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Loading...7 Hair-Care Myths Debunked
- Mel, selected from DivineCaroline
- September 8, 2010
- 3:01 pm
- 171 comments
By Allison Ford, Divine Caroline
They say a woman’s hair is her crowning glory, and boy, do we take that to heart. Women spend inordinate amounts of time and energy washing, styling, and caring for their hair (and let’s be honest—men do, too), all for the sake of keeping it shiny, healthy, and manageable. Like many areas of modern life, there’s plenty of advice and chatter on how to handle your hair better, faster, and more easily. There’s bound to be some folklore out there, like these points of hair-care “wisdom” sprinkled in with the facts.
Myth 1: Brushing one hundred strokes per night makes hair healthy and shiny.
At one point in hair-care history, someone thought that excessive brushing stimulated blood circulation, prompting lazy hair follicles to work extra hard. The truth is that although individual strands of hair are fairly strong, brushing more than necessary is much more likely to cause excessive breakage and damage than to leave you with thicker, shinier hair. This is especially true if you use a brush with plastic bristles, which can catch and snag. Natural-bristle brushes (like those with boar bristles) can distribute beneficial oils from the root to the ends of the hair shaft. But no matter what kind of combing implement you use, you should leave your hair alone once the snarls and tangles are gone. Want an all-natural, vegan hairbrush? Read Easy Greening: Hair Brushes.
Myth 2: Prenatal vitamins help hair grow longer.
Although some women swear by them, there’s no evidence to suggest prenatal vitamins are particularly helpful for hair growth. Hair does grow longer and thicker during pregnancy, but that’s because of higher hormone levels, not because of the vitamins themselves. Vitamins can be helpful for people experiencing poor hair growth due to a vitamin deficiency, but in those instances, a regular multivitamin or an iron supplement will perform just as well as the prenatal variety.
Read more: Beauty, Hair Care, Natural Remedies
Mel, selected from DivineCaroline
At DivineCaroline.com, women come together to learn from experts in the fields, of health, sustainability, and culture; to reflect on shared experiences; and to express themselves by writing and publishing stories about anything that matters to them. Here, real women publish like real pros. Together, with our staff writers, they’re discussing all facets of women’s lives from relationships and careers, to travel and healthy living. So come discover, read, learn, laugh and connect at DivineCaroline.com.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
people are talking
Thanks
I've been using this for years. Thank you.
Robert H I made a rule when going out for lunch with coworkers that we did not talk about the job du…
Noted...
creative zucchini is old news to this old farm boy
171 comments
+ add your ownExcellent article, I am a hairdresser in the UK and found this very interesting thanks
very good article thank you
well, so much information we need to be selective
thank you :)
Debunk the debunkers. Great fun!
I quit poos n shiners. I use soap for sensative skin only.
My male pattern is hairy again.
Cold water curls my hair all day.
And It's really true if you rub you're head and wish for a watermelon hard enough, you'll get hungry for a watermelon! No kidding, try it sometime.
thank u
Thanks! I need all the tricks I can get!
I want to dread my hair, and my mom says I will ruin it if I do...but I don't think so, hair is hair, and worst comes to worst, I cut most of it off and deal with ahort hair until it gorws out.
One thing I have found, though, is eating lots of vitamin A helps hair grow faster. Mine always goes through a growth spurt after I eat lots of carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc.
Noted, thanks
thankyou this ias cool
My old Year 4 teacher spiked his hair for about 15 years and he doesn't need to anymore because it's naturally spiky now. He put it down to the fact that he basically trained his hair. :/
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