Haircare 101

Treat your hair well and it will love you back

women often wish their hair was different – straight when it’s curly, thick when it’s thin – especially when it’s misbehaving or isn’t looking fabulous. Pretty common, yes? But what if you could tweak your haircare routine and manage your locks with greater ease, just the way they are?

The trick is to embrace your hair’s texture, density and shape. Welcome to Hair School.

Characteristics WHAT’S YOUR HAIR TYPE?

Your hair type is a combination of texture, density and shape, but if you still aren’t sure after reading the below, ask your hairdresser for help. Knowing the type will help determine your haircare needs.

Texture –

refers to the circumference of individual strands – fine, medium and coarse. If you can’t feel a single strand between two fingers it’s fine, if you can easily feel one, it’s coarse.

Density – refers to the amount of hair growth on your scalp. If you part your hair and easily see scalp it’s thin, if you barely see scalp it’s thick, somewhere in between is medium.

Shape – refers to how straight, wavy, curly or kinky your hair is in its natural state.

Condition

The better your hair’s condition, the better it will look and the easier it will be to style. Good condition comes from having a wholesome diet and lifestyle, but hair is also affected by how you treat it and what you use.

WHAT YOU DO…

Heat styling, including blow-drying and straightening, causes a degree of damage, so apply leave-in conditioner to wet hair, use a heat-protection spray and do regular treatments. Chemically treated and dyed hair becomes more porous, so to improve its condition and reduce colour fading, use treatments and shampoos and conditioners for coloured hair.