There are so many controversies about hair – who knows what to believe anymore?! Luckily for you.. CurlyEllie is here to clear up the 8 most common hair assumptions.

Cutting your hair regularly will make it grow more.
Verdict: MYTH

Cutting your hair regularly won’t actually make it grow any quicker than usual. Your hair is dead; it has no blood vessels or nerve ending (that’s why it doesn’t hurt when you cut it) therefore there is no way for your roots to respond to the ends being cut. HOWEVER: cutting off split ends regularly will avoid them splitting any further and your hair breaking off more.

Using hair masks will protect the health of your hair
Verdict: FACT

Typical conditioners, especially cheaper silicone based ones will sit on the hair and act as a type of cling film for the strands. Hair Masks work their way inside the cuticles, nourishing them and promoting hair growth. The treatments will strengthen the hair by packing moisture in and preventing any further splitting or damage.

Regular brushing will make your hair more shiny
Verdict: MYTH

While brushing is important to avoid any built up of knots, too much brushing will rough up the cuticles and make it duller, if anything. You should always use a moisturizing detangling spray when brushing to protect the hair from breaking due to the pressure. A good detangling spray will add shine too.. Otherwise, only brush when the hair is wet or damp.

Your hair grows faster in the summer
Verdict: FACT

When in cold environments, your body will divert the blood flow to internal organs in order to maintain body temperature. This in turn, decreases blood flow to the scalp. In warmer weather, enhanced circulation to the skin boosts follicle activity and increases the rate of hair growth. Hair grows 10 to 15 percent faster in the summer than in the winter.

Stress can turn your hair grey
Verdict: MYTH

Once again, when your hair leaves your scalp it is dead. Therefore, it cannot change colour without being purposefully died or bleached (with the exception of illnesses such as alopecia). Greying is mostly determined by genetics and aging. As you grow older, you produce less melanin (the molecules responsible for your natural color). When you are stressed, you can experience a quickening of fallout, which means if you are at an age where your hair is beginning to grow back grey, you will see more grey hairs growing through.

Wearing your hair up too much can make it fall out
Verdict: FACT

Continuously wearing your hair in a tight ponytail or braids can create tension on your hair follicles which can lead to permanent loss. Traction alopecia can arise from this, which may eventually lead to scarring alopecia where the hair does not grow back. To avoid damage, tie your hair more loosely and use a gentler hair tie such as a scrunchie to put less pressure on your hair.

Plucking one grey hair will make two more grow in its place
Verdict: MYTH

If only growing more hair was that easy! If this was true, there would be many people with thinning grey hair plucking their locks to prevent baldness. However, each hair strand grows from one follicle, therefore it is impossible for multiple hairs (no matter what colour) to grow back instead of a single one.

Rubbing your hair with a towel will damage it
Verdict: FACT

When your hair is wet it is far more prone to damage because it’s full of water and its ‘tensile’ strength is depleted until it is dry. Rubbing it will cause friction between the hairs and will rough up the cuticle causing the hair to become damaged causing more split ends, knotting etc. To avoid this, use a gentler micro-fiber towel and scrunch and tap your hair to dry instead of rubbing it.