Damaged Hair: How to Know If You Have it (and How to Fix it)

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Main image – Audshule/Stocksy

Sometimes we can all feel a little bit broken, am I right?

But what about when your hair feels broken? We’ve all been there! However, there’s a fine line between it being ‘just’ a run of bad hair days, and your hair actually being classed as ‘damaged’. And knowing the status of your hair is vital for learning how to look after it properly.

So, with that in mind, here are some top tips from celebrity hairstylist Michael Douglas, Headmasters colour ambassador Sian Couldridge, and world-famous trichologist Anabel Kingsley on how to identify whether you have damaged hair as well as all the best ways to treat it and how to prevent it from ever feeling broken in the first place.

What is damaged hair?

“When the hair’s outer layers are compromised, this can expose the hair’s cortex (where the bonds are found), causing them to become damaged, weaken and break,” explains Kingsley. “This is caused by chemical processes such as bleaching or mechanical such as rough brushing or rubbing with a towel.”

“Damaged hair is hair that is slightly rotted,” Douglas adds. “It’s usually lighter in weight than healthy hair and weaker when pulled and stretched.”

Image – Adobe

How do you know if your hair is dry or damaged?

As it turns out, there’s a difference between dry and damaged hair and Couldridge says you can conduct your own tests.

“Take a strand of hair and run your fingers along it,” she explains. “If it feels bumpy, the hair is likely porous and dry. Another way to test is by placing a strand in a glass of water; if it sinks, the hair is porous and dry, whilst floating indicates a closed cuticle and healthy hydration.”

If your hair is damaged, “it feels brittle and rough to the touch,” she says. “Visually you might notice split ends of burnt-looking sections. If your hair has a matte appearance or lacks shine, it may need extra care and attention to recover from damage.”

Couldridge says another characteristic to look out for with damaged hair is if it’s particularly difficult to style and maintain, “due to weakened structural integrity,” as well as a difference in elasticity. “When wet, damaged hair may stretch and break more easily,” she explains.

Frizz is another tell-tale sign of both dry and damaged hair. “Damaged hair is more porous, which means it allows more ambient moisture in through the cuticle,” explains Kingsley.

“While frizz can be caused by several reasons, it is often due to dryness and damage to the hair shaft or moisture in the air. Even though, how frizz-prone your hair is depending on its natural structure and how porous it is, if you notice your hair getting more frizzy than usual it could be a sign of damaged hair.”

Image – Jovana Rikalo/Stocksy

What causes damaged hair?

There are so many culprits for damaged hair including UV exposure, heat styling and chemical processes. Douglas suggests thinking back to what yours has been through over the last three years. “If your hair is just below shoulder length, then the ends are roughly 3 to 4 years old, so you can kind of work out what the ends of your hair have been through,” he says.

“How many colours has it had? How many blow dries has it been through? How many times has it been shampooed? How much heat styling has been done with straightening irons and curling tongs? All these things will take their toll on the hair.”

And colouring your hair is one of the main offenders as it can weaken the hair structure. “The lighter your hair has been coloured, the more damage will have taken place,” he adds. “So imagine you’re a brunette and you’ve had lots of blonde bleached highlights put through it – this hair will be more damaged than if you just colour some grey hair to match your existing brunette.”

How to treat it

According to Douglas, you can’t ever fix damaged hair. “Once it is damaged, it is damaged,” he says. But you can treat it. “You can cosmetically make it feel much better by applying treatments and conditioners. A hair mask will often bind itself to the most damaged areas of your hair and make it feel thicker and stronger in those areas. Over the course of 4 to 5 shampoos, that treatment soon gets washed away and needs to be redone.”

So which products work best to treat damage? “I advise all my clients to use a weekly pre-shampoo deep-conditioning treatment [to rehydrate and give hair more resilience and better manageability] and a bond building treatment [to repair and strengthen broken bonds and minimise breakage,” Kingsley says.

Kingsley recommends Philip Kingsley Elasticizer (£38 from Cult Beauty UK /$52 from Philip Kingsley US) and Philip Kingsley Bond Builder (£29 from Cult Beauty UK /$42 from Philip Kingsley US).

Image – Philip Kingsley

How to prevent it

Start early and you may just stop any damage from happening in the first place. “Prevention is better than cure so always use some form of starch product or heat protection product on the hair before blow drying and/or using heated styling tools,” Douglas suggests.

Try John Frieda Frizz-Ease Heat Defeat Protecting Spray (£6.99 from Boots UK) which contains jojoba oil and aloe leaf and helps to replenish and moisturise the hair.

“If you’re having your hair lightened at all, it’s probably best to go to a hair salon where they can do it slowly and gently to minimise the damage. Keeping your hair out of the sun when you go on holiday is also a great way to prevent damage,” Douglas adds.

And don’t forget to make even more frequent trips to the salon for cuts too. “Regular trims are also a good idea as it cuts away the oldest and most vulnerable bits of your hair, helping to maintain its general health,” he says.

The takeaway

Some of our lifestyle choices contribute to hair becoming damaged. The main ones being, having fun in the sun, styling our hair to how we want it using heat, and covering greys and/or achieving the hair colour we always dreamed of. How dare we!

But there are ways to prevent damage from happening. You can still enjoy the sun, just wear a hat (and SPF!). By all means, style your hair with heated appliances but always use protection. And go for a new hue, but get it done professionally and not so frequently.

Invest in a decent hair mask and pre-shampoo deep conditioner, as well as something that will help strengthen the bonds within the hair’s cortex to reduce split ends. Damaged hair may not be able to be fixed but it can be prevented and, at the very least, improved.