If you haven’t already brushed up on the basics of hair I highly recommend checking it out, or referencing it if you’ve got questions as you read along. Don’t miss out on the rest of the hair myths series. I’ve addressed a lot of hair myths in my years behind the chair and starting my own website has given me a great opportunity to really address those in detail for you!
You can watch this video for a brief rundown of the text, skipping ahead to 0:40 to skip the intro.
I can get that at the drugstore:
I promise you I’m never going to come at you with scare tactics. My goal has always been to educate. Are some people going to get good results from whatever they grab off the shelf? They sure are. There are a lot of pretty ok hair products designed to be sold in places like Walmart and Target and Jewel. Not everything there is bad. I would definitely avoid anything that says “not guaranteed unless sold in a licensed salon” because it isn’t guaranteed if you didn’t get it from a salon. Yes Ulta counts as a salon. There are a lot of resources on diversion and incorrect products out there, but by buying your professional products from your salon professional you’re getting a product recommended specifically for you and your hair type, made with quality ingredients in a more concentrated formula so a little goes a long way, and you’re supporting your stylist’s business.
Good haircuts vs cheap haircuts:
The phrase “good hair isn’t cheap and cheap hair isn’t good” is what comes to mind first for me with this. I’ll be the first to admit that a long term relationship with your stylist isn’t always based solely on technical skill, but it does make a big difference. Initial schooling and ongoing education aren’t cheap for us, and continuing to learn about new products and techniques increases the value of our time with you. While knowledge and skill are definitely bigger factors in pricing for color services, they still impact time and pricing on haircuts. You’ll never hear me say that an inexpensive haircut is always guaranteed to be a bad haircut, but for an accessory you can’t take off, it’s definitely worth researching and making an educated decision when it comes to who’s going to be touching it.
Regular trims make your hair grow faster and longer:
The answer to this one is as easy as it is complicated. Your hair grows however fast your hair grows. On average that’s about half an inch a month, for some people it’s more and for some people it’s not as fast. Medical conditions and dietary issues can affect this as well, usually slowing growth down, but for the purpose of answering this question we’re going to pretend we’re dealing with a totally healthy growing environment. So circling back, your hair is going to grow as fast or as slow as it grows. The longer it gets the more potentially damaging things its been exposed to (hot tools, general elements, chlorine, etc). Even with the best preventative care routine you’ll still get some damage at the ends (those pesky split ends) which can and sometimes do split all the way up the hair strand. Obviously that’s a pretty major compromise to the structural integrity of your hair strand.
Getting regular trims removes those damaged ends before the damage has a chance to spread further up your hair. Yes, that means it’s going to take longer to get your hair down to your lower back but it also means that once it gets there it’s still going to be strong and healthy when it finally does get there. The optimal schedule for you to keep your hair healthy will depend in large part by your overall styling routine and color schedule. If you’re someone who washes and conditions a few times a week and lets your hair air dry, you can easily go up to 12 weeks before needing a refresh on your cut. Keeping with a color schedule will likely keep you in the salon on a regular enough basis to keep your ends healthy, but we all know that life happens. If you’re someone who uses hot tools on a somewhat regular basis, you’re probably want to have your ends cleaned up every 6-8 weeks or sooner.
My hair grows so fast in my bangs, around my ears, at the nape of my neck, etc:
Like mentioned above, your hair grows as fast as your hair grows. On average that’s about 1/2” a month. So it isn’t that the hair in those areas grows faster than the rest of it, it’s that you notice it there faster. Most commonly this comes up among people who keep their hair really short on the sides and back, but also with people who wear bangs in the front. If you cut your hair down to 1/8” and a week later it’s grown 1/8” your length has now doubled. Where your hair may be 2-3” on top and wouldn’t show that small growth as noticeably, if you were to double the length on there in a week you’d definitely notice it. The hair at the nape of your neck will always look longer as it starts growing in because it’s already starting so low in comparison to the length on the rest of your hair.
Do you have questions or concerns that you want to see me address? Leave a comment or reach out on social media! You can always book a consultation to ask me questions in person!
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