Do you know the signs of natural hair damage? It seems like a silly question, but the indicators are not always super obvious. When I first started wearing my hair natural, I often wondered how I would recognize damage… since everything felt like bizarro world from my relaxer days. Well, if you’re like I was, wonder no more. Here are five sure-fire ways to tell if your natural hair is damaged.
5 signs of damaged natural hair
1. Split ends
Split ends are pretty much a universal sign of damage. Examine your ends for separation and short, broken off pieces. If the results look grim, go ahead and get your ends trimmed to maintain the integrity of the rest of your hair.
2. Unruly mane
When hair suddenly seems to have a mind its own, takes longer to style or seems extra frizzy and out of control, damage could be the culprit. Get back on course with Wella’s Enrich Moisturizing Treatment for Coarse Hair to smooth things out. This conditioner is a favorite of our tutorial guru, Chris!
3. High porosity
So, let’s say that you moisturize your curl situation and then notice that your hair seems to lose that moisture a little too quickly. What? Well, damaged hair is more porous, which can result in problems retaining hydration and even hair color. Some curl types are more porous than others, so consider what your healthy hair normally does and use that as a guide.
4. Extra-fragile strands
Rough, brittle strands are tell-tale for hair that’s in desperate need of hydration. Got curls that are rough or fragile to the touch? Use Wella Oil Reflections to seal in moisture and revive your mane ASAP.
5. Increased breakage
It’s normal to experience shedding and see random coils lying around on some occasions – like, say, wash day or when you’re detangling – but when breakage is excessive, you may have a damaged hair problem.
It’s never great to discover your hair is damaged, but knowing is half the battle. Once you know what you’re up against, you can work on turning your hair’s health around.
