- Joined
- Nov 23, 2019
If there's anything I've noticed in my many years of interneting, it's that (usually) women, but sometimes men too, love to perpetuate unproven, ridiculous advice for beauty, hair and health. Most of these claims can immediately be disproved just by testing them with a tiny bit of logic, and others are easily Googled, though if you're not particularly good at search engines you'll just find garbage articles that perpetuate the same myth. It seems the moment one random woman says something, multiple women start parroting it around forums without verifying it. A lot of people clearly are just wanting the idea to work so they are claiming/convincing themselves that it did.
I've noticed in particular, the topic of "how to grow your hair long" has the most full-of-shit answers of all of them. I don't know if it's women's tendency to lop off their hair on a whim and then immediately regret it, having not reflected on how long it takes the hair to grow back, or what, but there are so many women desperate to speed up hair growth and looking for some magical advice.
Every time I see someone ask a question about speeding up hair growth it makes me roll my eyes. The answer is: don't be malnourished, and wait for it. Also your maximum hair length is determined by genetics and how long your growth phase is. You can't change that no matter what. There's some good advice like "don't rip your hair out like an idiot by brushing the shit out of it," which is something that for a long time was another myth spread to women: "brush your hair 100 times a day before bed."
Some suggestions about hair that I've seen:
"I got good results by massaging my scalp with hemp/coconut/etc. oil once a week and washing it out the next day. The oil keeps the scalp moist of course and the nutrients soak into the follicle."
First of all, I can't imagine how gross and greasy everything your hair touched would be if you're leaving your scalp soaking in oil for an entire day, not to mention how greasy you would look. Secondly, what "nutrients" are supposedly being absorbed by your scalp from oil? Third, why does your scalp need to be kept unnaturally moist? Fourth, a lot of oils are comedogenic meaning they clog pores and cause acne. Have fun with scalp pimples/folliculitis. Fifth, I'm assuming she would have gotten the same amount of hair growth without oiling herself up like a lunatic every week.
"Get your hair trimmed once a month because it will stimulate your hair to grow."
Hair is dead. It doesn't have "sensors" that detect when it has been cut. It's just a chain of dead cells. Also you don't need to get a haircut once a month, just when you get enough split ends that it looks shitty.
"Take biotin or skin and hair supplements to make your hair grow faster. I take [insert gummy vitamin here]."
Unless you are nutrient deficient or malnourished, this will do nothing. In fact, over-supplementing biotin has been shown to cause acne, so have fun with the pimples. Gummy vitamins are also incredibly expensive considering how little of the vitamins they actually contain. To make them tasty they use less. It's better to just take pills.
"Don't wash your hair in hot water and finish your showers with cold water to close the hair cuticle."
Cold water doesn't close the hair cuticle. There's no reason to worry about this at all.
"Only wash with conditioner and don't use shampoo because shampoo is bad for your hair." or "Shampoo has sulfates in it which are bad!! Only use sulfate-free shampoo!"
Wtf? Conditioner is an oily product. It doesn't contain soap. Can you wash oil off with more oil? No. Adding oil to your greasy-ass head won't remove the grease. If you have oily hair in general, there isn't a need to use conditioner. Shampoo is simply soap, and it removes excess oil and dirt from your hair. Sulfates are a detergent (soap). There's nothing wrong with sulfates. I'm sure these people are walking around with stringy, limp hair by avoiding using soap on it.
"Silicones are bad for your hair! They damage it! Don't use hair products with silicones!"
This is one thing that I am kind of glad people are noticing, but not for the reasons they say. Silicones are heat protectants and they make your hair slippery, preventing you from ripping it out as much from your hairs getting tangled. They also have a consequence of making your hair look oilier. If you have oily hair, try not to use a hair product that adds silicones to your scalp because you'll be one oily mofo once your natural scalp oil builds on top of it, but they are great for the length of your hair that isn't touching your scalp. You'll brush through way easier. They're harmless and just sit on your hair, and, guess what, you can wash them off with a proper shampoo.
My personal favorite: "If you stop shampooing your hair and only use water you won't have to shampoo it anymore! The only reason you're getting oily hair is because you keep stripping your hair of all its oils by shampooing it! It may take months to adapt but it'll be worth it! This is how humans used to naturally live."
Again, your scalp does not have any sensors that tell it when too much oil has been taken off of it. It does not increase production of oil because you cleaned it with soap. I have never talked to a person who had success with not shampooing. Every person has eventually gone back, after months of looking like a grease-trap with limp, dirty hair. Even Freelee the Banana Girl stopped doing the no-poo thing after months of looking like an unwashed hobo on her channel.
"Wash your hair with baking soda mixed in water and rinse it out with apple cider vinegar. It will improve scalp health, strengthen hair, and enhance shine, etc."
Do not do this. It does not work. Baking soda damages your hair and irritates skin. The ACV is acidic and can dry out your hair and cause breakage. Why the fuck are you mixing up baking soda mixtures like a chemist and pouring stinky ass vinegar on your head in the shower instead of just using a normal shampoo?
These are just some examples of the hair ideas I see spread. I would like to hear what you guys have seen. I will post more when I remember them.
