How Healthy is your Hair?

There’s no doubt that caring for our hair can be a difficult task, and one that comes with many questions and myths along the way. How often should I wash it? Is every day too much? What about heat, should I forget the hairdryer? The list goes on and on…

The COVID-19 pandemic has only complicated matters further; with people unable to seek professional help from barbers and hairdressers to tame their tresses, many have taken to the scissors themselves. 

But how much do we really know about caring for our locks? 

We’ve taken a dive into the haircare world to reveal just how the residents of the UK look after their hair. To find out a little more about our hair habits, from the nasties hiding in our hair products, to how often we actually wash our hair and what we’re doing (or not doing) to our hair during lockdown, take a look at the graphic below.

A graphic that shows what ingredients are in shampoo.

31% of the people we asked claimed they’re not aware of the ingredients that are in the shampoos they use, but should they be? We’re advised to avoid certain ingredients, such as sulfates and parabens, due to the harm they can cause our hair, so checking the back of the bottle is the best way to determine if the shampoo could be harmful.

From the analysis above, Dove Intensive Repair is revealed as the shampoo with the most extensive ingredients list, containing a huge 47 ingredients! L’Oreal Elvive Dream Lengths Long Hair Shampoo follows closely behind in second place with 46 ingredients. 

As well as which products to use, there is also conflicting advice on how often to wash your hair and whether to use heat, so it’s hard to know what to believe. 

Find out below how the UK are looking after their locks.

A graphic that shows how the UK looks after and treats hair

A quarter of the people we surveyed admitted to using heat on their hair multiple times a week, while 35% confessed to having hair that has been heat damaged. A whopping 45% have been told that washing your hair daily is bad, but that doesn’t stop the 27% that still continue to do so.

Amongst the people we asked, 43% were getting regular haircuts every 6 weeks before COVID-19. So, with the hair salons now closed, how are people maintaining their hair?

A graphic that shows how people have been treating their hair during lockdown

During lockdown, 35% of respondents said they’ve been washing their hair less frequently. With professional haircuts out of the question, 40% have taken to the scissors themselves, while a further 27% have even attempted to dye their own hair! 

With hairdressers and barbers currently due to re-open in April at the earliest, 50% agreed that they are looking forward to the salons and barbers being opened again, while 46% said they would feel safe to return for a professional trim when the time comes.

Methodology

The research was conducted by Censuswide with 1,001 general consumers (nat rep) in the UK between 03.02.21 to 05.02.21. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles. Ingredients for products selected from 30 best selling shampoos on Boots.com and Superdrug.com (ignoring duplicates).