Why Is My Hair Dull And Not Shiny? [Fix It!]
Wondering why is my hair dull and not shiny is quite normal these days. Especially when our activities make us use more and more straighteners and curling irons to style our hair.
There are different causes why that feeling of dull hair appears. Some are directly related to your habits and others may be due to external causes beyond your control.
The main reason why your hair is dull and not shiny is that your cuticles are worn out. They are probably open and therefore unable to reflect light because they are not smooth. That’s why your hair is not shiny and because it is too porous. This makes it unable to absorb the water and nutrients it needs and it gets drier and drier. That leaves more and more hair looking dull and frizzy.
The most important thing is that you should know that there is a solution and you can improve that appears in a few days. If you do what you need to do and act quickly you can recover your hair and prevent further problems from appearing.
In this article, I will tell you how you can do this depending on your hair conditions. Especially the causes that led you to feel your hair like this.
why is my hair dull and not shiny at all?
Recognizing that your hair is drier and doesn’t feel the same is the first step. Now it will require you to do a little memory recall about what you have done differently in the last month.
The clearest ways this can be related is if you have done any of the following:
- Changing shampoo
- Used a flat iron, curling iron, or electric brush more than 3 times a week.
- Getting a permed hair straightener
- Getting a perm
- Bleaching your hair
These are very clear ways in which if you have done any of these are the cause of these sensations in your hair. However, others do not appear so clearly and are the accumulation of small habits that accumulate and end up giving the same result.
That’s why below I will detail those more subtle causes that may also be affecting your hair when you wonder Why My Matural Hair Is So Dry lately. So you can take the necessary actions to avoid it in the future.
Reasons Why Your hair is dull and not shiny
The reasons you may be feeling your hair duller and not shiny may be due to bad hair-washing habits such as using water that is too hot. This can translate into dryness believe it or not.
Small details can be very important in hair care. That’s why I want to give you some tips on how to avoid them or adjust them according to what is happening to your hair.
You should also know that there are differences between dull and not shiny hair and hair that already has split ends. If in doubt you can take a look at What Do Split Ends Look Like and Tree Split Ends. So you can recognize if this is the case and treat them accordingly.
This is important because dry or dull and not shiny hair usually requires lipids, water, and special amino acids to recover. On the other hand, when there are already split ends it requires other types of nutrients such as protein. This is why it is important to identify both the causes and the type of hair you have from the beginning.
We will talk about the most common causes:
- Lack of nutrients
- Decompensation
- Weakening
- Poor Water Diet
Fortunately, they have a solution but they require immediate action so that the problem does not continue to progress. If this happens, it will take much longer to repair and will probably require a little trimming. In addition, the investment you will need to make will increase as the time you don’t take care of it progresses.
Another important thing is that these sensations will not cure themselves and leaving them unattended will not fix the problem.
Let’s see more about this…
#1 Lack of nutrients
The cuticles are in charge of wrapping the hair to protect it from external aggressions. To protect the hair these cuticles need to be lubricated and receive special nutrients based mostly on lipids.
When there is a loss of nutrients and lack of lubrication is when problems such as Why Is My Hair Frizzy or Why Is My Hair So Poofy? Also, Dry And Tangled start to appear. All of these happen because these cuticles start to lose the ability to absorb water and moisture. When this happens it is what we know of as porous hair.
It starts a cycle of dryness which is what makes your hair look dull and not shiny. These same cuticles are the ones that when smooth and healthy make it a flat surface that reflects light. That’s what makes shiny hair look shiny, smooth, and moisturized cuticles.
Solution #1
To help you improve this you must be sure you have not had any chemical treatments such as bleaching or reshaping. This is because they require different nutrients depending on the effects of the chemicals. That is why this solution I will give you is for dull hair that has not gone through chemical damage like what I told you. If you have this case I will tell you below what you can do in that situation.
My professional opinion is that you should wash your hair with Bain Satin 2 by Kerastase which is a special line to nourish your hair.
The technology in the treatments is very important beyond just the ingredients because it is what will allow your hair to absorb and retain it inside. This is crucial to feeling improvements in your hair. It will make a difference and little by little if you continue with a routine you will be able to repair your hair.
After this be sure to apply the Kerastase Masquintanse Treatment from mid-lengths to ends. It is important that before applying it you squeeze your hair without twisting or turning it. This way you will be able to take advantage of the properties of the mask quickly. When applied to hair that is too wet, the product will slip and you can waste more than you use.
#2 Body Decompensation
Another reason you may feel your hair doll and not shiny is due to hormonal imbalance or medication. Some gland-related diseases can release certain hormones or inhibit the production of certain nutrients.
This can result in the hair losing its elasticity, manageability, and shiny appearance. Typically these are signs of a hair doll. This reason is related to the first only it is controlled by something internal to the body that results in the same outcome.
- Hypothyroidism may be one of them.
- Autoimmune diseases
- Anorexia and bulimia
These diseases can result in dull hair because of the imbalance they cause in the body.
Solution #2
The solution for these types of body changes is a little more difficult to determine. However, whatever we apply directly to the hair will be absorbed in that area without the body using it for anything else. So with this, my professional opinion is to use the same routine as solution #1 with shampoo and conditioner.
If your scalp is oily I recommend using a different type of shampoo so that your scalp is not affected. For some solutions in this case of greasy hair see How To Make Your Hair Less Greasy where you can see more about this.
#3 weakening
The subject of weakening is where there may be more actions that contribute to it and accelerate it.
Many of them are during hair washing.
For example:
- Water temperature, the product you use when washing
- Also the way you wash your hair to avoid rubbing and split ends
- The regularity with which you wash your hair
All this is related because water is an oxidant by nature and doing it too often can cause dryness. Being an oxidizing agent is like accelerating the aging of the hair in simple words.
Knowing How To Wash Your Hair properly will help you a lot to avoid some mistakes that we all make that translate into these tangles and dryness.
Solution #3
For this, the best thing to do is to divide it in two. The wear and tear may need two levels, one is fortifying and the other is repairing. When you are in phase one, you can prevent further weakening by using Kerastase Force Arquiteqte. This will help fortify the hair and help it get stronger little by little. This will prevent split ends and breakage.
As opposed to the deeper damage that may require a Kerastase Therapiste Serum that will intensively help you to repair and gather the ends to recover them. If your hair has suffered from chemical wear and tear like bleach and is very sensitive to breakage you can add Kerastase Therapiste Mask to prevent breakage and hair length loss. Apply this mask once a week only and see how your hair feels. If it was a noticeable change you can continue to use it for about 3 weeks.
#4 Low Water Diet
Although this may not seem to have much to do with it, it is important to know that the hair absorbs the nutrients that the body sends to it. Through the functioning of the papilla and the follicle, it distributes nutrients. This is what makes hair healthy and beautiful when it is well nourished. Just the opposite is true for dry, dull, and not shiny hair
That’s why a good diet with enough water-rich food and good water intake can contribute a lot. Having shiny and silky-looking hair goes hand in hand with a well-balanced diet. Eating too many saturated fats, sugars, and flour cause the body to require water to process them. It is all a balance that we must take care of and when the body does not have it in the right amounts it will not have to deliver it to the hair.
Solution #4
I recommend that you also pay attention to your diet and add more water-rich foods such as:
- Tomato
- Lettuce
- Cucumber
- Spinach
- Mushrooms
- Watermelon
- Peach
- Apple
- Pineapple
- Kiwi
It will also help you to reduce the consumption of saturated fats and replace them with good fats like omega 3 and 6.
All this will help your body to regulate itself and you will definitely feel better. I have heard very good comments from my clients who have done it and even their skin has improved. All of this will take some time because the body will use these nutrients to balance itself first. That is why this solution must go along with the previous solutions according to your case.
The hair cannot repair itself but needs to be helped by adding the missing nutrients directly and topically through the washing products such as shampoo, conditioner, and mask. Don’t forget to maintain your shampooing routine with professional products and nourish yourself well so you will have a double and long-lasting reinforcement.
Summary
With this information, I hope it will now be easier for you to know how to treat your hair. I hope that knowing the most common causes will help you customize your treatment with the tips I have given you.
The solutions are there for you to use wisely after identifying where the problem is coming from. With this, you can have much more successful results.
Hair that feels dull and not shiny is more common than you think and you have already taken the most important first step which is to start researching the issue. I hope you will now take step 2 which is to take action to eliminate them.
I wish you luck, see you next time.
