using them.
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Heat-styling tools
We’ll start off with the most obvious one.
Using heat-styling tools can lead to dry, damaged hair if you’re using them too often. A couple days a week of blow-drying your hair, plus all the curling and straightening, may leave your hair looking great in the short term, but it’s not so good for the overall health of your hair.
Instead, make a pact with yourself to let your hair air-dry at least a couple times a week, and embrace some no-heat hairstyles instead of reaching for your curler.
If you must use a heat-styling tool, make sure you’re using a decent heat protectant to try and minimise damage.
bh loves: Schwarzkopf Extra Care Heat Styles Heat Protection Spray, TONI&GUY Heat Protection Mist, ghd Unplugged Heat Protect Spray, TIGI Copyright Custom Create™ Heat Protection Spray.
Shampoo
Who doesn’t love the feeling of silky, soft, freshly-washed hair?
Although your hair looks gorgeous after a wash, washing too frequently isn’t great for the long-term health of your hair.
Overwashing your hair can lead to colour fading, dryness, breakage, flaky scalp and frizzy ends.
While there’s no hard and fast rules for how often you should be washing your hair – everyone is different after all – if your hair has any of the symptoms mentioned above it could be time to cut back.
Deep conditioner
When used correctly, deep conditioner will both moisturise and protect your hair, leaving it silky soft.
Some tell-tale signs of having used too much, however, can include your hair becoming limp, flat and unmanageable.
You may think over-conditioning is just for those with fine hair, but thick hair is just as susceptible – product build-up can happen to everyone.
The cure for too much conditioner? A good clarifying shampoo will get rid of all the build-up, giving your hair a fresh start.
bh loves: Palmer’s Natural Fusions Micellar Rosewater Cleanser Clarifying Shampoo, Pureology Purify Shampoo, A’kin Purifying Shampoo, TONI&GUY Charcoal Detox Shampoo
Dry shampoo
While dry shampoo is a staple for every busy girls beauty cabinet, it turns out dry shampoo, when used too frequently, isn’t great for your hair.
A few of the most common issues that can arise from using too much dry shampoo can include dry hair, dandruff, scalp pimples, hair loss and balding.
In order to make sure you’re not using too much, a good rule of thumb is to not use dry shampoo more than a couple of days in a row.
Volumising products
If your hair is on the finer side, you’ve probably loaded up on mousses, volumising sprays and thickening conditioners aplenty in order to help plump up your hair.
While you’re definitely on the right track, overusing these kinds of products (or using bad quality ones) may actually be weighing your hair down rather than building volume.
Make sure you’re using worthwhile products – sparingly – to see decent results.
bh loves: Goldwell StyleSign Ultra Volume Soft Volumizer, Aveda Volumizing Tonic, John Frieda Luxurious Volume Core Restore Volumizer, Catwalk by TIGI Thickening Gel Creme
I overuse styling products because my hair is quite dry, then I end up with heavy, flat hair.
I am happy to say I don't overuse heat styling tools or hair products. I used to in my younger days.