Natural Hair - 9 Ways You May Be Damaging It Without Knowing

Natural hair is made to be naturally beautiful. However, pollution, weather elements, humidity, and dry indoor air are always out to get it. While you work hard to hydrate, nourish, and style your amazing curls, you could be harming them in the process.

At RevAir, we strive to give your fabulous natural hair a chance to shine! Our top-quality products can work wonders, but only if you don't struggle against them. You may not even realize that your hair care and styling routines are keeping you from enjoying fantastic hair all year round.

Are you damaging your natural hair without knowing it? If you are doing any of the below things, you definitely are! Read on to find out which habits are worth kicking this very moment.

1. You Tie Your Hair With Rubber Bands

Don't you hate when hair gets into your face during exercising, working, or cooking? Many women use rubber bands to tie their type 3 or 4 hair tight at the back of their heads. Unfortunately, curly hair and rubber bands don't usually mix.
Rubber bands don't just put extra stress on your hair and cause it to break. They are tough to remove, forcing you to damage the hair in the process. By the way, bobby pins cause just as much damage as rubber bands do.

What can you do? Reincarnate the scrunchie!

Since rubber bands are bad for your hair, especially when it's curly, consider eliminating them altogether. Even though scrunchies are out of fashion, they can keep your locks safe. If you need to tie a ponytail, take advantage of scrunchies or other large and wide hair ties.

If possible, tie your hair at the nape of your neck to reduce tugging.

Pro tip: Your hair feels (and often looks!) the best when it flows naturally down your shoulders. Give it a chance to do so for at least an hour or two daily.

2. You Use Free Haircare Products in Hotels and Gyms

Don't you love freebies? Be careful. They can be harmful.

Hotels and gyms tend to provide low-quality shampoos, conditioners, and body washes to cut costs. Instead of making your hair look healthy and shiny, these products can damage it.

What can you do? BYOS!

BYOS stands for Bring Your Own Shampoo. If you regularly wash your tresses in gym showers or hotels during business trips, ALWAYS bring your own shampoo and conditioner.

FYI: Hair dryers in hotels and gyms are covered in germs. When you touch your locks after holding the hairdryer, you transfer harmful bacteria. Either bring your own hairdryer or use disinfecting wipes to clean the complimentary one.

3. You Don't Protect Your Hair While in the Shower

Let's say you need to take a quick shower without washing your hair. Do you just jump in? While you are busy scrubbing your body, your hair suffers. Water droplets settle on your curls, drying them, spreading the sweat to the ends, and oxidizing hair dye.

What can you do? Wear a shower cap!

To protect your natural hair, wear a shower cap while taking a shower. Even if you don't wet your locks on purpose, they absorb moisture from the air, becoming frizzy and easy to damage.

A microfiber-lined shower cap prevents frizz, soaks up sweat, and keeps water from your hair while you are showering.

Pro tip: Avoid splashing water on your face during workouts too. Besides providing temporary relief from the heat, splashing water comes with many negative consequences.

4. You Constantly Adjust Your Diet

Let's be honest. Not too many women are happy with their weight. Gaining and losing weight usually involves diet adjustments, which in turn could lead to a lack of the necessary nutrition. When your body doesn't get enough vitamins, hair is often the first to suffer.

Some women also damage their curls in the race to build muscle. They focus on proteins and red meat, forgetting such vitamins as Omega-3 and B-complex that are important for their natural hair.

What can you do? Stock up on vitamin-packed food!

If your hair care routine seems flawless, take a closer look at your diet. Make an effort to add such omega-3, and vitamin A, B, C, and D-rich foods to your everyday meals. Some of these foods include:

• Berries
• Spinach
• Fatty fish
• Avocados
• Nuts
• Seafood

Make sure to keep eggs in your diet. They don't just give you a protein boost for muscle growth but also keep your hair healthy with biotin (a water-soluble B vitamin).

Continuous efforts to lose or gain weight are stressful for your body. Ideally, you should get professional advice to minimize the negative effects on your curls.

5. You Wash and Dry Your Hair Every Day

Let's be honest. Your hair always looks the best after you just washed and styled it. Unfortunately, doing it every day is a big mistake.

By applying shampoo too often, you strip important oils from your scalp, thus setting your sebaceous glands to the "overwork" mode. As a result, you may end up with oily hair that looks dirty and needs frequent washing. It's a vicious cycle, especially for type 3 or type 4 hair.

When you use a hairdryer every day, you remove natural moisture, making your locks dry and brittle.

What can you do? Change your routine!

Try not to wash your hair more often than three times a week. If you are an everyday hair shower maniac, it may take some time for your curls to adjust to the new washing frequency. Don't worry. Eventually, they will.

Try to keep hair drying to a minimum. When you need to dry your natural hair, make sure you use the right hair dryer. RevAir's unique reverse-air dryer is specifically designed to prevent hair damage during the drying process while making your curls look shiny and frizz-free.

6. You Use Heat to Style Dirty Hair

Ok, we don't mean to say that you go around with dirty hair. However, hair that already has a bunch of styling products on it could be damaged by heat-styling much more than clean curls can.

What can you do? Look for alternatives!

If you want to add some style to your hair without washing it, consider braiding or creating protective hairstyles. Buns, braids, French twists, half buns, and ponytails are your best friends whenever washing isn't an option.

Just make sure heat doesn't get anywhere near your not-so-clean locks.

7. You Touch Your Hair Unconsciously

Many women have a bad habit of touching their curls, running their hands through their hair, brushing it away from their faces, playing, twirling, scrunching…you name it. When you touch your locks during the day, you transfer bacteria and grease from your hands to the hair and scalp.

As a result, your hair looks dull, dirty, frizzy…the list goes on and on. Meanwhile, you strip away natural protection, leaving your natural hair vulnerable to the elements.

What can you do? Break the habit!

If your hair care routine is stellar, hair dullness could be caused by your hair-touching habit. Pick a day and pay close attention to your hands. How many times do you touch your hair? When do you do it the most? To minimize contact, tie your hair in a loose bun (at least when at home).

8. You Avoid Haircuts

If your goal is to grow a beautiful and long mane, skipping haircuts seems like a logical thing to do. In reality, such behavior encourages hair breakage and split ends. Regular haircuts must be a part of your hair care routine.

What can you do? Get a haircut already!

You don't need to cut the precious inches away. A simple conservative trim can do wonders. Depending on the speed of hair growth, you need to trim your curls once every 6 to 8 weeks.

Pro tip: When you cut your hair regularly, you encourage growth instead of slowing it down. No, your hair won't grow faster (it's a myth) but it will get an opportunity to achieve its fullest potential without the split ends.

9. You Stress Too Much

21st-century women have to battle stress every day. In a stressful situation, your body reroutes its resources to where it needs them the most.

It begins fueling your muscles (that's how our ancestors managed to outrun wild animals), ignoring other "unnecessary" elements like hair. Hair follicles get less nutrition, thus making your curls look dry and dull.

What can you do? Take a break!

While it's hard to avoid stress, you can learn how to deal with it. Besides embracing healthy lifestyle habits, don't be afraid to take a break. The world won't collapse if you rest a little more often. Meanwhile, your hair will say "thank you."
At RevAir, we support the natural beauty of your hair and help you enjoy life without frizz, split ends, and hair loss.

We know that fabulous hair is a confidence-booster and a life-changer! By kicking bad hair habits, you are unleashing a sea of new opportunities, and RevAir is always here to help you grab them!