Natural Shedding vs Damage & Breakage | What's the Difference?

Seeing hair in your comb or shower drain can be alarming, especially if you’re putting in work to grow your hair or retain length. But not all hair fall is cause for concern. In fact, some shedding is completely normal, even healthy. The challenge is knowing when you're seeing natural hair shedding and when you're dealing with damage and breakage.

Hair Shedding vs. Breakage: What’s the Difference? 

Shedding is natural. Hair goes through a continuous growth cycle: Anagen (growth), Catagen (transition), and Telogen (resting/shedding). On average, we shed 50–100 hairs per day, all part of this natural rhythm. Hairs that have been shed will typically have a small white bulb at the root, and the full strand will be intact from root to tip.

Breakage, on the other hand, is symptomatic of external damage. It happens along the hair shaft, not at the root, and can be caused by factors like:

1. Mechanical stress via rough detangling or tight styles
2. Heat styling or chemical damage
3. Dryness, protein imbalance, or over-manipulation

How to Tell the Difference Between Shedding and Breakage

Try this simple test:

1. Gently detangle your hair with Cécred’s Wide Tooth Comb or your fingers.
2. Collect any loose strands and place them on a white towel.
3. Look closely at both ends of each strand.
4. Bulb present? That’s shedding.
5. Frayed, blunt, or snapped ends? That’s breakage.

Is Natural Hair More Prone to Breakage?

Not inherently, no. But natural hair is more vulnerable to dryness and friction, which increases the risk of breakage.

In curly and coily textures, sebum has a harder time traveling down the twists and turns of the strand. This leaves hair drier, especially at the ends. Add in detangling, tight styles, or frequent manipulation, and you’ve got a recipe for breakage. That said, breakage is more about how hair is treated, not the texture itself, and no hair type is immune.

To reduce breakage in natural hair:

1. Moisturize regularly (Cécred’s Hydrating Conditioner is a staple)
2. Use protein treatments when needed for strength (like Cécred’s Fermented Rice & Rose Protein Ritual)
3. Reduce tension and heat
4. Protect ends with oils or butters that seal in moisture (like Cécred’s Nourishing Hair Oil)

What Does Natural Hair Shedding Look Like?

Shed hair is usually a full-length strand just about long as your current hair, and has a white bulb on one end. It’s worth noting that shedding may increase during certain seasons, postpartum or with hormonal shifts, and during times of stress or illness. Unless the amount of hair seems drastically more than usual, some increase in shedding can be normal.

Ultimately, learning the difference between hair shedding and breakage is a form of self-care. It lets you respond with understanding, not panic, and take the right steps to support your strands. Seeing a lot of short, snapped hairs? Focus on strength, hydration, and gentle styling. Seeing longer strands with bulbs? Take a breath. It’s likely just your natural hair growth cycle doing its thing.