5 Ways To Tell If Your Hair Is Damaged

One of the most frequently asked questions I get as a professional hairstylist is how can they tell if their hair is damaged. Most of the time it is pretty obvious if your hair is damaged or not. You can literally see it. To be completely honest, most people that are extremely concerned with the health of their hair do NOT have damaged hair, at least it is not nearly as bad as they think. Even before I became a professional hairstylist, I learned a lot of things about my hair the hard way. Now, as a hair care specialist, I can easily spot damaged hair, on my own head as well as on someone else.

I myself have had heat damage, color damage, damage from neglect. You name it, I've probably experienced it first hand. Just another reason why I'm thankful for having thick hair and even more thankful for still having edges. Today I'm going to give you a five hair tips so that you will be able to know for sure if your hair is damaged or not.

1. Your hair falls out/ you have bald spots- This is as obvious as it can get. If you have severe damage to your hair, the worst possible outcome is hair loss. If your hair suddenly starts coming out after getting a particular service done, it's safe to say you have damage. This does not include hair loss due to medications being taken or medical procedures being done. This is strictly pertaining to hair loss as a direct result of a service done to your hair (i.e bad relaxer, color gone wrong, braids too tight, etc). As long as the actual hair follicle is not damaged, the hair will grow back. In the meantime, you'll want to nurture your hair back to health by making it stronger. Stronger strands don't break easily. You can strengthen your strands with products that have protein. The by L. Jones Protein Strengthening & Repair Collection has products with protein in them and are formulated to reverse damage done to your hair. The Creamy Custard Reconstructive Treatment and Honey Oat Moisture Shampoo will help. Simply use them in your hair care routine weekly, and try to avoid lots of heat.   

  

2. Hair starts breaking off in certain areas- This can occur for many reasons including wearing excessive ponytails, over-processing relaxers, and the most popular, permanent color gone wrong. When you notice your hair breaking after doing any of these things, more than likely you have received damage. To treat this, use the by L. Jones Creamy Custard Reconstructive Treatment weekly in addition to eliminating the cause of the root problem. If you constantly wear ponytails a lot, this is the time to stop. As your hair no longer has that extra tension, it will start to grow back. Using the Creamy Custard Reconstructive Treatment will keep it nice and strong, preventing it from having any further damage. Also use the Vanilla Milk Leave-In Conditioner as an extra layer of moisture and protection, especially if you use heat on your hair.

Your hair is significantly thinner in spots- I have had clients whose hair was thick from the root of the hair to about the middle of the hair shaft, then got noticeably thinner. The first client that I experienced like that really puzzled me because I was just so curious as to why the hair would do that. I still do not know the cause of this. My client didn't know what the previous stylist was using on her hair, but if I had to guess I would say usage of a certain type of product did this. I know a shampoo or conditioner couldn't have caused it so I'm assuming it may have been improper usage of a relaxer (getting them too frequently). Anyway, once she started coming to me the hair thickened up all the way down to the ends. What I do know is that when she started coming to me, we started stretching her relaxer to sixteen weeks versus six. If you are relaxed and notice that your hair is very thin, that is even more reason to relaxer stretch. If you are unable to manage your new growth past six weeks, use the by L. Jones Intense Moisturizing Treatment, and Leave-In Conditioner. These two things will soften them up, making your new growth easier to manage. Use the Whipped Honey Foam Wrap to lay your edges and your roots down, making it easier for you to get a freshly relaxed look without having to use a lot of heat.

Split ends- Split ends are a form of damage and can be easily fixed by simply cutting them. If you don't cut your split ends off, the hair will continue to split up the hair shaft resulting in having to cut more of the hair later. There is no product on the market (not even by L. Jones) that will repair split ends. Products that claim they can repair split ends only give the hair the illusion of mending the split ends together. Once the hair gets wet again and the product is shampooed from the hair, you will clearly be able to see that they are still splitting. Even though you can't fix split ends, you can prevent them by using the Satin Moisture Cream. Applying just a drop to the ends at least three times a week will lengthen the time between trims, allowing you to see more length.

Your hair seems permanently frizzy- This mostly happens the hair has been heat damaged and is often followed by excessive shedding. Having too much heat on the hair can open the cuticle layer on the hair and to the naked eye, this appears as frizz. Once the hair is nursed back to health, the cuticle of the hair will then close back up making the hair appear smooth again. Use the by L. Jones Prepoo Mud Mask to help any porosity issues and use the Creamy Custard Reconstructive Treatment for the frizz. And, anytime you use heat, use the Silky Serum Oil as a heat protectant.

If you notice any of the above changes to your hair it is safe to say that you have some form of damage to your hair.  But the good news is that most damage can be reversed and your hair can be healthy again! Check out this video below.