Because baby girl just won’t stay on my head. 

Well now yes but, a scant few years ago, I was in a patchy, straggly struggle.

In fact, if I wrote a book based on my years of experience in the art of losing hair, it would be a thousand pages and counting of a neverending story. Luckily, and because I don’t need a new struggle, I’ve decided to write this blog instead.

I have studied all the errors of my ways and I think I have a pretty good grasp on what causes hair breakage, what I did wrong and how you may be able to avoid it. 

Now REMEMBER: I am not, I repeat, I am not a specialist or trichologist.  I’m simply a girl with a plan.

Overall, I’ve come to believe there are 4 main types of hair breakage:

1. Genetic / Medical 
2. Chemical 
3. Mechanical and
4. Environmental

Let me break it down further.

1. Genetic/ Medical

Everyone is born with a unique set of genetics. Maybe your sibling has a crazy high hair growth rate. Maybe you came out of the womb bald and stayed that way. Certain medical conditions which are hereditary can determine your hair traits such as brittleness, thickness, sparseness, porosity and yes, breakage. Perhaps your bald uncle is more than just your uncle. Maybe the both of you have Alopecia Areata, a condition in which your immune system attacks your hair follicles, causing it to fall off in patches. A condition that does have a genetic component. 

Hormones play a role too; ever noticed that pregnant women tend to have a spike in hair growth during pregnancy but an increase in hair fall after giving birth?

2. Chemical

Now we’ve all heard  horror stories involving bleach or relaxer but chemical hair breakage isn’t confined to just those things. The chemicals we ingest can also play a factor in hair breakage. 

Relaxers and bleach products are bond breakers that weaken hair, which is why, after use, your hair breaks off easily or falls out more. Certain ingredients in hair products, for example Sodium Sulphate, dries out our hair, causing it to break off. 

What we consume also plays a role in how much or how few nutrients we give our hair. Excessively consuming foods with Vitamin A and/or Iron can lead to hair loss, therefore before you jump on the vitamin bandwagon a simple blood test can indicate what vitamins you’re deficient in in order to ensure you’re not overloading unnecessarily. If your blood report comes back indicating good iron levels then perhaps all you need is a vitamin c supplement to help you absorb it better. Please speak to a licensed professional about this. 

3. Mechanical

Oh those gnarly fingers! Running through your hair like Wee Willy Winky ran through town and causing even more of a ruckus than he did.  Fingers can damage your hair by constantly chafing at the hair follicle, causing it to weaken or fray and break.

Whether it is through pulling our hair with too-tight hairstyles, using heating tools and products too much, simply being too neglectful, or too much finger action, there are many ways in which we can physically cause damage to our hair. Lately we’ve discussed how over saturation and moisture from products without drying your hair can cause it to break through hygral fatigue but simply having your hair in the same slicked back ponytail/bun every day continuously can also break your hair. Consistently using hair straightening tools and dryers can break your hair. Using combs and just ripping through knots – just ripping through them – instead of slowly attempting to undo it can cause breakage. And let’s not even get started on those TIGHT protective styles. 

4. Environmental

A while ago we posted about the damage caused to Khrystyne’s hair by the water in her shower.  Environmental damage can be caused by hard water or even excessive exposure to the elements like how sunlight can cause bleaching and heavy wind can cause mechanical damage over time. 

Now that we have the basic fundamentals out of the way I’ll give you a quick rundown of all of the ways I’ve suffered hair breakage.

1. Too many hair relaxers and incorrect applications. 
2. I had a  flawed view of length and in seeking great hair length, I suffered great split ends and they definitely worked their way up and broke my hair off.
3. Next came dryness due to environmental changes but also my own neglectfulness.
4. At this point I got fed up and started protective styles. Oh how the variations in incorrect installation and incorrect take down broke my hair. 
5. I used the incorrect brushes and combs for my hair type and
6. I styled my hair on the daily, especially in repetitive positions.
7. Circa 2019 I got sick and it caused all of my front hairs to fall off.
8. Just when I thought I had gotten it right, here comes Hygral Fatigue to break my hair off one more time…
9. And to top it all off I discovered that sleeping with the incorrect headgear caused breakage too.

The list actually goes on but I won’t bore you with my minor details, instead here’s what you should do to avoid it:

1. Figure out what type of hair you have; ask yourself

• Does it get wet quickly or do I need to work it in?
• Does it dry out fast or do I need to wait longer?
• Does it do well when tucked away or does that cause matting?

2. Figure out how often is just right

• Does my scalp not itch if I wash it everyday vs every week or bi-weekly?
• How often does my hair feel like it needs a deep condition? Most people recommend once a week.
• Should I be styling my hair as often as I am?
• Do I need to touch up my relaxer or bleach as often as I do or can I extend the period?

3. Find the right products 

• Does my hair like products that have a thicker viscosity/texture or does it prefer something thinner and more fluid?
• Am I allergic to any of the ingredients?

4. Create a routine 

• By simply saying I wash my hair every Sunday and re-spritz it every Wednesday, you’ve already started a routine. Trust me, it’s not daunting. Just do it.

5. I may touch a nerve with this last one: 

STOP JUMPING ONTO ALL OF THE BANDWAGONS! 

Your hair may not react the same.

There’s nothing more I can say that you can’t find on the internet but out of everything you’ve read, remember this:  

SHOW UP for your hair and it will SHOW OUT for you.

Make sure to check out our Instagram and Tiktok for more in-depth details and if you have any questions make sure to leave us a comment and we’ll definitely get back to you.

Please note I am in no way a licensed practitioner and I am merely sharing my experiences with you, whether you take the advice or not is up to you but I’ve always been told that people grow through shared experiences. Just think of me as a neighbourhood bestie spilling all her hair care secrets.

If you’re looking for any inspiration on getting it just right you can check out our shop tab and take it from there.

‘Till the next time.

• Nwabisa, The H Word