Dry or dehydrated hair: how to recognize them?

Dry hair and dehydrated hair are two different issues. One calls for nutrition and the other for hydration. By determining the cause and with specific care, it is possible to overcome it. Advice from Sandy Ory, hairdresser at the Jean Marc Joubert salon in Paris.

Do you do repeated treatments but your hair still has that straw effect? They may not receive the correct products. Dry hair and dehydrated hair are generally similar in appearance: they are both coarse and lacking in shine. However, their causes are different and do not require the same treatments. While one requires nutrition, the other requires hydration. These two issues can be resolved with a little patience and rigor.

Dry or dehydrated hair: what are the differences?

Dry hair is hair in need of nutrition. It can be recognized by its forks, its brittle, dull and lacking in shine. All these problems are generally caused by repeated mechanical and chemical attacks, discolorations or stains.

More rarely, this phenomenon can also occur without the hair being subjected to bad treatment. As you grow, the lengths are more likely to rub against clothing and the pillowcase or simply be tied up, which promotes degradation. For this, Sandy Ory, hairdresser at the Jean Marc Joubert salon in Paris, advises to “cut the ends every two or even three months” in order to find beautiful lengths.

Watch: What can you do to prevent or strengthen dry hair?

I hope this video gives you an idea of how to maintain that shiny voluminous flow during the summer for those days you’re lounging around, or those nights you’re out on the town! Home remedies and a little bit of tender, love, and care can go a long way, so check out what you can do to prevent dry brittle hair! Also, watch and listen for my explanation about how dry hair can relate to hypothyroidism!

Make sure to pay close attention to the internal and external factors that can contribute to dryness, especially if you have long hair!

A dehydrated hair lacks water. Just like dry hair, dehydrated hair is coarse and dull. But, there are certain details that help to make the difference with dry hair: hair that is lacking in moisture has a lot of frizz, has a straw effect, breaks easily and makes many tangles when washing.  Result: the hair is porous and with a lot of frizz.

Complementary issues

“Generally, a dehydrated hair is also a dry hair,” says the professional. While these two issues require different treatment, they are often inseparable and must be addressed one after the other. Once the problem in question is resolved, the hair can receive other targeted treatments.

You have to give the hair what it needs first. “If the hair is dry, it will be pointless to try to hydrate it because it needs nutrition first. Whereas if you nourish a dry hair properly and follow it with moisturizers, in this case the hair can receive this type of care because the main problem will be solved “specifies our expert.

Some types of hair may lack both, for example very curly hair which tends to be drier and dehydrated, can receive both treatments.

In this case, the solution is to alternate between the two. According to Sandy Ory, “you can start with an oil bath on dry hair and finish with an aloe vera treatment on damp hair,” for example. With this technique, the hair is nourished and hydrated.

Dry or dehydrated lengths: the solutions

On dry hair, if you value your lengths, our expert recommends opting for regular care. But be careful to choose care adapted to the right problem.

• A person who has dry hair should take oil baths, use shea butter for example or protein treatments that are found in the ranges called “reconstruction”. To nourish the hair well in depth, the oil bath should be a mixture of several vegetable oils such as coconut oil, avocado, sweet almond or castor oil. It is to be applied in the evening, before going to bed for example, to penetrate as much as possible into the hair. For other nourishing treatments, the professional recommends applying them to damp hair. “Ideally, you can add a heated cap or a hot towel to swell the hair fiber and optimize product absorption.”
• Regarding dehydrated hair, several solutions exist. To start, make sure you drink enough water throughout the day. The benefits of water are numerous, as much on the skin as on the hair. On average, it is recommended to drink 1.5 liters of water per day. With this simple daily gesture, your hair could regain the lost hydration. “Having beautiful hair, well nourished and hydrated, requires long-term efforts. As in sports, if you want maximum results you will have to be rigorous in the application of care”, confides our expert. For the expert, the preferred care must be natural or professional.
• On the natural side, opt for aloe vera, a natural active ingredient composed of 98% water, to deeply hydrate the hair. Apply it as a hair mask after shampooing for ten minutes or as a daily application to dry hair to gain shine. 

If natural care is both economical and good for health, it is not always enough: “A hair that has suffered repeated chemical attacks needs professional care that acts in depth”, explains Sandy Ory. She then advised to turn to ranges of products composed of hyaluronic acid. Found naturally in the body, this molecule helps retain water in the deep layers of the skin and also the hair.

Advice from the expert

• Always apply thermal protection. The hairdresser stresses the importance of this prevention: “It’s like sunscreen before you expose yourself, you can’t forget the thermal protection before using a heating device,” she continues. This treatment, to be applied to damp or dry hair depending on the product, limits the damage caused by heating devices. These are often the reason for dry and damaged ends;
• Ne pas frictionner les longueurs. “Elles sont à la base très fragiles car confrontées à des frottements à répétition. Alors, nul besoin de les frictionner davantage avec la serviette”, souligne-t-elle. Après la douche, pour essorer les cheveux, tamponnez seulement les longueurs pour que la serviette absorbe l’eau. Évitez de frotter les cheveux dans la serviette en espérant mieux enlever l’eau. Retenez que “plus on est délicat avec nos cheveux, mieux ils se portent” ;
• Do not overlook the importance of care. “This beauty gesture should become a habit. Every time you decide to wash your hair, try to take a few minutes to have a treatment before or after.” Like the skin, hair needs regular maintenance to keep it healthy. This requires a healthy lifestyle in terms of food but also care. Oil baths, conditioners, masks or even serums… There is a wide choice to obtain beautiful hair.