What damages hair?
Mostly, everyday habits. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) lists ten common hair-care practices that can damage hair, from rubbing shampoo into the lengths to brushing a hundred strokes a day. Damaged hair is fragile, so it breaks, and breakage leaves hair frizzy and uneven. The AAD notes that if damage continues, it can eventually lead to thinning hair or even bald spots, and that simple changes can prevent further damage.
This check runs through those ten habits. It works in your browser and nothing you answer is saved.
The ten habits, and what to do instead
- Rubbing shampoo into the length of your hair. Massage shampoo gently into your scalp and let it rinse through the lengths.
- Skipping conditioner. Use conditioner after every shampoo.
- Rubbing hair dry with a towel. Wrap it in a towel to absorb the water, or let it air dry.
- Brushing while wet. If your hair is straight, let it dry a little before combing gently with a wide-tooth comb. If it is textured or tightly curled, comb it while damp with a wide-tooth comb.
- Blow dryers, hot combs and curling irons. Air dry when you can, use the lowest heat setting, and use hot tools once a week or less.
- Long-hold styling products. Try a style that does not need them.
- Pulling hair back tightly. Wear it loosely pulled back, use covered bands, or choose styles that do not pull.
- Weaves and extensions. Choose light ones, have them done at a specialist salon, wear them for two or three months at most, and switch styles.
- Colouring, perming or relaxing. Leave more time between touch-ups, have one service at a time, and if you want more than one, perm or relax two weeks before you colour.
- Brushing a lot or tugging to style. Brush only to style, gently, with a wide-tooth comb. Hair never needs a hundred strokes a day.
How the check adds up
Each habit scores 0 if you rarely or never do it, 1 if you do it sometimes, and 2 if you do it most of the time. For heat, extensions and chemical services, the middle answer is the gentler version and the top answer the harder one.
| Total | What the check says |
|---|---|
| 0 to 4 | Your routine is gentle on your hair |
| 5 to 10 | A few habits may be wearing your hair down |
| 11 to 20 | Your routine is hard on your hair |
These bands are ours. They are a way to sort habits, not a measurement of damage, and the habits listed first in your result are the ones you do most.
Which habit to change first
Start with the ones you do most often, because those add up fastest. For many people that is heat, towel drying or skipping conditioner, and each has a simple swap. Changing a habit stops new damage; hair that has already broken has to grow out.
When it is more than your routine
If changing how you care for your hair does not help, the AAD suggests seeing a dermatologist, because your hair care may not be the cause. That matters most if you are worried about thinning or hair loss. Our shedding or breakage quiz helps tell the two apart, and our when to see a doctor checklist covers the warning signs.
See whether changes are working in the HairLens app
The HairLens app reads breakage and split ends from your photos and builds a routine around them, so you can see whether the changes you make are working.