Hair Myth’s

There hundred thousand hair myths floating around the place, mostly untrue and a lot are absolutely ridiculous and you wonder how anybody would ever believe them!

A lot are BASED on truth, but, like Chinese whispers, have been bent out of shape by the time they reach you.

Here are some of our favourites…

 

Myth #1:

“There is no colour in my hair, it’s all washed out/grown out.”

Well this isn’t exactly a myth but its not often true either. It is quite often followed up with “Yes I’ve coloured my hair but only with a semi permanent” or the “box said it was only a semi permanent”.

Well where do I start! There aren’t many true semi permanent colours on the market. Most that are only last a few washes so they aren’t very popular. Most hair salons call anything that’s not permanent a semi. Tecchnically they are usually a demi (this means that they are not going to come out completely but are less ‘sticky’ than the permanent ones). Because of this, there will always be SOME colour left in your hair, even if you can’t see it. Hence it will NEVER wash out completely.

It is quite obvious when we start to bleach your hair and it takes longer than usual or goes a funny colour.

Temporary hair colours like Fudge & Paintbox are notorious for this. We’ve had clients colour over their blue hair to black, with other box colours and when you bleach it, it still comes out blue….even though the blue had all “washed out” before they put the black over it.  We’ve also had blondes in that had coloured their hair blue and purple months ago, you can’t see ANY of the colour left in there but when you bleach it, it draws it out to a nice light blue, or mint green…quite handy if you want to be mint green but not so much it you want platinum hair!

Growing out your colour takes years if you have long hair. Quite often there is still a good bit left in the ends.

The best thing to do is just be honest, and tell us when you coloured it last. It doesn’t meant we are going to throw you out of the salon, it just means we need to do things differently and change the products we use.

 

Myth #2:

“I don’t use products in my hair or conditioner because its too oily”

As a fellow oil-slick (Michele’s words) and having fine hair myself, we can both tell you this a load of bollocks.

You are using the WRONG things! I don’t care if you’ve tried every product you think is available, you haven’t found the right one for you or you are using it wrong.

Supermarket shampoo, whether it’s cheap or expensive, will leave your hair feeling greasier than a KFC Double Down. Supermarket shampoo’s are formulated for everyone…hence they are not very good for anyone. The shampoo strips your hair causing the roots to flood back oil because its feels dried out, the conditioner is too watered down.

Light but moisturising products are our weapon of choice. Always shampoo twice, the first removes big stuff, the second cleanses properly without stripping. Condition the mid-lengths and ends, NEVER the roots. This will mean you give the ends that moisture it needs without greasing up the roots.

Our fave products are:

All in One Milk by Davines – Its Oi Oil’s little brother. It’s a light spray that protects from……well everything you can think of and moisturises and detangles…it does it all..hence the name. Spray in before you dry it off.

Ritual Salvations Shampoo & Conditioner by Evo – Its both nourishing AND light!

Waterkiller by Evo – It’s a dry shampoo. Not the kind that leaves dust and flakes in your hair, oh no, this stuff is a life saver, especially  if you have a bright colour and don’t want to wash it too often. Spray in at the roots, shake out with your fingers and boom….perfect hair. It has a styling product in it too which gives you the perfect natural volume.

 

Love Touch – Very light shine spray or when you spray it into your hands and smooth through the ends it becomes a very light serum for taming fizzy. And smells amaaaazing!

 

Myth #3:

 

“I’m hair for my hair-up/hair to be curled for my night out/special event…it curls better when its dirty so I haven’t washed it for a few days.”

This is one that’s come from a little bit of truth that’s been blown out of all propotion. Hair that hasn’t been washed for more than 2 days is usually getting pretty oily, especially if in those 2 days you’ve gone out to a party, done a bit of work and gotten a little sweaty or basically lived your life outside of a bubble. Oil is heavy, it weighs down hair. Heavy hair weighs down curls. So there we go….now we have to get out hands in your nice oily hair that smells slightly of last nights dinner or someone else’s cigarettes, we have to use our hot tools like our irons or curlers and its going to BURN off the oil….see that smoke? That’s not product burning off there.

Who wants their hair smelly and oily for their night out? And it certainly isn’t nice for your stylist. So stop it.

Fortunately this has only happened a few times to us (and not in Live & Let Dye, once in a previous salon and once at an event, so if you have come in to us with ‘dirty’ hair, this probably wasn’t you), where the hair is so dirty it smokes out the room and we want to go and put some gloves on…. and smells like cigarettes or something wiffy.

Its best to wash the night before and make sure its dry when you come in. If you HAVE to wash it in the morning, that’s totally fine, just make sure its dry when you come in so we don’t have to do twice the work. We have products that can add the texture we need to get a good style going.

 

 

Myth #4:

“Professional products don’t do anything for my hair, it feels the same.”

This is quite common, but also not true. They might not feel like they are doing anything instantly, but quite a lot of professional products work over a longer period of time. Especially if it’s a repairing product. We are quite lucky in Live & Let Dye where a lot of our products make your hair feel amazing straight away.

Quite often products work from the inside of the hair. This is a lot of the difference between professional and supermarket products, which mainly work cosmetically, meaning they work on making the outside of the hair look good instantly but aren’t doing anything long term. It’s like painting a rotting house…its still going to crumble down underneath the shiny paint.

 

Myth #5:

“My products stopped working” or “My hair has got used to my shampoo.”

This is usually because your product has done its job. If it’s a repair shampoo…its repaired your hair and maybe now you need a different one for more normal hair instead of damaged.

It’s like using antibiotics to fix a medical problem. You don’t just keep using it. Once its done its job, you start using something else, like perhaps yoghurt to build up the good bacteria in your stomach again.

Products with lots of protein (which strengthens damaged hair), once used for a while can make the hair brittle and hard feeling. This is normal….you need a moisture one after this to soften it back down. Like the yoghurt after antibiotics.

 

Myth #6

“Don’t wash your hair for a while and it starts to self clean”

Well this was an interesting one. The thing with this is, what do you think its going to self clean with? Your natural oils are there to protect your hair and scalp….if your hair gets too oily, oil isn’t going to clean oil.

I think this one came from the fact that once hair is at its oiliest, its not going to get any oiler, therefore not getting any dirtier. But its never going to self clean. Also with the smells and factors from the natural environment sticking to the oil in your hair, its going to get worse, start growing bacteria and various fungal diseases and your scalp is going to be pretty unhealthy. Also with long hair, the dead skin cells are not going to be washed out causing flakes…..not nice.

 

Myth #7

“I’m going natural so I’m going to use baking soda and apple cider vinegar.”

 

Newsflash!! Baking soda is a chemical (sodium bicarbonate) which is made using a chemical process. Apple Cider vinegar is made from fermented crushed apples but studies have shown that the store bought Apple Cider vinegar can be made up of a bunch of different chemicals and not contain actual apple cider vinegar at all.

Also, not everything that is natural is actually good for you. I can name a whole bunch of illegal drugs that you wouldn’t want to use, even though they are made from natural ingredients.

Just because its natural, doesn’t mean you can use it for anything. It has its uses and it may not contain chemicals, but that doesn’t mean its good for what you’re using it for.

The basic idea is that baking soda is an alkaline (like shampoo) that opens the hair cuticles allowing the dirt out.  Apple cider vinegar is acidic (like conditioner is slightly acidic) which closes the cuticles on the hair shaft down tight, making it look shiny. This may work for a little while but longterm…..

HOWEVER….baking soda is too alkaline which in turn strips the hair (why would you use something that can also be used to clean your dishes and your fridge on your much more fragile hair?). It will also remove your pretty hair colour, all your natural oils and anything else that you want to keep in there. Apple cider vinegar is great in small quantities but is too acidic.

This was a great remedy in the old days where shampoo was made up of harsh soaps and conditioner didn’t exist. These days, everyone is more aware of what they are using on themselves and the product companies have responded by taking out all the nasty ingredients (like SLS, TEA and all the suphates) and replacing with lovely, nourishing fruit and plant oils.

 

 

Well I hope this has enlightened some of you and even given you a giggle. There are lots more myths but far too many to post in this blog…….we might have to do a part 2!

If you’ve heard any strange ones, ones that will make us laugh or ones that seem a bit odd but kind of plausible, comment below and we will respond. We might even feature them in our next blog.