Why Is My Hair Dry?

This beautiful journey of healthy hair has a lot of ups and downs and more often than not, not a lot of education.  One of the single-most questions we get asked all the time is "Why Is My Hair Dry?" As we always tell you, beauty is nurtured from both inside and out.  What you do on the outside will only last and thrive if you implement great care on the inside.  That includes your diet, exercise, and affirming your natural value and beauty.

Why Is My Hair Dry?

• Is it really?

  • Is your hair really dry or are you not used to how natural hair feels? Natural hair feels a lot different than relaxed or smoothed hair in its raw clean form. It may feel more wiry and less slippery making your think it’s dry, but really, it’s just NAKED.  We are so used to our hair being coated in butters, oils, emollients, and other styling ingredients that they give a false sense of smooth strands when they are really just coated.  Products should be applied lightly and properly layering quality products and smoothing with your hands should solve the naked feel without making your strands overly coated.

• But maybe your hair is dry. Let’s look at why. Here are a few internal reasons:

• • Hair is a direct reflection of what you are putting into your body. If you are not consistently drinking regular amounts of water, your hair will be drier than normal. Dehydration will cause your hair to dry out from the root. Remember, your body feeds hair, nails, and skin (the integumentary system) last in order of importance after your major organs. They are considered “accessory organs”. So if your body is dehydrated your hair will suffer no matter how much product, washing or conditioning you do. 

• • If you are suffering from any kind of stress response, auto-immune disease, or recent surgery your body may be in a state of shock, therefore hording its resources (vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, and water) for the internal major organs. You also could be vitamin and mineral deficient. Iron plays an important role as well as B Vitamins and others. Eating healthy dark greens, fish, and other whole foods will hydrate your hair from the inside. You may also end up with banging skin to go along with your hydrated hair.  Can you say G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S inside and out!

• • Are you consuming a lot of sugar? SUGAR IS THE DEVIL! Through a process called Glycation sugar molecules attach to proteins and lipids (fats) in the body and hair structure and causes them to age faster which means they break easier. So not only do you have brittle breaking hair. It’s inherently prone to breakage because it’s growing from the root with that handicap. No amount of product will preserve it past it’s natural strength.  No amount of external product will keep it from shedding faster when glycation is the issue.

• Now let's look externally at the practices that may be making your hair dry. 

Barring you have none of the internal issues previously mentioned let’s look at how you take care of your hair.

• • How often are you shampooing and conditioning your hair? Notice I said shampooing and conditioning and not cowashing. In order to get hydration into your hair strands you must remove the buildup. This can only be done with proper cleansing. Cowashing only puts more buildup on your strands. This is good for a mid-week refresh but should not replace normal cleansing. Hair begins to dehydrate after 4-7 days, which is why you should never go longer than 7-10 days between washing.  If you are not cleansing your hair and scalp then your scalp and hair are dehydrating from the outside in.

• • How often are you rehydrating/moisturizing your hair throughout the week? Expect to reapply a water based followed by oil-based an additional 1-3 times per week to replenish the water that evaporates from your hair. Especially if you wear out styles. Speaking of "out styles", are you wearing a lot of them?  Out styles cause your hair to evaporate water more quickly into the atmosphere making it feel drier. Wear more protective styles such as buns, tucked braids, mini twists, etc. to slow this down.

• • Are you applying oils and greases to your hair (and scalp) without putting a water based product on first? Oil is a moisturizer but it is NOT a hydrator. Dry hair lacks hydration.  Try to apply oil only to hair strands after a hydrating product or only if you know the hair is still hydrated but you want to add the oil for better sealing or for shine. Speaking of oils, heavy oils such as shea butter, hydrogenated coconut oils, and uncut castor oils (we cut all our oils with lighter oil blends) can be too occlusive to your hair.  They will prevent water from the atmosphere from getting into the hair strand.  Limit the use of heavier oils and butters as sealants or too frequently.

• • Are you frequently using heat on your hair? This should go without saying. Heat appliances are designed to dehydrate the hair while rearranging the hydrogen bonds to keep the style in place until you rewash. Decrease your heat usage.

• • Are you layering your products? Try the L.O.C or L.C.O method which stands for Liquid or Leave-In, Oil, and Cream.  But do what works for you.  Your hair may only need a leave-in and nothing else or a cream with oil and vice versa. How you layer your products will help you to retain hydration in your hair and keep your tresses moisturized. A light hand for products is always best.  Over using products will cause buildup and breakage of your hair strands so only use what is necessary to keep your hair healthy and your style looking good. Less is always better.