By Phemelo Segoe
You’ve been reading so many blogs about caring for your hair and you’ve been buying every product that has been recommended to you but how do you actually know if you have healthy hair? Is there a way to know for sure? Does our hair have tells? The answer is yes!
We are going to share 4 characteristics of healthy hair. Ready? Let’s get into it.
1. Elasticity
Let’s think about a slinky toy and how it moves, it’s tight coil makes it deceivingly short however when you stretch it out, you see just how long it is. Furthermore, after stretching it out, it quickly returns back to its original coil - that’s what healthy hair does. When your hair is healthy, you’ll see by its bouncy elasticity. After stretching out a strand, it quickly returns to its natural curl once you let go. Hair that lacks elasticity is prone to breakage and also indicates a lack of keratin within it. Elasticity is one of the primary indicators of the health of your hair.
2. Shine
Low porosity hair may be tough to moisturize but once you get that moisture in, low porous hair locks it in giving it a natural shine. If you would like to check your hair’s shine factor then you can put it to the test. After washing and conditioning your hair, dry it with a t-shirt and then check the overall appearance of your hair before adding any moisturizer. If your hair has a natural shine then you know it’s on the healthy side and if it’s dry and dull then it’s not so healthy.
3. Shrinkage
Despite what your feelings might be about shrinkage, she is the girl she thinks she is. Shrinkage, otherwise referred to as your hair’s ‘spring factor’ is an indicator of your hair’s elasticity and as we’ve unpacked, hair elasticity is an indicator of hair health. Although shrinkage hides your hair's true length, it shows you something more important - your hair’s health. Hair that is properly hydrated and moisturized will coil up to return to its natural structure.
4. Easy to detangle
Detangling natural hair will never be smooth sailing but healthy hair makes it that much easier. When your hair is healthy, then treatments like deep conditioning, make detangling sessions much easier. From reduced knots, to less tangles. Reduced detangling time is another factor for healthy hair.
5. Shedding
If you don’t already know this, you can thank us later but hair sheds regularly and this does not mean your hair is not healthy. In fact, it’s nothing to be alarmed about. When your hair starts shedding more than usual and by this we mean, larger chunks of hair being shed during untangling or wash days, then you might need to consider the products you’re using and your scalp’s health. Healthy hair sheds minimally and at a steady, consistent pace.
When you think about these factors, do you think your hair is healthy? Let us know in the comments section and we will recommend products to help.
To better healthier hair days! Love MPL