Is Smoke Bad for Hair?

[ElvenArchess]

I'm burning incense in my room and caught a whiff of it in my hair, I love when incense lingers in my tresses!

I'm going to take a shower (my first ever CO wash) before I sleep. I'm thinking, Why not rest my head beside my incense right after I shower, before I go to bed, so I can get the scent of it in my hair for tomorrow? But that now poses a question: is incense/smoke bad for my hair? For some reason my natural instincts say yes and it's a terrible idea but on the other hand I feel like those are so oddly unrelated why would it matter?

Enlighten me? ^.^

[SurprisingWoman]

Heat is bad.

Scent without alcohol or heat.....

Go for it.

Smoke/Scent is so ethereal that when I am cooking onions and garlic and other things that scent the air I will make my hair in the tightest possible bun, especially when it's wet. Not because it will hurt it but because I don't want to smell like a short order cook until my next wash.

[iluvkorn]

i have a related question:
as a smoker, i've often wondered if it has a negative effect on my hair. i've never noticed any but then i only started paying close attention to my hair when i joined this site in march.
i know smoking is horrible for me, tried to quit, failed, gonna try again: but i just wondered if anyone knows of any ill effects on the hair (aside from the stinkiness)

[terpentyna]

ElvenArchess - I personally use sandalwood or patchouli oil in my conditioner, if you oil you can always dilute a little bit in whatever oil you use and it will be incense without the smoke. There's a company called Auric Blends that makes incense perfume oils - those are the ones I use. the "opium" one seems to be most incensey to me.

iluvkorn - I believe smoking is bad for your hair in the long run because it is a risk for having hypothyroidism so I assume it has a bad effect on your hormones in general. Nicotine narrows the blood vessels so blood may not be carried to your hair as well as it could?

[Siiri]

Iluvkorn, smoking has been connected to at least thinning hair and male balding, early graying and generally dry and thin hair. It affects the condition of your skin also: skin becomes dull, gray and wrinkled prematurely. It has to do with to toxins in tobacco and the insufficient blood flow.

[Venefica]

I do not think incense smoke is bad for the hair, especially not if it is natural incense. Now some cheap incense is just chemicals and that might be a different story, but as long as the hair is not heated then I can not see how natural incense could damage it.

Now off course natural incense is made from herbs and spices and some of them might have damaging effects, after all herbs can affect our body. However as the hair is really just dead cells I doubt it is many of them which can damage the hair, and I think there is quite a few which is beneficial.

If you believe in the Spiritual properties of incense like I do then I would say that getting a bit of it in one's hair would usually be beneficial, unless the herb used is completely wrong for your hair. Also one thing to remember is that some herbs do affect dye if you have colored hair.

[Firefox7275]

i have a related question:
as a smoker, i've often wondered if it has a negative effect on my hair. i've never noticed any but then i only started paying close attention to my hair when i joined this site in march.
i know smoking is horrible for me, tried to quit, failed, gonna try again: but i just wondered if anyone knows of any ill effects on the hair (aside from the stinkiness)

Smoking causes premature aging, and that is not only limited to the internal organs and skin, there is some evidence that smoking is associated with accelerated greying - chemicals in tobacco put the body into a state of stress, as does withdrawal. Also hair thinning related to the reduced blood flow, less oxygenated blood, skipping meals, unhealthy food choices, low grade inflammation, disruption of hormone levels, depletion of antioxidants. :( IIRC smoke in the air is also drying and can leave the same sticky film on your hair as it does in your lungs.

Try not to see past quit attempts as a fail; stop smoking advisors are trained to draw out of clients what you have learned from past quits. Basically what worked and what did not, what you can do to make sure that does not happen again. Work out which cigarettes you truly enjoy, which are just dealing with withdrawal symptoms, which are just habit. Appreciate you are not dealing with one dependency you can be dealing with several - the nicotine, having something in your hand at a given moment, the excuse to get out of the workplace when you feel stressed and so on. :p Things that really work for successful quitters can be as silly as having a shower before their morning coffee instead of after, or sitting in a different chair when they watch TV.

Allen Carr's 'Easy Way to Stop Smoking' works for some, Gillian Riley's 'How to Stop Smoking' is very well though of by specialists. :cool: I believe ANYONE can quit smoking provided they are clear on their motives, use the right support (meds plus group or 1-2-1) and plan for their quit attempt. One of the first clients I met had significant mental health problems and woke in the night to smoke roll ups, so the odds were against him. He quit because he really really wanted to, and the boost to his confidence levels made us all smile. :D

[selderon]

chemicals in tobacco put the body into a state of stress, as does withdrawal.

FWIW, the stress of smoking is continuous as long as the habit exists, while the stress of withdrawal is temporary.

[Firefox7275]

FWIW, the stress of smoking is continuous as long as the habit exists, while the stress of withdrawal is temporary.

Thanks for adding that. :) The reason I mentioned it is that a lot of smokers believe a cigarette relieves stress, when in fact that feeling is stopping withdrawal symptoms. IIRC research shows smokers tend to be more anxious than non-smokers (chicken and egg).

[selderon]

Thanks for adding that. :) The reason I mentioned it is that a lot of smokers believe a cigarette relieves stress, when in fact that feeling is stopping withdrawal symptoms. IIRC research shows smokers tend to be more anxious than non-smokers (chicken and egg).

That's an excellent point. Do I understand correctly that as the levels of certain chemicals in the body fall, the smoker experiences withdrawal symptoms which he stops with another cigarette?

[Firefox7275]

That's an excellent point. Do I understand correctly that as the levels of certain chemicals in the body fall, the smoker experiences withdrawal symptoms which he stops with another cigarette?

Exactly that, and withdrawal can feel like the physical aspects of stress!

[Coffeebug]

I'm burning incense in my room and caught a whiff of it in my hair, I love when incense lingers in my tresses!

I'm going to take a shower (my first ever CO wash) before I sleep. I'm thinking, Why not rest my head beside my incense right after I shower, before I go to bed, so I can get the scent of it in my hair for tomorrow? But that now poses a question: is incense/smoke bad for my hair? For some reason my natural instincts say yes and it's a terrible idea but on the other hand I feel like those are so oddly unrelated why would it matter?

Enlighten me? ^.^

It smells gorgeous in hair doesn't it - I love that too. I don't see how it could be that bad for it really.