After that, figuring out how to fix it — which we’ll share with you in Part 4 of our Ultimate Dry Hair Guide — is the key to solving dry hair issues. 

It’s also helpful to have an expert stylist on deck who can give you those much-needed regular trims and can help you design your own hair care routine to both restore and maintain the health of your hair.

DAMAGE

Damage happens to the best of us. 

So it’s no reason to get down on your hair, because most of the time, it’s reversible. 

Some signs of damage are obvious, like hair breakage or over processed strands on the fritz. 

But others are less so, like failing to mask and deep condition on a regular basis, which slowly starves your hair of the nutrients and care it deserves. 

This is where the importance of your hair care ritual comes in, as you must build a healthy habit for your strands as you do everything else. 

Just making a routine out of it and delivering moisture to your hair twice as often can make a world of difference. 

SEASONALITY

Dry hair can happen year-round, but summer and winter wreak havoc on your strands. 

The sun and surf are moisture strippers, as are the cold and high winds. So, you need to rely on products that can restore and nourish your curls and coils to combat what’s happening outside. 

Our four-step wash + go system is a go-to to keep your hair protected and hydrated as the temperatures fluctuate. 

And we recommend our Pure Regrowth Serum to give your strands an added dose of moisture seal-in.

GRAYING HAIR

Gray hair is so chic and so sophisticated — something to cherish and embrace instead of shy away from.

But there are specific ways of caring for it, including avoiding products with colorants that could turn your gray curls and coils yellow. 

Check out our guide for optimizing gray hair health for all you need to know.

EXCESSIVE HEAT STYLING

 “Think of direct heat like an iron when you apply it to damp clothes. It's doing its best to eliminate any moisture... and then it steams! A flat iron is doing the same thing to your hair strands." CurlMix Co-Founder & CEO, Kim Lewis

Direct heat styling tools like blow dryers, flat irons, and curling irons are the biggest culprits of dryness. 

These tools can cause the cuticle layer to break down and strip away, which removes moisture from your hair. 

This exposes the medulla layer, causing it to expand and release moisture from your cortex.

Indirect heat styling works wonders and is less harmful. 

Put your blow dryer on low to medium heat to get the job done, use a diffuser, or invest in a hooded dryer for great options that do less damage. 

And if you absolutely must use direct heat, be sure to use a heat protectant and avoid excessive pulling on your hair. 

PRODUCT BUILD-UP

Cleansing our hair is of the utmost importance — wash day is a thing for a reason. But many of us aren’t cleansing our strands as often as we should.

Many of us naturalistas are product junkies and it’s part of the fun of our hair, but excessive product usage with the ingredients that like coconut oil and shea butter create barriers of entry for water.

And if water  is not being absorbed, then our strands are not being properly hydrated.

Thus, removing product build-up during a weekly cleanse is key. 

We have five shampoos to choose from for all your cleansing needs.

OVERCLEANSING 

But cleansing your hair can feel so good, that sometimes we overdo it. 

Or during the summer months, we tend to do too much shampooing after days spent on the beach and in the pool. 

Keep the cleansing to once a week or twice a week at the absolute maximum. 

Otherwise, you’ll run the risk of stripping your scalp and hair of their natural oils. 

This will leave your strands brittle, dry, and weak.

CHEMICAL TREATMENTS

Color treatments, keratin, perms, and relaxers might result in a temporary look we love, but they can do long-lasting damage. 

The ingredients in these products remove the natural oils in our hair and dry out hair strands. 

To achieve their goals, these treatments open our hair’s cuticle layer to alter the inner layers of our hair. 

And once this happens, there is truly no going back — which is why it takes months to transition back to our natural texture or grow out our color.

If you choose these treatments, that’s absolutely up to you and we won’t judge.  

We’re only here to help you get the healthiest hair possible. 

But you must keep in mind that you will have to do more nourishment and care of our hair should you go the chemical route to avoid breakage and excessive dryness. 

Weekly deep conditioning and leave-in conditioning should be added to your routine. You should also use water-based products to keep your strands hydrated.

And that’s it!

Whew, we know, that was a lot. 

But diagnosing the cause(s) of dryness is important to fighting dry hair.

Have you experienced dryness from one or more of the causes above? 

Tell us about it in the comments below!

Edited by: Faith Cummings