Why Does Your Hair Texture Change?

It's true, you're not crazy, your hair texture can and does change throughout your life for a variety of reasons. Some people have pin straight hair as children that then curls up once they become teenagers, or others have tightly coiler hair when they are younger that loosens into curls as they get older. For some, the change may not be that drastic and you notice your hair get a little tighter or a little looser as you get older. So, you want to know why this happens, well there are lots of reasons that your hair texture changes.

Hormones, diet and ageing are seen as the common causes for changes to your hair texture and quality.

You'd think, with the size of the hair industry, there would be a conclusive answer to this question, but research is still underway and there are no decisive results.

Hormones hit your body at different times and can have different impacts on your hair texture and quality. During puberty, during pregnancy, during menopause and even from using birth control. The main hormone responsible is Estrogen. Estrogen has a massive impact on the length of your hair growth cycle and reduces hair loss. During menopause, the lack of Estrogen means your hair will appear thinner and the hair growth cycle will be shorter causing more hair loss and thinner hair. During puberty, (puberty usually starts sometime between age 7 and 13 in girls and 9and 15 in guys), women experience a surge in Estrogen. When you experience puberty and pregnancy this surge of Estrogen can cause your hair to seem thicker and shinier and for some, it can change the texture of your hair.

The follicle of straight hair is completely round while the follicle of curly hair is slight bean shaped. During puberty, the hair follicles can change and cause your hair to become curly. Your hair follicle shape is determined by your genes but curly hair isn't necessarily a dominant gene. Hair type is an interesting case of something called incomplete dominance meaning neither the straight nor curly gene is dominant. Therefore hormones have the ability to change the follicle shape.

Heat damage and damage from hair colouring can drastically loosen your curls. When your hair is curly at the top but straight at certain points, this is where your hair is deemed 'dead'. For some people, a small amount of heat can cause a significant amount of damage but it simply depends on your hair. While some deep conditioning and protein treatments can help it a bit, you will eventually need to get rid of the damaged hair with a pair of scissors and a big chop or slowly transitioning and dusting.

Too much product or not enough of the right products can leave our hair looking and feeling strange. The ingredients in your products even without sulphates and silicones can build up on your hair causing it to be weighed down. This can make your hair appear limp and flat and make your curls appear loose and undefined.

A good clarifying shampoo can remove product buildup and give your curls a refresh. If your hair is fine or wavy, it can easily get weighed down if your conditioners and styling products contain silicones and heavy oils. Try to opt for lighter water-based products and find a way to incorporate protein into your hair routine to help strengthen your curls.

We can get so obsessed with hydration and moisture that we forget that protein is an equally important part of a healthy hair regime. You can find a great lightweight oil-free leave-in conditioner perfect for wavy hair and locs that struggle with product build-up.

Now this is for people whose hair once was tightly curled or coiled, but as they got older, their curls became much looser and even waves. Sometimes this has a lot to do with the length of your hair. In most cases, the longer your hair grows, the looser it gets because it is weighing itself down. To counteract this, you may want to get your hair cut in layers to make the curls more defined and give your hair more shape.