Colouring or Perming & Hair Loss


A common misconception with hair styling is that colouring or perming one’s hair causes hair loss. Actually, the follicles are not damaged by these processes if done correctly, so the amount of hairs remains the same. In fact, dying your hair to a colour that is close to your scalp colour or getting a wave/curl perm can actually help your hair look thicker, even if you are suffering from androgenetic alopecia, or male-/female-pattern baldness. Dying your hair may help because the closer your hair’s colour is to your scalp colour, the less contrast is apparent between your hair and your scalp. If there is a lot of contrast between the two, as with dark hair on pale skin, then the scalp is more visible and it is more noticeable if you have thinning hair. Likewise, a perm can give you thicker appearing hair because the curlier the hair the denser it looks. Curly hair can also cover more scalp per hair so perming your hair can result in the maximum scalp coverage with minimum hairs.

Although constant dyeing, straightening, blow-drying, or perming your hair does not cause baldness, it does however do damage to the quality of your hair. These chemical and heat processes dry out your hair, causing it to be extremely brittle. When you brush or shampoo your hair, the hairs break and are shed in the course of your shower. Losing these broken hairs may make it seem like you are suffering from hair loss, but in fact the roots of your hairs are fine and the hairs themselves simply need more conditioner and fewer chemicals.


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