LOCKDOWN LOCKS
10 months into the pandemic, how healthy is your hair?
Stephanie Bradbury’s last haircut was March 18. Three days after her last day in the office on March 15, Bradbury realized the pandemic was going to change her normal life, at least for a month or two. She was pregnant at the time with her now-7month-old daughter.
So she made a salon appointment for her signature pixie cut.
Now, 10 months and a baby later, Bradbury’s pixie has grown into a long bob with mismatched ends that tend to go their own way depending on the day. At least she’ll be able to pull it back into a ponytail soon, she said.
Though stay-at-home orders were lifted months ago, Houston and state officials have continued to encourage people to stay home, mask up and avoid large crowds indoors. The pandemic created a natural time for people to experiment with their hair — and even take a rest from heat and styling, in hopes of making it healthier.
While Bradbury continues to wash her hair daily while working from home, many choose to shampoo a few times a week. Not leaving the house means no need for daily heat styling products, relaxers or constant color touch-ups for graying hair.
Emily Ribas shut down her shop,
Reserved Salon, for two months in the early part of the pandemic. Though many clients have returned, she believes people are visiting the salon less.
“For people who had been overdoing it on their hair, they have healthier hair because they’re not doing anything to it,” Ribas said. The pandemic has not been great for salons and barbershops, she said.
But, “for people’s hair and their wallets, it’s super awesome.”
Hair washing frequency
Ribas has long tried to train her clients to not wash their hair every day, but they finally started listening during the pandemic. She prefers a double cleanse — lather, rinse, repeat — every few days rather than a single cleanse every day.
Dry shampoo sales have risen, she said, and her clients are seeing a difference in the amount of dirt, grease and oil they feel on their hair.
Daily washes will open and close the hair cuticle so much that it breaks, which leads to split ends and hair breakage. It puts a lot of stress on the hair, especially when combined with styling or heating products, she said.
“What I’ve heard people saying is that they’re not washing their hair every day anymore. Even diehard people are doing it less,” Ribas said. “When done well, you can go longer with your hair by not washing it every day.”
The more a person washes, the oilier their hair will be, said Kali Ferrara, a cosmetologist with The Salon Project at Saks Fifth Avenue. Twelve hours after a daily wash, those with finer hair tend to experience the feeling of greasy or oily hair, she said.
Hair washing removes the natural oils from the scalp, which causes it to overproduce, Ferrara said. Let the scalp adapt by washing it less, she said, and eventually you’ll be able to go more than two days.
Hair growth and loss
Though it’s been a slower process, Bradbury is growing her hair out. Starting with the birth of her first child seven years ago, she has kept a consistent short ’do.
Short hair worked for the busy mom with naturally thick, wavy tresses, but a commitment to her quarantine bubble left her with the conviction to keep growing until she feels safe going to a salon.
“I’m very excited about the prospect of putting it up in a ponytail and it not fall in my face,” Bradbury said. “I’m so close to that — I never thought I would be able to do that again.”
Most stylists recommend six to eight weeks between trims to prevent split ends and eventual breakage, but Ribas said it’s OK to forgo full-blown haircuts during the pandemic — if you can stand the unevenness.
Those going from a pixie to a bob, like Bradbury, will likely need an adjustment at some point to level the ends, Ribas said. But longer, unkempt strands doesn’t mean the hair is unhealthy.
Every person has a natural stopping point for growth, she added, and it’s usually around the middle or top of someone’s back.
“Some people’s hair won’t grow past 12-14 inches, and some outliers can grow their hair all the way to their feet,” she said. Your natural stopping point is encoded in your DNA, she added.
The Henry Ford Health System named telogen effluvium — hair loss and shedding — as an unforeseen pandemic side effect caused by excessive stress.
Ferrara said it can take as long as four months for people to experience stressrelated hair loss. Stress, hormonal changes and diet are three major factors in scalp health and thickness, she said. She supplements her diet with Vitafusion vitamins and collageninfused coffee creamer, which she said makes her hair and nails healthier.
“The stress endured those first couple of weeks of the pandemic were felt about four to six months after that,” Ferrara said. “People started seeing hair loss because it’s just a weird thing our body does hormonally. It’s like fight or flight, and it doesn’t necessarily happen right away.”
Hair coloring and grays
Bradbury has never colored her hair. But in recent months, the 34-yearold has noticed the natural color change and is seeing flecks of gray now more than ever. She wonders if it’s her age or the fact that she had a baby last year.
Statewide salon closures and stay-at-home orders gave people the chance to grow their gray and silver hairs in a less judgmental environment, said Ribas, who has seen more people embracing their grays since reopening.
Recently, Ribas performed a full gray makeover on a client to make her look like Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly from “The Devil Wears Prada:” a silver pixie cut with coiffed bangs.
“For a lot of people, looks just don’t matter as much to them right now,” Ribas said. “They’re embracing nature, y’know?”