Lockdown need not mean a bad hair month
Elevate your hair, make-up, brows and nails skills with tips from top salons
WITH beauty salons around the country shuttering the doors, creating a social distancing gulf from your preferred beauty professional, the advice from the experts to those of us tearing out our hair at home is: don’t tear, tweeze, cut or pluck. However, that doesn’t mean maintaining your beauty regime and keeping up appearances can’t be achieved at home.
The Irish Mail on Sunday has sought out Ireland’s top beauty professionals to bring the salon into your sitting room.
So from head, shoulders, nails and toes these tips and tricks will tackle any bad beauty days.
And while grey roots, or bad nails are really inconsequential given the huge impact Covid-19 has had on all of our lives, looking good may help to lift spirits a little. And while most days there is little to smile about, painting your lips may just lift that load – even just a little.
HAIR
MARK O’Keeffe, owner of the Brown Sugar chain of hair, beauty and barber shops, has some expert advice for home hair care.
CUT
Now is not the time to start cutting your own hair. Use this time to start looking at YouTube tutorials on making the most out of styling your own hair. You never know, at the end of all this you might have the necessary hair length to try out a new style or grow out those bangs you have been wanting to get rid of but never had the time. Remember if we’re all adhering to the rules at the minute all we’re doing is FaceTiming
friends so get better at styling the front of your hair – don’t worry about the back...
COLOURS
As a rule we are asking people not to use home colours, even if it is the same brand. The formulas are completely different. Also, remember to allergy test due to the fact the format is completely different, you could be more at risk from a reaction and the time and money it could take to correct the damage done could be exponential.
■ We would prefer people to use root sprays like the L’Oréal root touch up as they are easy to remove and cause little to no damage, where it is possible to get a colour close to your own.
■ Use colour-protecting shampoo and conditioners to help your colour last longer.
■ We also recommend using this time of social distancing and staying at home to help the health of your hair using hair masques and conditioning treatments like L’Oréal serie expert, resveratrol vitamino colour masque to strengthen and protect the hair.
WASH
The best homecare for hair is Kérastase, and my favourite range from them is the elyxr range. It’s for all hair types and if you can’t get into your hairdresser for a proper prescription, this is the one I would recommend. It’s light but still has nourishing essential oils.
HAIR EXTENSIONS
Ceira Lambert, who tends to the tresses of a host of famous faces, says: ‘While during normal times, we advise that bonded extensions should be kept in for up to five months and tape extensions for six to eight weeks, as long as you continue with your maintenance regime of daily brushing and separating around the attachment area, you should experience no adverse effects from the extension staying in over the usual recommended wear time.’
She has also advised against selfremoval or having someone who is not qualified to take out extensions. ‘These are exceptional times and we would strongly advise against removal by any other means than someone who is qualified.’
Ceira, who uses premium brands including Gold Fever Hair extensions, says amateur hairdressing can do more harm than good.
‘The potential to cause damage to your hair due to non-professional removal is a genuine risk and can do more harm in the long run.’
BROWS
BROW expert Eilish Downey, of Brown Sugar, has some valuable advice for how best to deal with the crucial area above your eyes: Now is the time to let your brows do some growing. It could give you the brows you’ve always wanted and give your lashes the rest they need from extensions.
■ Put the tweezers away – no one
can get close enough to see the hairs now, anyway.
■ Use a serum to help the growth along. There are plenty on the market but we at Brown Sugar have seen first hand incredible results with the m2beauté lash and brown serums. Its combination of nourishing components such as biotin and hyaluronic acid plus the highly effective complex of active ingredients with Black Sea rod oil stimulates both the active and inactive hair roots in the eyebrows, which is proven to encourage their natural growth.
■ Another option is castor oil. Leave it at your bed side or in your bathroom and add it into your quarantine routine, brushing it through your brows morning and evening each day to stimulate hair growth.
■ As a rule I never recommend tinting your brows at home as there’s so much that can go wrong.
But if it is something you’re dead set on, my recommendation is to always always patch test yourself even if you’ve been tinting your brows for years. Different products have different ingredients, so use a shade lighter then you think you are and draw on the shape of the brow you want.
Apply Vaseline around the brows before applying the tint as a bar
rier so as not to stain to much of the skin on the face.
■ And when this is all over you’ll be on track to make your appointment and we will be ready and waiting to give you the brows you’ve always wanted.
TAN
THE best fake tan results always come in the prep! Iconic Bronze
Luxury Tanning now divulge their top tips for the perfect bronzed hue.
■ Step 1 – Prepare the skin by shaving and/or waxing at least 24 hours before application to allow the skin to settle, as this can cause irritation and leave you with an uneven tan if applied straight away.
■ Step 2 -– If you have tan residue left from your last application, Iconic Bronze Luxury Tanning’s Self-Tan Eraser is designed to be a fast-working formula that is tough on tan yet gentle on even the most sensitive of skin. The effortless foaming cleanser will effectively remove self-tan in just five to ten minutes without the harsh exfoliating we have all had to endure.
■ Step 3 – Exfoliating can cause the skin to become dry so ensure you moisturise well, particularly to knees, elbows, hands and feet, to ensure an even tan – and leave 24 hours before you apply.
■ Step 4 – Start by applying your preferred Iconic Bronze Luxury Tanning product with the brand’s doublesided velvet tanning mitt to clean dry skin, starting at the ankles moving upwards in circular motions, leaving the face, hands and feet until last using only the residue product on the mitt to lightly apply to these remaining areas. Wear loose clothing to let your tan develop.
■ Step 5 – Shower off the guide colour the morning after, or after the recommended time-period as specified by your tanning product. Make sure to pat the skin dry and avoid any unnecessary rubbing with towels. In the days following your application keep the skin moisturised which ensures your glow stays perfect longer.
SHELLAC & NAILS
AIMEE PENCOE, manager at Sugarcoated says: It is really important firstly to prioritise nail health over length. Keeping them as short as possible, as nails trap dirt and bacteria, is essential practice in this pandemic.
Keeping nails groomed at home until your next nail visit will help and for the best results keep this quiet simple – regularly filing and cutting the nails. If your cuticles grow on to your nail bed, gently push back with an orange wood stick or a small spoon if you don’t have a cuticle pusher.
Here are a few tips to help if you are trying to remove the last bits of shellac remaining on your nails: all you will need is some cotton pads, 10 wraps of tin foil, acetone, orange wood stick/spoon.
■ Cut your cotton pads up into slightly bigger pieces than your nail bed. Gently file over the top layer of the gel polish until it looks cloudy, this is to break the seal not to remove your polish. Soak your cotton pad, then place on your nail, wrap tightly with your foil.
■ Leave this for about 15 minutes. When your polish is ready to remove, it will start to lift from the nail allowing you to lightly scrape away. If it’s not ready just reapply!
■ You can keep the nails hydrated with some oil, for example, some coconut oil from your kitchen if you can’t get to a pharmacy.