Top 6 Hair-Styling Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping Regular Haircuts

Maintain your ‘do to make your life easier. “Haircuts have a shelf life of four to eight weeks before they start to lose shape and become harder to style, this is the truth .

Working with Too Much Hair at Once

Spend an afternoon at a salon and you’ll notice that the pros always use hair clips to divide and conquer a big styling job. The reason? It lets you concentrate the heat of your dryer or flatiron on one small section at a time. At home, split your hair into three horizontal layers. Pin the top and middle sections back with clips and work your way from the bottom up. Complete each section before moving on to the next, but if you’re in a hurry, spend more time styling the front and cheat a little in the back.

Forgetting Your Roots

If you pay more attention to your roots when you apply product and dry your hair, you’ll have more control over volume. Want more body? Then pull your hair up and out when drying. Want less? Pull your hair straight down to smooth and flatten the root. Treating your roots also saves your ends — the oldest and driest part of your hair — from excess heat damage.

Frying Your Strands

Use the low or medium heat settings on your styling tools. “Only extremely coarse or curly hair can handle the highest temperatures. Other ways to protect your hair: Mist with a heat protect styling spray, use a nozzle or diffuser attachment to disperse air flow, and don’t concentrate the heat in one spot for too long.

Using the Wrong Size Brush

Many women use a round brush that’s too small,. A small brush with a 1-inch-diameter barrel works best for chin-length hair, shorter layers, or if you want to add extra bounce to very fine hair. Medium to large brushes — 2- to 3-inch barrels — are better for longer hair and help you create loose, natural waves or straight, smooth styles.

Applying Product to Dry Hair

”Your hair is the most responsive to styling when it’s freshly shampooed or rinsed,”. It’s also easier to distribute product evenly throughout wet hair. (The exceptions to this rule are heat-protecting sprays, which you should apply to dry hair before you use hot tools, and finishing products like hair spray and pomades.)