How to determine your hair is dry

Dry hair can happen for a lot of different reasons. It could be overuse of products or heated styling tools. It could simply be that the climate you live in is dry. Pollution could also be the cause of your dry hair.

1. Zero flexibility: What’s the flexibility capacity of your hair? This is something you can test at home. Pull a hair out and wrap it around your fingers like floss. Slowly pull the ends of the hair apart. How far does your hair stretch without snapping? The more give your hair has the more moisture it contains.
2. Split ends: What are they exactly? Well, when you look closely at the ends of your hair, if you can see a hair peeling off from another or you see pesky little white balls on the ends of your strands, you’ve got split ends.
3. Coarse texture: Does your hair feel like straw? If it does, hair stylist Kimberly from Lisa Rene Salon in Naperville, Illinois, says, “It’s so much easier to help a client with dry hair. Compared to damaged hair, dry hair is almost instantly curable while damaged hair usually requires a cut and growing back fresh hair.”
4. Dull & lifeless: If your hair has lost its bounce and shine, it’s probably dried out!
5. Breakage: Where is your hair breaking off? Is the hair you pull out the length of your hair (or pretty darn close) or is it half the length or less? If your hair is breaking off halfway down, it probably doesn’t contain the proper moisture.

There’s something you can do! Whether you visit a salon or do an at-home treatment, Kimberly recommends the following steps to restore moisture and reclaim your beautiful locks!

1. Start off with a great moisturizing shampoo like Kenra’s Moisturizing Shampoo.
2. Next, Kimberly recommends lightly towel drying your hair and applying a deep conditioning treatment or masque like Sebastian Drench Deep Moisturizing Treatment. Kimberly says, “Start where your hair is the driest which is usually at the ends and then work it through the rest of your hair.” After 15 to 20 minutes, rinse it out with cool water to close the cuticle and seal it all in.
3. Follow it up with Kenra’s Moisturizing Conditioner and again work through the ends first, and don’t forget to rinse well.
4. Style as usual.

• Do a deep conditioning treatment or masque once a week, especially around season changes.
• Try to cut back on heated styling. Aim to let your hair go au naturel for at least one day a week.
• If you do blow dry and curl or straighten daily, be sure to use a thermal protector.

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