6 Mistakes You Don’t Know You Are Making That Might Prevent Hair Growth

At some point of time of our life we ultimately will face a phase where we will notice

·       Flaky dandruff that is embarrassing despite multiple product change

·       More receding hair line

·       Hair seems oilier even though you just wash your hair few hours ago

·       Hair seems less lustrous / damaged

·       Hair diameter reduce (Hair follicle miniaturization)

Let’s do a self-check on how many bad habits we are guilty of

·      Washing hair only once a week or washing hair twice a day

·      Washing hair with hot water instead of cold water

·      Combing when your hair is wet/ brushing your hair too often

·      Tight hairstyle from the same place

·      Only cut your hair only once every 6 months

·      Excessive hair dyeing / bleaching

1.     Hair Washing

Let’s talk about hair washing. Should we wash daily or once a week? We are sure a lot of people have their usual habit that suits them but let’s be real it also depends on the lifestyle and the condition of the weather the person resides.

If you stay in a country that is cold and dry yes you can actually consider to go for once a week hair wash as excessive hair wash would actually cause us to lose our natural hair oil (also known as sebum) thus cause more obvious oily scalp as our body works in wonders where it actually learns to compensate what we lack and it run on overdrive to produce more sebum to protect us from environmental elements, and oxidative damage (the same harmful force that causes skin aging).

At some case, less is more where too much sebum on our scalp will cause us to have greasy look / flat hair or Malassezia overgrowth (oily dandruff) , which stimulates the scalp and speeds up the process of shedding the dead skin cells.

We can either regulate this problem by washing with shampoo during the first wash of the day and second with just water only (provided there is no other hair styling products used).

Another way is you can still keep using shampoo for both your wash but incorporate a tonic/ essence in your daily hair routine such as our DF5 Scalp Nourishing Essence on your scalp after each hair wash before blowing your hair.

What does DF5 Scalp Nourishing Essence help play a role here ? 

·      Helps balance back the lack in the nutrient loss during over shampooing

·      Helps Reduce Itchy / Oily scalp

·      Helps reduce hair thinning

·      Helps improve hair structure integrity by increasing hair fibre diameter/ hair resistance / hair tensile strength

2.     Hot water/ Cold water which should I use?

A hot water bath for most people might be the most relaxing way to unwind after a long day at work. However, our hair might say otherwise if it has a say in it.

If you notice a good shampooist they alternate between warm and cold water between your washes, this is because warm water helps open up hair pores. Yes our hair has pores which is also known as hair follicle.

Same idea where you would also use warm water to wash your face as It opens up the pores to allow those dirt / unwanted products to clean properly during a proper wash. However, using cold water after a warm water shampoo actually helps locks the moisture in the hair, which leaves the scalp hydrated. It also closes the pores, preventing dirt and excessive oil from entering the scalp.

Also do remember to start from washing our scalp first not just the hair that’s why we came out with DF5 Scrub Em’ to help kick start a good habit of cleaning your scalp at least once to three times a week depending on your scalp type.

Remember our hair is our second face. The amount of care spend on your skin should also be the same n your daily hair care routine as unlike our skin sometimes treatment might not be able to help when it’s too late.

3.     Combing your hair when its wet / brushing your hair too often

To be honest, combing your hair when its wet is a big No as our hair is at its weakest when it comes to tensile strength compared to when it’s a dry state. It actually is one of the main culprit for split ends, loss of hair and hair damage.

After a good hot shower, first thing you should do is pat dry your hair not rub dry your hair as we mentioned it is at is most vulnerable state. You would notice why stylist usually makes your hair a little wet before trimming/ styling as it is easier to let your hair conform to the style, they need to achieve the look they want for you.

You can consider to add a good leave on hair moisturiser before blow drying your hair as it does help in reducing hair tangling while blow drying. Blowing your hair in sections especially for long hair as its easier to blow dry your hair this way and start from blow drying the scalp and work your way to your hair ends. Best to use your fingers as a natural comb and finish with hair oil once’s you are done (this is when you can use your hair brush to do a one last styling before you head out).

By combing too much actually won’t help your hair look nicer and neater especially those that likes to comb from the scalp. It actually irritates your scalp and stresses your hair, causing it to break and fall out. If you really need to comb your hair that often and your hair tends to tangle up kindly relook into getting a detangling brush like what we offer in our limited set for Valentines. At least it will reduce the traction cause by excessive combing thus leading to more unwanted hair fall.

4.     Tight hair style from the same place

Girls usually will see them tie up their hair whether is to look good or for more practical reasons like hair getting in the way of their food while eating / too hot after a long walk outside especially in Malaysia.

But this would actually cause a problem known as Traction alopecia is hair loss that’s caused by repeatedly pulling on your hair. You can develop traction alopecia if you often wear your hair in a tight ponytail, bun, or braids, especially if you use chemicals or heat on your hair. Traction alopecia can be reversed if you stop pulling your hair back.

So if there is a need to put your hair back when you are home, you can consider to invest in a velcro hair patch instead of hair band or tie it a little loose if you really must. Also to help speed things up don’t forget our DF5 Scalp Nourishing Essence as you will see noticeable result as fast as one month.

Another solution you can also contact us for clinic treatment with our Crystal Care range as this is solely available with our clinic partners to help increase hair growth back as fast 1 treatment.

5.     How often should I cut my hair?

For guys sorry but best is to do a trim once every 3 -4 weeks as your hair will look out of shape as most guys have short hair style.

Now what about girls? For those girls with big hair volume normally will run to the salon for a trim every 2-3 months as it’s getting harder to blow dry our hair (yes we know how you feel as we also find it takes too long to get ready when its too long .

But the ones we are more worried are those with thinner hair volume as some girls we know tend to not go the hair salon while they are trying to grow their hair sometimes up till 6-9 months later.

Hair trimming does not make your hair grow faster although some would say they notice more visible hair growth when they trim them short compared to when they are longer. The main thing you need to go for a hair trim once every 2-3 months is to cut off the dead weight in your hair like split ends / unhealthy frizzy hair that is taking up the moisture that is intend for your scalp and other healthy hair.

6.     Excessive hair dyeing / bleaching

Hair colouring/ bleaching is so common these days from at least twice a year to some as much as 6-8 times a year depending on their lifestyle/ work environment. But this is doable with the amount of care done pre and post.

For example, taking good care of your scalp with a good cleansing treatment scrub just for scalp like our DF5 Scrub Em’ (1-3 times a week depending on your scalp condition) as our DF5 Scrub Em’ is also color and bleach safe where you can safely in cooperate it into your daily hair routine to help cleanse product leftover / sebum produce on our scalp to enable hair tonic / essence like DF5 Scalp Nourishing Essence to nourish back the lack of nutrient to give your scalp the barrier and defence it needs after the damage colouring and bleaching has caused.

Also choose the right shampoo for your hair and scalp follow by weekly hair mask / conditioning your hair everyday especially the girls to improve the shine and hydration for your hair ends.

Leave on moisturiser and hair oil is optional but don’t you think your hair would look even great after the work you put into colouring/ bleaching that it looks more moist and shine after blowing dry your hair ?