There are always hair products on the shelves for “damaged hair.” What exactly is damaged hair? And do we really realize if and how we’re damaging it?

Keira Knightley has been wearing wigs for the past five years because she said her hair started falling out.

She told InStyle UK that wigs have been a great lifesaver for her hair. She said because she had to dye her hair so often for different acting roles, that it started to fall out.

This made me take a step back and wonder about my hair. I’ve dyed my hair for years just because I want to, not because I have to for a film. So am I damaging my hair?

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Every time my roots come in and my hair starts to look funky, I think about what I want to do next. Do I want a root touch-up? Should I dye my hair a different color next? Do I want to go darker or lighter? What colors haven’t I tried yet? Should I go semi-permanent or permanent with the hair dye?

I ask myself so many questions but I rarely ever think about what it would be like if I gave my hair a break from the color. I never wondered, “What if my hair falls out from changing the color so often?”

I know at times my hair gets super fried at the ends or just feels super dry. Often times I have split ends that never seem to disappear no matter how m any trims I get and no mater how many inches I get cut off.

Have I taken my hair for granted? Should I actually try to keep it healthy rather than play with color so often?

(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Reading Knightley’s quote about wearing wigs and hair loss made me really think about my hairstyle choices. Wigs aren’t a bad thing, but I don’t want to have to rely on wigs. I also really don’t want my hair to get damaged to the point where it just starts falling out. Because then it would be my fault.

I’d be at fault if my hair fell out from excessive coloring because I’m the one who decided I wanted to put those chemicals in my hair in the first place. So there’d be no one else to blame.

I know hair is just hair and it can (sometimes) grow back. But then I think about how much money I’d be saving if I didn’t dye my hair. Sure I can just dye my own hair instead of going to a salon, but that’s not the point. I’d be saving money and my hair would be “healthier” or have a better chance of becoming less “damaged” if I just stopped coloring it so often.

So as awkward it is to get that line in the middle of your hair where your natural color meets your dyed color, perhaps I’ll just have to live with that as I try to let my hair do it’s own thing and not further damage it by coloring it every time my roots start to grow back.