I’ve had baby hair my whole life. In the beginning, I wasn’t proud of it. I would cover it with my bangs or a scarf just so that people wouldn’t take notice. Some people who saw them would often tease me because of it. I tried shaving it with a razor, trimming it with a pair of scissors and even using an electrical hair trimmer to remove the baby hair – I don’t recommend either method because none of them helped in the long run. My hair grew back thick and sharp. Although my skin looked cleaner, if you touched my frontal hairline, you would notice fine, pricky hair.
If like me, you’re bothered with your baby hair, waxing and laser hair removal are two methods to get rid of them. While waxing is painful, baby hair will still return after a month or so. Laser treatment, on the other hand, is the only option that gets rid of baby hair permanently.
The Difference Between Baby Hair & Hair Breakage
You don’t necessarily need to get rid of your baby hair if you learn creative ways to style it. Take a cue from RiRi! In this picture, she’s flaunting her baby hair like a boss.
So how do you figure out if what you have is baby hair or damaged hair?
The scientific name for baby hair is “vellus” and it differs in texture and colour from regular hair on the scalp. You won’t only spot it on your hairline, but nape as well. They are naturally soft but can get damaged if one combs them too often and uses too many styling products to groom them. Many a time, hair breakage is often mistaken as baby hair because they look identical. However, one should not get confused with the two. Baby hair tends to lay flat or curl up sometimes. It’s soft, light and easy to style.
Whereas, in the case of hair breakage, the hair along your frontal hairline will feel rough, dry and uneven in length. Hair breakage happens when you use hot styling tools such as a hair curler or a straightener. Even if you must use them, reduce the temperature setting and cut down on the number of times your straighten your hair.
Pro tips:
1. Apply conditioner to your hair as and when possible. Stay away from hair care product ingredients such as SLS, parabens, silicones and alcohol, as they’ll dry your hair out. Leave-in conditioners, hair oils and serums, shouldn’t only be meant for the hair on your scalp, but for the baby hair too. Also, colouring, if you have to colour your hairline, make sure that that stuff doesn’t trickle down to your skin as it can irritate it.
2. If you need to tame your baby hair or any flyaways for a sleek hairstyle, the easiest way to do it is by spritzing an old toothbrush with hairspray. Brush this along any flyaway hair to set them in place.
Finally, remember that there’s nothing wrong with baby hair. It’s doing you no harm and in fact, it makes you look kinda cute!
Featured Image: Instagram
