These Creepy Photos Give You a Zoomed-In Look at What Hair Damage Really Looks Like

While this particular strand of hair comes from a head that's never been dyed, there's still relatively consistent breakage all along the cuticle. Nickson noted a large amount of debris (in other words: product overload) on the strand, with the top layer completely stripped toward the ends — a direct result of excess heat styling. "The tip is considerably smaller in diameter than the rest of the hair, and the fibers of the cortex have begun to split," she said.