Cornstarch as hairpowder causing damage?

[_twiggy]

Hi all! looong time lurker,first time poster. This is kind of a big deal for me

In a effort to be kind to my hair i have stopped using styling products in general, only thing i use to "style" my hair i use is plain cornstarch, gives me amazing volume and poof. As it is temporary drying for the hair, i was wondering if this repeated "drying" could be causing damage? This is the first time i have grown my hair this long (BSL) and i have noticed that especially in my top layer there are a lot of short hairs, especially in the part. As i have kept the same center part for ages i guess some of it is just regular wear and tear. But still i wonder

Any ideas/experiences ?

[Nadine <3]

I know a lot of people here, including myself have used it as a dry shampoo with no bad affects. I used to use it more, but now I just wash my hair when it's dirty as my scalp doesn't like stuff being on it. I don't think it hurts the hair though, and it's pretty normal to have hairs of all lengths.

[meteor]

I agree with Nadine <3.
It's normal to see lots of shorter hair - it's just younger hair - because each hair strand is going through its phase in a growth cycle, some hairs are older than others.
If you are worried, you can examine the hair-end to see if it tapers naturally or feels like breakage.
This is what a healthy naturally tapered hair end usually looks like.
This is one of the ways a broken/badly cut/damaged end can look like.

Corn starch (and other dry shampoo powders) work by absorbing oils and giving some grip, but they also leave a residue on scalp, so I would use them somewhat sparingly on problematic scalps. I think they are a very helpful tool though!
Just in case you are looking for alternatives, I highly recommend partial scalp-only washes (with diluted shampoo) to refresh scalp in-between full washes and to give fluffy volume to the roots area. I easily do it within 5-10 minutes under a faucet! This is an easy way of doing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBOVM-dHlc

[Tabitha]

Cornstarch is a great medium for bacteria to grow in, so it may not be ideal for problem scalps.

[_twiggy]

Thank you all for the replies meteor i loved that partial scalp wash video, good idea! Definitly try it out next week, im dyeing my roots with henna tomorrow so full wash for me this time.

Tabitha when you say it`s a great medium for bacteria to grow in, is this a risk only if one is leaving the powder in hair for many days straigth? Am i rigth in thinking too much bacteria + scalp = dandruff? Thankfully i have not had any problems so far, but definitly something to be on the look out for.

[missrandie]

I've used it many times with little effect on the hair; it's just good to keep my greasies away. I would almost consider all my hair as "the roots" because it's so short, but I just use an old bare minerals brush to dust my dry mix in, then kerfluffle my hair to distribute it better. Since it's usually on the day before a wash, it doesn't bug my scalp that much.