Good hair starts with healthy habits, and they become even more important with age. As with most things in life, there’s less margin for error with your hair once you’re in midlife and beyond, and small missteps can have a far bigger impact – especially if you’re not even aware of them.
‘Often, women don’t realise that their regular hair habits are harmful. It’s things they’ve probably never even thought of,’ says leading trichologist Mark Blake, who makes a living diving into the less glamorous side of hair.
In fact, it’s often the slightly icky issues that fly under the radar but deserve to be uncovered. Here are five you need to know about, according to Mark.
Never washing your hairbrush
People don’t clean their hair brushes enough, and that really impacts hair and scalp health, warns Mark. ‘‘Hair brushes contain over 3,500 bacterial colonies per square inch if you don’t wash them - that's more than the sink plughole.'
'If you don’t clean your brush, you’re going to be wiping all the yeast and dead bacteria back into your hair, and then it won’t behave as well,' he adds. 'You’re using more heat, causing more damage, and thinking your products aren’t working, when actually the problem is your hairbrush.'
'Most people think that cleaning a hairbrush is pulling the hair out, but no, you actually need to wash it! And ideally once a week, although once a month is better than nothing.’
Over-feeding your mites
Mites? What mites? The ones you have living in your hair follicles, of course. ‘Don’t panic, it’s normal. We all have something called demodex, about four of them living in each hair follicle,’ says Mark. ‘These microscopic mites are in your facial hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, and they only come out at night to eat.’
But be warned, they’re not the kind of cute critter you’d post on your Instagram. ‘They last live for about 21 days, and then they die but they can’t poo. So they die with their poo inside them and they rot inside your hair follicle,’ adds Mark. Ew!
‘Normally your scalp microbiome keeps it all in check,’ says Mark. ‘But people who don’t wash their hair enough can have a build-up of yeast, bacteria and sebum, and then the mites colonise and munch away.’ Essentially, they have got more poo in them when they die, which spells trouble for scalp health and, in turn, healthy hair growth. ‘So wash your hair regularly to avoid this issue,’ says Mark.
Stressing over clogged plug holes
Sticking with the theme of hair washing, there’s another reason to do it every other day or so. ‘People who are worried about hair thinning tend to shampoo less often, and also do really gingerly, like a salon apprentice on the first day,’ says Mark. ‘They do that because they see a lot of hair coming out in the shower, and they’re paranoid they’re speeding up their hair loss by shampooing. They're not.’
‘You lose 100 hairs naturally each day, but if you wash it once a week, chances are you’ll see 700, he says. ‘You think it’s a problem, when actually it’s just all those naturally loose hair coming away at the same time.’
Mark recommends washing your hair more regularly, ‘partly so you don’t panic, and partly to avoid a build-up scalp debris which can impact hair growth’.
Missing 'night sweat' neck
Washing enough is one thing, washing properly is another. ‘So many women don’t rinse their hair properly,’ Mark says. ‘They’re in a rush, they don’t get their fingertips in, especially at the nape which is where older women can often get sweaty at night. If you’re leaving shampoo and conditioner in your hair, it can make hair become limp and smelly, and cause scalp irritation.’
As well as having a knock-on impact on hair growth, it means your hair is hard to style. Then you’ll need more heat, which isn't good for fragile, mature hair. ‘Think of how thoroughly your hair gets washed at the salon,’ says Mark. ‘This is because hairdressers know it’s impossible to blow-dry or style hair that’s still clogged up with shampoo or conditioner residue.’
Pulling out grey hair
‘Do you ever pull grey hairs?’ asks Mark. ‘Well, you shouldn’t. All it does is damage your hair follicle. It may lead to pustule formation, it may lead to inflammation, and eventually your hair could stop growing. So, if you’ve got some grey hairs, just ask your hairdresser to disguise them.'
