Best Way to Care Your Hair

Lustrous locks with body and bounce that swing as you walk are your crowning glory. Here’s how to get your mop in tiptop condition.

Colouring, perming, sunlight, heated styling aids and backcombing are just a few of the hair offenders that can turn glossy locks into dull, lacklustre, limp, frizzy or just difficult-to-manage hair – resulting in a bad-hair day every day. But there’s no need to shy away from taking advantage of styling aids or the colourist’s palette: ‘virgin’ hair is unquestionably the healthiest yet not necessarily the most beautiful. Even Philip Kingsley, the world’s number one trichologist and author of Hair (Aurum, 1995), who has treated the likes of Ivana Trump, promotes hair colour and styling products as being great morale-boosters. If you look after your locks, you can counteract any damaging effects and still have beautiful tresses.

What is healthy hair and how can you achieve it?

Some shiny tresses give the illusion of healthy hair but, as Philip points out, because shine can be obtained with styling products, it is not necessarily a barometer of hair health. When hair is healthy, the cuticles lie flat and reflect the light, which leaves the hair with a natural sheen.

Hair grows on average half an inch a month – faster in summer. Naturally tough, healthy hair can expand by thirty per cent in length without breaking. And even after all the damaging things that we do to it – teasing, backcombing, colouring and blasting it with heat – it still remains resilient to a certain extent.

Hair is also incredibly responsive: by shampooing and conditioning it we can increase its moisture levels and make it stronger. Having your hair trimmed every four to six weeks will also keep your crowning glory in A1 condition. However, it doesn’t matter how much conditioner you pile on if you don’t nourish your hair from within. According to Philip, many people have lacklustre hair because of poor nutrition. The hair follicle is fed by a supply of blood, which should be crammed with nutrients, so eat a well-balanced diet, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and sufficient protein for amino acids. Take a vitamin-and-mineral supplement if you feel it necessary. (Vitamins and minerals known for their health-giving benefits to hair include vitamins A, B complex, C and E, iron, iodine, zinc and selenium.)

Shampooing

Philip strongly believes that shampooing is the most important aspect of hair health: firstly, because it replenishes moisturise; and, secondly, because it keeps hair tangle-free and washes away any dirt or grime. ‘Your hair looks at its best when it is freshly washed, so I advise shampooing daily. You wouldn’t go without showering,’ says Philip, with a smile.

Here are a few of the good shampoos on the market: Al’chemey’s Unscented Very Gentle Shampoo, J F Lazartigue’s Shampoo for Dry Hair, Philip Kingsley’s Body Building Shampoo, Phytologie’s Phytomixte, Paul Mitchell’s Shampoo 3, Garnier’s Nutralia Healthy Hair Shampoo and Aussie’s Moist Shampoo.

Perms

Popular in the 1 970s and early 1980s, perms ave been now superseded by colour in fashion terms. Even when curls rule the runways, a perm is too ‘permanent’ to change with the diktat of hair fashion – no sooner will you have mastered how to tousle your perm when curls will be passe. Stick to tongs or curlers. If you still want to take the plunge, the good news is that today’s acid perms are far more sophisticated than perming solutions used to be. However, as a perm alters the hair’s structure, it is a harsh process that cannot be reversed and that does not work well with colour; there is also the added problem of regrowth. If your hair is permed, you need to take extra care when looking after it and should only use products that are specially formulated for permed or chemically treated hair.

Sunproof hair

Sunshine alone will bleach and dehydrate your locks, penetrating the hair shaft and causing hair to become brittle and lifeless, but add to that the drying effects of sea salt, sand and chlorinated swimming-pools, and you have a lethal mix that will take more than an intensive treatment to remedy. What’s worse, if your hair is tinted or highlighted, you could return from your holiday sporting a green- or orange-tinged head of hair to complement your tan!

In order to protect your hair from the elements, before sunbathing or swimming spray or comb in a sun-, or sun-and-swim-protection product, but remember that there’s nothing quite as effective as covering your hair with a hat or bandanna when sunbathing. Don’t forget to protect your scalp, too, and always shampoo your hair after swimming.

Try Phytoplage’s High Protection Sun Oil, J F Lazartigue’s Protective Oil for Hair, Bumble and Bumble’s Sun Spray, Schwarzkopf’s Bona-Cure Suncare Sun Protection Spray and Philip Kingsley’s Swimcap Cream.