Multiple factors can lead to hair damage. Sun exposure, environmental aggressors, frequent usage of heat styling tools, pollution, chemical processing, over-colouring the hair, and improper hair care practices can cause hair cuticles to scrape off, burn the hair fiber, or weaken the bonds of your hair, leaving you with dry and damaged hair.
While hair damage can’t be reversed overnight, you can improve your hair health by following an effective damaged hair treatment plan, including the best products for damaged hair, and most importantly, eliminating the root causes of damaged hair symptoms.
Learn what the experts at L'Oréal Professionnel have to say about damaged hair and find the best hair damage solutions along with the best-in-class hair care products for damaged hair.
Difference Between Dry and Damaged Hair
The symptoms of dry vs damaged hair can confuse a layman. However, these two hair concerns are completely different (although they may have similar symptoms - dullness, frizz, and coarse texture) and should be treated with specialised products.
What is Dry Hair?
Dry hair is found when there is a lack (or the removal of) natural oils that act as lubricants along the hair fiber. Too much, and the hair looks oily, but too little, and the hair dries out. Dry hair is often accompanied by white flakes of skin and a coarse, rough texture.
What is Damaged Hair?
When it comes to damaged hair, things are different. At the heart of the fiber is the hair's cortex, which contains the hair color (melanin). This core is protected by overlapping scales called cuticles, which, on normal, healthy hair, lie flat against one another to strengthen the hair and give it a uniform, shiny appearance.
However, when these cuticles are damaged or weakened, the core gets exposed and becomes vulnerable to snapping. When the hair snaps off or breaks into split ends, it looks frizzy and dull, which are the tell-tale signs of damaged hair.
The most common signs and symptoms of damaged hair include:
• Tangled hair
• Dry hair and dullness
• Split ends
• Hair frizz
• Brittle strands and breakage
Now that you know the difference between dry vs damaged hair, you can now build an individual plan for dry hair care as well as look for the most effective hair damage solutions along with the best-in-class products for damaged hair. While dry hair essentially craves hydration, understanding and catering to damaged hair is quite complicated. Let’s discuss it in detail.
What are the causes of damaged hair?
The following are the potential damaged hair causes -
• Heat-styling tools
• Over-colouring or incorrect way of colouring the hair
• Bleaching the hair
• UV damage
• Pollution
What Is Surface Damage Vs Inner Damage?
Did you know there are different types of damaged hair? Read on to identify what those types are and find an ideal hair damage solution accordingly.
Surface Damage
Surface damage is when your hair cuticles are jagged, with some of them lifted or broken. However, the hair's internal cortex is not yet fully exposed at this stage. The hair is slightly dry with less shine, duller colour, and thinner ends.
How to repair dry, surface-damaged hair?
For dry lengths and surface damage, start your hair repair journey with nourishing regimens like L'Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair range. This hair care range was curated to support the hair's fiber from root to tip, infusing nourishment and a weightless protective layer.
Listed below are the products you should consider including in your hair care routine.
● Absolut Repair Shampoo is a professional shampoo designed for damaged and dry hair care, which instantly cleanses and restructures damaged hair to offer 13x resistance to hair damage*.
*instrumental test: Absolut Repair Shampoo + Mask on Damaged Hair
● Absolut Repair Mask immediately restores damaged hair. Its Gold Quinoa + Protein formula makes the fiber 7x shinier* and smooth. Leave the Absolut Repair hair mask on hair for 3-5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly to repair damaged hair. Apply it once or twice a week.
*Shampoo + Instant Resurfacing Mask
● Absolut Repair 10-in-1 Oil is an effective hair damage solution that benefits your hair in 10 ways – offers anti-pollution and heat protection up to 230°C/450°F, nourishment, lightweight touch, softness, resurfacing, detangling, split ends reduction, easy blow-dry, and frizz control.
What is Inner or Molecular Damage?
Molecular damage is when cuticles are highly affected, with parts withered away completely. The cortex is exposed and weak. At this level, the hair's surface texture is very coarse and deconstructed with no shine, faded color, and split ends. You are left with hair that has a rough texture, a dull appearance, an uneven colour balance, and the development of split ends.
How to repair very damaged hair?
While many hair concerns can be cared for at a surface level, damaged hair needs intense molecular repair. If you face level 2 or level 3 of hair damage, go for the L'Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair Molecular series that goes deep within your hair fiber to rebuild the hair’s molecular structure*.
*Instrumental test after 15 applications of shampoo + rinse-off serum + leave-in mask.
The series involves a simple 3-step regimen to treat and repair damaged hair.
● Absolut Repair Molecular shampoo is the first step of your regimen to treat damaged hair symptoms. The ARM shampoo is formulated with Peptides bonder + 5 amino acids, helping you restore strength, elasticity, and movement* in your hair. The restoring shampoo also adds +86% smoothness** to your hair.
*Consumer test after 2 weeks usage of shampoo, rinse-off serum, and leave-in mask.
**Instrumental test
● Absolut Repair Molecular rinse-off serum comes next, especially if you have fine hair. The rinse-off serum penetrates deep into your hair fiber and can even rebuild your hair’s molecular structure*. You can also try the Absolut Repair Molecular professional mask if you have medium to thick hair. Your go-to hair strengthening treatment, the Absolut Repair Molecular hair mask repairs up to 2 years of damage** and also re-plumps your hair’s molecular layers*** in no time.
*Instrumental test after 15 applications of Absolut Repair Molecular rinse-off serum.
**Instrumental test on fiber macromolecular structure after application of mask
***With Hydration at macro-molecular level, instrumental test
● L’Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair Molecular leave-in mask is the perfect close to your damage repair routine. The leave-in mask helps you restore the elasticity and movement* in your lengths while helping you get optimal heat protection for up to 230 degrees**.
*Consumer test after 2 weeks usage of Shampoo, Rinse-off serum, and Leave-in mask.
**Instrumental test.
Tips for Dry and Damaged hair
Once you’ve identified your dry and damaged hair concerns and created a regimen to fix your hair problems, try these last-minute tips to keep your hair in best shape.
● Color your hair carefully
Damage protection starts in-salon. Get your hair color done professionally by L'Oréal Professionnel colorists to deliver the best care and shine to your lengths.
● Limit using heat-styling tools
When it comes to styling, heat-styling tools can seriously damage the quality of the hair fiber. Using a heat protectant spray on damaged and dry hair will give extra support against heat, but it is still recommended to reduce the use of styling tools (flat iron, curling iron etc.) and lower the temperature as much as possible.
● Use lukewarm water
While scalding showers are a crowd favourite, very hot water can make your hair appear even more dry and damaged. Try using lukewarm or cool water while shampooing and conditioning your lengths to reduce damaged hair symptoms.
● Diagnose your hair with the Hair Quiz
Take the L'Oréal Professionnel Hair Quiz to get expert-recommended products for your hair concerns and type. With the right products, you can begin to build a regimen that suits your hair.
Adopt the best hair care and hair styling practices and implement the above-mentioned hair damage solutions in your damaged and dry hair care ritual to pave the way for strong, robust and healthy hair.
For professional assistance on product recommendations and further guidance on damaged and dry hair treatment, pay a visit to the nearest L'Oréal Professionnel salon and let the experts help you repair your damaged hair.