A hair serum is a liquid form of treatment that when applied to your hair will offer a protective layer against shrinkage and other forms of hair damages.
Although hair serum is said to be beneficial to your hair, it does not lack some side effects if not used the right way. Join me in the guide below as I explain everything about hair serum.
What is hair serum?
A hair serum is a liquid form of hair treatment that is made of silicone to create a protective layer between your hair and different factors that might affect your hair.
There are diggers types of hair serum each fulfilling a different purpose on your hair. You will find some hair serums that control freeze, others adds shine to your hair, while others protect your hair against heat damages.
Before we get to learn how you use hair serum, we will learn the benefits of hair serum to your hair.
What are the benefits of using Serum on your hair?
1. Controls frizz
Dry hair normally has frizz and some stand ways. This makes you look unkempt.
Unfortunately, there are some of use who has to deal with this kind of issues even if we shampoo and moisturize the hair often.
Your hair might also be having splits end even if you trim often.
If you deal with this kind of issues, hair serum might be the solution for you.
Hair serum contains some silicone components that adds weight to your hair making your hair stay near even when the conditions are against the nature of hair.
Aside from silicone, some hair serums contain hydrolyzed protein that are responsible for balancing static charge that is responsible for frizz.
2. Straightens your hair
If you have a hard time making your hair stay straight, you can take advantage of the properties offered by hair serum.
The silicone surface created by the hair serum adds weight to your hair strands making them stay straight.
As we know silicone is water and frizz proof, you can be assured that even if your entered a pool, your hair will remain straight.
3. Adds shine to your hair
Aside from keeping your hair straight, silicone can also reflect some light from the sun making your hair shiny and glossy.
4. Maintains smoothness
If your hair remains straight, shinny, and glossy, there are high chances that it will be smooth and look kept.
5. Prevents tangle
If your hair remains straight, shinny, glossy, smooth, and heavy due to the silicone coating, there are very low chances of your hair tangling or making some knots.
6. Repairs damaged hair
Even if your hair is extremely damaged at some point, if you start applying hair serum, you will have time to deal with damage.
The silicone surface will prevent your hair from having flyaways, tangling, and having split ends. It is also waterproof. Meaning water will not damage your hair.
Over a long time of using hair serum, the damages hair will have time to catch up with the hair that is not damaged. You can also trim your hair to prevent your hair from splitting at the ends.
7. Prevents your hair from heat damage
If you haven’t seen what heat does to hair, it would be best you reduce on using heat to straightening your hair. However, if you like your hair straight, you can apply a hair serum before straightening your hair.
A hair serum will create a protective layer between your hair and the source of heat. If you blow dry your hair when wearing a hair serum, your hair will remain straight for way longer.
8. Enhances curls and hydrates your hair
Hair serums that comes are heavy will make your hair strands remain straight. However, if you get a hair serum that has hydrating properties, you can be assured your hair will curl and remain curly while still being hydrated.
What are the side effects of using hair serum?
Despite of hair serums being good to your hair, some people believe there are some side effects to using hair serum if not used properly. We are going to discuss some of the side effects you can experience if you use hair serum wrongly.
1. Can cause your hair to dry up?
The benefits offered by the hair serum might tempt you to use it everyday. Besides, it save you time to straighten it protect your hair all the time. What you don’t know is that the silicone used on hair serum contains some alcohol contents that might damage your hair in the long run.
To prevent this from happening, schedule a hair wash day and let your hair breath for a few days before resuming to using serum on your hair.
2. Chemicals used to create hair serum might be harmful
Aside from silicone, different brands use different chemicals in hair serums. Since you might not know all the ingredients comprised in a hair serum, you better check how your hair react after one day of using the serum.
If your hair is too dry after using a hair serum, you should check the ingredients used and consult with a professional about the legitimacy of the hair serum.
3. Might cause rashes and irritation
As discussed above, you might not know the negative side effects of some ingredients used to make the serum. If by any chance you apply the hair serum on your skin and it contains harsh ingredients, you might find yourself fighting some irritation and rashes.
4. Can cause hair loss?
Hair serum are not cheap. However, if you notice that the serum are not working for you by noticing the side effects explained above, you should stop using the hair serum at once.
Using a hair serum that is causing your hair to dry up and causing some irritation might lead to your hair falling out after a long period of using the hair serum.
Another reason that night cause your hair to fall down is using the serum the wrong way.
And because I love seeing people with amazing hair and wants you to feel the value of your money, I will give you a procedure you should use when applying hair serum.
How do you use hair serum?
Now that you know the benefits and the side effects if using hair serum on your hair, I have some good news. The side effects of hair serum are controllable provided you know how to use hair serum.
I will therefore give you the process you should follow to apply hair serum to your hair.
How to apply hair serum on hair?
Applying hair serum is not that easy especially if you have never done it before. The steps written below will reduce the struggles you might be facing on your first few days of using hair serum.
1. Consulting with a professional
Once you realize that you need to take care of your hair, you might decide to buy a hair serum. Another mistake you can add on top of what you are trying to treat is buying the wrong type of hair serum.
To prevent the hair serum you have decided to buy from damaging your hair further, you should consult a professional.
A hair professional will analyze your hair type, what you are lacking, and the level of your hair damage. They will the use the analysis to give you a solution of which type serum you should buy. Remember there are different types of hair serums for different types of hair.
2. Choosing the right hair serum
Once you have acquired the information from a hair professional, you can then go ahead and choose the right type of hair serum for your hair.
Do not buy cheap hair serum as they contain low quality ingredients that might cause harm at the end of the day. This guide will help you choose the right type of hair serum for your hair.
3. Assembling the right tools
Once you have found the right type of hair serum for your hair, you then go ahead and assemble the right tools to use when applying hair serum on your hair.
Some of the tools that are a must when applying hair serum include, a comb, a towel and some gloves.
4. Applying the hair serum
If you apply the hair serum the wrong way, you might end up dealing with more serious issues like hair fall. However, the guide below will help you apply hair serum the right way to prevent this issues from happening.
Step 1: Wash your hair
Washing your hair removes all the other products in your hair that might inhibit the hair serum from working the right way. So, before applying hair serum on your hair, ensure the hair is very clean.
Step 2: Moisturize you hair
It doesn’t matter what type of hair you have. If you want to avoid the sides effect of hair serum, you should use a moisturizer.
Some hair serums will claim to having a moisturizer. Even of this is true, the percentage between the other ingredients used in the hair serum and the moisturizer are not equal. So, adding moisture to your normal hair is beneficial to your hair.
Step 3: Pour some hair serum on your hands and start heating it up
Once you are sure your hair is clean enough to apply hair serum, you can then go ahead and apply the serum.
Pour some hair serum on your hands and rub your hands together for about 60 seconds to heat up the serum.
Heating up the serum will make application very easy and reduce any clamps of the ingredients used.
Step 4: Application of hair serum
After heating up the hair serum, run your fingers through your hair starting from the ends until the middle part of your hair. Do not attempt to apply the serum to the roots of your hair as it might cause irritation.
Also do not pull your hair too much or use a lot of pressure as it might cause hair damage.
Massage the hair properly to ensure all your hair has gotten the product. And, avoid using too much products as it might find it’s way to your scalp.
Step 5: Run a comb on your hair
To ensure all parts of your hair has gotten the product an stop detangle your hair, run a wide toothed comb between your hair. Do not use a lot of pressure.
Step 6: Style your hair
After ensuring that your hair has absorbed the serum, you can go ahead and style your hair as usual.
Can I use hair serum daily?
Depending on what you want to achieve while using the hair serum, you should consult with a professional first. A professional will advice you on how often you should a hair serum. However, as a hair enthusiast, I would advice you against using hair serum daily. Your hair needs to breath.
Can I use hair serum on the scalp?
If you love your skin and your hair, avoid using hair serum on your scalp or the roots of your hair. Some of the ingredients used in the hair serum might be harsh and cause some irritation.
This brings me to the possible mistakes you might be doing when applying hair serum on your hair.
Possible mistakes you might be doing when using hair serum
If you have read my guide from the beginning, you have seen some of the negative side effects associated with hair serum. You have also learnt that this sides effects are avoidable of you use the hair serum the right way. What you might not know is what could be the cause of this side effects.
I will therefore give you some of the possible mistakes you might be doing when using hair serum that might cost you more than your hair.
Not buying the right type of hair serum
It is possible to be driven by your budget and the shallow research you have done on hair serums.
Unfortunately, the information contained in most blogs do not tell you the type of hair you have.
So, before you go buying any type of hair serum, consult with a professional. A professional will advice you accordingly depending on your hair type.
Using too much products
As said above, you should not allow hair serum to touch your scalp by any chance. So, apply the hair serum from the edges to the middle of your hair and then run a wide toothed comb to detangle your hair.
Do not use a lot of product as it will find a way to slip into your scalp.
Using a hair serum that is damaging your hair
Sometimes you might buy a very expensive hair serum only to find out that it is not working on your hair. The hair serum might be drying your hair which is not right. But, since you feel the pain of the money you spent on the product, you continue using the hair serum.
If you use the hair serum for too long, you might end up dealing with hair loss.
Using hair serum daily
I am no hair professional but I know it is not right to use hair serum daily. Hair serum contains silicone that might end up drying your hair.
Besides, your hair needs to breath too.
Applying hair serum on dry hair
Even if the serum creates a protective layer between your hair and the environment, applying the serum on dry hair is suicidal to your hair.
First, your hair need some moisture to grow. Second, some products used in the hair serum might be harsh and have drying effect on your hair. So, you need to wash your hair and apply a moisturizer before going in with your hair serum.
Is hair serum good for your hair?
Based on what we have discussed above, you can see hair serum can either work for you or cause more harm than you might think.
So, before using a hair serum, do enough research, consult a hair professional, and use my guide to avoid the possible negative side effects associated with hair serum.
Conclusion
Deciding to use hair serum on your hair might be the best decision you can have when you want to take good care of your hair. Hair serum controls frizz, maintains shine, and also help treat hair damage.
However, if used the wrong way, you might find yourself dealing with more serious issues.
To prevent this from happening, read the guide above throughout and subscribe to this page for more beauty hacks.