Baby hairs are one thing – a little fluffy action framing the face is completely normal. But broken hairs along your hairline can be confidence-crushing, especially when they continue to snap before ever getting the chance to grow into a luscious fringe.
“Hairs along your front hairline are usually finer and slightly weaker, which makes them vulnerable to breakage,” explains Anabel Kingsley, leading trichologist at Philip Kingsley. It means, we need to pay them more love and attention than the rest of our hair, and treat them delicately. The trouble is, being front-facing, “we tend to fuss with our front hairline more than any other part of our hair, especially when we style – meaning it gets the most abuse,” says Anabel.
But it's also work remembering that broken hairs along your hairline are not a lost cause. We asked Anabel what habits we need to take a long hard look at to improve the health of our hairline, how to treat the causes and the best way to encourage regrowth. Here’s her expert advice.
What are the causes of breakage along the hairline?
Unsurprisingly, heat styling comes in at number one on the list of vices to crack. “Hair straighteners and using a hot heating setting on your hair dryer are a common culprit when it comes to breakage along the hairline,” explains Anabel. The good news is that kinks and waves are back in a big way as the natural hair movement has encouraged us all to embrace air drying and making the most of our texture, rather than scalding it into submission.
But it’s worth having a look at your other tools, too. “Using a harsh hair brush to style (such as metal pronged brushes, or brushes with scratchy boar bristles), can also add to the problem,” says Anabel.
Chemicals are also, sadly, the enemy for healthy hair growth, especially if you’re layering several throughout different steps of your hair colouring and styling routine. “Overlapping chemical processes, such as permanent colour, bleach and chemical straightening can cause a lot of damage,” warns Anabel.
As for other common mistakes to avoid? Top of the list is "pulling your hair back too tightly,” says Anabel. It can place unnecessary strain on the hair, and if done regularly, can lead to repeated breakage. In severe cases, it can even cause traction alopecia.
How can we treat the causes?
“Treat the hairs along your front hairline with extra TLC,” advises Anabel. “Be gentle when you brush and style, opting for a brush with rounded plastic prongs, and a vented cushioned base,” she says. If you can, “limit your use of hair straighteners to once a week maximum, and use a low to medium heat setting when you style.” Simply switching your dryer from high to medium will help, and it’s worth experimenting with the temperature on your straighteners or tong. You’ll probably find you can opt for the lower setting without compromising your style.
As for wearing your hair up, “don’t tie it too tightly,” says Anabel. “Instead, go for a looser style. The rule of thumb is, if a hairstyle makes your scalp sore, it’s too tight!”
What should we be doing to encourage healthy regrowth?
This may be nothing new, but nourishing your strands is the way to go. “Once a week, use an intensive, strengthening pre-shampoo conditioning treatment. I recommend using our Elasticizer (£15.20), which adds elasticity to strands to help prevent breakage,” says Anabel. This is important since breakage often occurs when our hair is wet and overstretched while styling.
