28/03/2022
The pursuit of strong, healthy hair can be a frustrating business. However much attention you lavish on your locks, it’s liable to let you down leaving you with limp, lifeless hair that’s prone to damage. Ultimately, the condition of your hair depends on all sorts of factors, some of which, like genetics, are beyond your control. Other key factors, like general health, demand more than a variety of expensive hair care products to successfully address.
In fact, excessive attention – especially if that attention comes in the form of ill-advised products and treatments – can have an adverse impact on the health and strength of your hair. As we’ll see, strong hair depends on good health, good nutrition and gentle handling. Look after yourself and your hair and say goodbye to bad hair days!
Turn the heat down
While we are all working from home, now’s the perfect opportunity to turn down the heat and embrace your natural beauty. Over-use of heated styling tools can often have some negative effects such as stripping out the natural oils and proteins in your hair. Now we aren’t saying ditch all your heated styling tools, but in this current situation, if we only use them every once in a while, such as to spruce up your look for your digital Netflix date, a dine-in date night or just for a Monday motivation, we can kick start our healthy hair habits.
Choose protein-rich hair products
Your hair is made up of a fibrous structural protein known as keratin. To keep your locks in optimal condition you need to ensure that you’re replenishing damaged natural proteins with plenty of additional proteins. These can come via your diet, but protein-rich hair products can also play a part. Keratin-infused shampoos and conditioners can help to rebuild your hair’s protein structure, ultimately making it stronger, glossier and smoother.
Use sulphate-free shampoo
Many shampoos available to buy on the high street contain harsh cleansing agents that strip away your hair’s natural defences. Sulphates have long been added to shampoo because they are effective cleaning agents and they lather up beautifully, which can make for a more satisfying experience. But sulphates can also strip away moisture and corrode follicles. Luckily, there are more and more sulphate-free shampoos on the market. Kérastase Aura Botanica Bain is one of our personal favourites. Using 95% natural ingredients, the Aura Botanica Bain nourishes the hair while gently cleansing to refresh and soften your locks. Sounds like a match made in heaven to us!
Hydrate
One of the simplest bits of advice we can offer is to drink more and no, we don’t mean drink more wine or gin, but a healthy daily consumption of H20. Drinking more water has all sorts of health benefits and your hair will definitely thank you for upping your water intake. Aim to drink at least 2 litres a day.
Invaluable hydration can also come in the form of effective moisturising products. Oil-based products are particularly effective as they help to seal in moisture that otherwise tends to evaporate. Treat yourself to a new moisturiser that has essences of coconut, olive, castor, avocado or jojoba oil, we promise you won’t regret it.
Trim regularly
Whilst we know our salons are temporarily closed, we must stress the importance of trimming your split ends regularly. With the course of everyday life, the tips of your hair are liable to become damaged. If you don’t snip off the split ends this damage can begin to spread up the length of each hair, leaving it weakened and brittle. We recommend a trim roughly every 6 weeks, even if you’re growing your hair out. Our salons will be reopening on Friday 1st May and you can book online here https://www.isalononline.com/rush. Be sure to snap up an appointment soon so you can be sure to be one of our first guests once we re-open and you’ll leave looking and feeling simply fabulous.
Cut out the chemicals
Unsurprisingly, harsh chemical treatments and obsessive dying do not do your hair any favours and will lead to weak, unhealthy hair, especially if such treatments aren’t carried out by professionals. We know we can’t be much help on this one today, but what we’d like to remind you is that home box colours are not the answer. If you don’t fancy embracing a natural balayage look, we’d highly recommend opting for a root touch up spray. After all, most of the time we are behind closed doors at the moment anyway, so more reason to leave it natural and grab yourself an early booking early for when we re-open in May.
Brush before bed
Yes, the prospect of a pre-bed brush is a bit of a bore, especially when you just want to ‘hit the hay’, but it can help to evenly distribute your scalp’s natural oils and improve circulation in your scalp – both of which should be good news for the health and strength of your hair. A few swift strokes with a bristle brush should do the trick and let’s face it, whilst most of us are working from home, we’ve suddenly got additional added time we never had before.
Eat well
You are what you eat and this is certainly true of your hair, which will benefit enormously from a healthy, well-balanced diet. Given that a large part of your hair’s composition is protein-based, a protein-rich diet can play a vital role in keeping your hair strong, healthy and bounteous. Vitamin B, iron and zinc also play a part in cultivating stronger strands. We know that may be a little ‘easier said than done’ right now, what with limited food available in shops and being in isolation. We’re all about the snack life at the moment, so I guess this is one we’ll have to work on too.
Sleep on a silk pillowcase
Silk doesn’t just look fabulous and feel great, it can also play a part in keeping your hair in tip-top condition. Rough cotton pillowcases are abrasive and because they’re absorbent, they can slowly dry your hair out while you sleep. So now’s the time ladies and gents to treat yourself to a soft silk pillowcase that’s both gentle on your hair and non-absorbent.