5 Major hair care mistakes stylists wish you'd stop making

SEE - August 18th: A latest piece published by health.com quotes two top New York City stylists about bad hair care habits, and how they're sabotaging the luscious locks one meant to have.

According to them, hair is pretty delicate—and once damaged, very hard to "fix." But there are a lot of everyday hair care habits that can help keep one mane in top condition. There are also a lot of things one can stop doing. Here, two top New York City hairstylists, Eliut Rivera of Eliut Salon and Siobhan Quilan of Art + Autonomy Salon, share the top hair care mistakes they've seen.

1. Putting your hair in a ponytail constantly.

This will cause breakage, especially if your hair is highlighted. That is keeping your hair pulled too tight, too often can damage your hair at the follicle, causing a type of gradual hair loss called 'traction alopecia.' Eventually, the hair loss can even become permanent, according to hair loss supplement brand Viviscal.

2. Spending all your money in the salon but skimping at home.

People spend so much time and money at the salon, but then they don’t want to invest in quality products to keep up their hair at home. A lot of drugstore hair care products are cheaper because they have cheaper ingredients that can often be harsher on your hair. People are always shocked by how much of a difference stylist-recommended products make versus just whatever happened to be on sale. Most stylists really do care about your hair; they aren’t just trying to sell you stuff."

3. Masking your face but not your hair.

After all, hair is made of a lot of the same stuff as skin, most notably keratin. Everybody says they don’t have time [for deep conditioning masks], so just mask your hair before any activity that lets you wear a bun for an hour and shower afterward, like a workout. For a tried-and-true all natural hair mask option, try coconut oil.

4. Brushing out your hair after you shower instead of before.

Your hair is most fragile when it’s wet, don’t tear through it with a brush after the shower if you don’t want it to break. If you need to de-tangle, the experts  recommend brushing it before the shower, when your hair is dry. Then when it’s wet, use a wide tooth comb or a brush specifically designed for dealing with wet hair.

5. Sticking to the same shampoo and never mixing it up.

The secret to dull, lifeless hair is to keep using the same shampoo year after year. For shiny, bouncy locks, change your shampoo regularly. A variety of shampoos will help your hair recuperate its body and become manageable. It’s good to have a few different shampoos with different purposes, like a moisturizing shampoo, shine shampoo, color-safe shampoo, and volume shampoo. Then alternate.