We’ve all had a bad hair day, but let’s hear some shock for those of us who’ve had a bad hair month, year, or decade! Whether you spent your childhood with FAB hair (if you know, you know) or you’ve dedicated the last few years of your life to battling the nightmare combination that is oily roots and dry ends, hair is one of those parts of your beauty routine that can be incredibly difficult to get right. Sometimes, you might even have a tried-and-true ritual as part of your routine that’s secretly causing issues for your locks—after all, everyone’s hair is different, and applying a hair mask to your head overnight may not work for you like it does for that TikToker.
With so many hair care myths and mistakes out there, we decided to get to the bottom of the seemingly endless mystery of what makes hair look good, and to do so, we turned to the experts. Helen Reavey is a certified trichologist, celebrity hairstylist, hair loss specialist, and founder of hair care brand Act + Acre, so her tips for fixing your hair care routine once and for all have been tried and tested many times over. If you’ve always had the feeling that you’re doing something wrong when it comes to your hair care routine, this is for you. Here are the six most common hair mistakes you’re making, according to an expert, and how to fix them.
Helen Reavey
Helen Reavey is a certified trichologist, celebrity stylist, hair loss specialist and founder of hair care brand Act + Acre.
You are washing your hair instead of your scalp.
As a trichologist, Reavey spends a lot of time getting to the root of hair problems (pun intended), which often means starting with the scalp. The most common hair mistake people make in her opinion? Washing their hair when they should actually be washing their scalp. She explained that the scalp is in fact where the buildup is, and your hair strands aren’t what need a deep clean on wash day; instead, you should work to cleanse your scalp to prevent oiliness and promote healthy growth.
“Wash with warm water and double cleanse with a gentle shampoo,” Reavey recommends. “It’s important to emulsify the product, double cleanse, and concentrate it on your scalp and the back of your head.” Are you surprised you’ve been washing your hair wrong this whole time? I get it — after all, nothing in a beauty routine seems as intuitive as washing your hair, and TV and commercials taught us to lather our hair from root to tip. Make sure to focus on scrubbing your scalp rather than dragging tons of product through your hair — every strand will thank you.
You are committed to “hair training”
If you’re a girl with oily roots like me, you’ve probably heard of this, but for those who don’t, here’s a quick explanation. Hair training is trying to “train” your hair to produce less oil by washing it less frequently — it’s the idea that you can reduce the amount of oil your scalp produces by spacing out your washes as much as possible. This is one of those hair hacks that can totally go viral, but Reavey says it’s a huge myth. “Oil production is actually determined by factors like age, hormones, silicone buildup, and more,” Reavey says. “If you’re struggling with excess oil production and oily hair, hair training can actually make the condition worse. You can’t train your scalp to produce less oil by washing it less frequently.”
There’s an easy fix for this mistake: just don’t try to do a hair treatment. However, if you’re struggling with excess oil and buildup on your scalp, Reavey has some tips for you that will really help. do First, she suggests double cleansing with every wash using a sulfate-free, synthetic-free shampoo. “I recommend double cleansing, as the first wash removes product buildup, while the second wash really cleanses the scalp,” says Reavey.
You are overusing scalp exfoliants.
On the opposite side of the hair training spectrum are scalp scrubs. Think of scalp scrubs as a physical exfoliant for the top of your head. But, just as we know that over-exfoliating can damage the skin, it can also damage the scalp. “Physical exfoliants can create micro-tears in the scalp, which increases the likelihood of irritation and infection,” says Reavey. You might think that sloughing off dead skin on your scalp would promote hair growth, but according to Reavey, it actually increases the risk of your scalp becoming inflamed or infected.
Luckily, if you’re interested in exfoliating your scalp, there are products that can remove dead skin without risking micro-tears. Reavey recommends adding a weekly scalp treatment to your routine, such as a detoxifying oil or chemical exfoliant. According to her, these products “remove buildup, excess oil, and dead skin from the scalp, ensuring it stays balanced and clear.”
You are using products with silicones.
Every once in a while, the internet gets excited about eliminating a certain chemical or product from your routine… and then a few months later, everyone forgets about the purge. Silicones are one of those products we may remember checking for in our hair products in the past, but haven’t made it a routine to remove from our wash days. “While silicones are used to lock in moisture, they often build up on the scalp and hair follicles, leading to oiliness, irritation, inflammation, and more,” warns Reavey. This mistake has a quick fix, which is to simply check your hair products for silicones—they may be the hidden element holding you back from having the best hair day of your life.
You are applying excessive heat to your hair.
Revlon brush users, I know you knew this was coming. Applying too much heat to your hair is, simply put, not the way to healthier, happier hair. “Using heat on damaged hair exacerbates existing problems by stripping the scalp of moisture, weakening the hair’s protein bonds, and intensifying damage to the hair strands,” says Reavey. “Damaged hair already lacks the resilience needed to withstand external stressors, and excessive heat use leads to increased breakage, split ends, frizz, brittleness, and more.”
Sure, it can be a huge challenge to stop using a curling iron, but if you want to improve the health of your hair, you should use heat on it as infrequently as possible. If you struggle with damage and dryness, Reavey recommends using a conditioner, leave-in conditioner, and hair oil to repair dryness and split ends and smooth out frizz.
You are not using scalp treatments.
What’s Reavey’s final piece of advice for those who constantly struggle with their hair care routine? Add a scalp treatment to your weekly routine (as long as it’s not a scalp scrub). Remember that 2010s commercial where Heidi Klum compared the scalp to a tree root? Reavey expressed the exact same sentiment. “Once a week, before you shower, use a gentle treatment to break down oil and remove product buildup from your scalp,” she says. “I also don’t go a day without using a scalp repair serum.” Reavey recommends trying a scalp gua sha as well to help product penetrate your scalp. In all likelihood, once you start giving your scalp the care it deserves, your hair will reap the benefits.
