How To: Maintain Healthy Hair This Holiday Season!

The holiday season is upon us and boy do we feel the pressure to style our hair with heat. Follow my tips to maintain healthy hair and how to create waves and curls, no heated styling tools required!

We tend to think it all starts with the all important hair wash… there’s an essential step before. A deep conditioning hair mask helps nourish and lock in hydration before shampooing, which can be quite drying/stripping on the hair. There are many amazing hair masks on the market, but one of my favourites is the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Deep-Conditioning Treatment. You’ll instantly notice the silky difference, especially after washing.

Shampoo and conditioner is so important. It can ruin your good hair days to come as this is where the process really starts cranking up a notch. Ensure your products have no sulphates or silicones, as they’re quite harmful to not only your scalp but also the debris left from these ingredients tend to linger and build up over time, making it more difficult to fully wash out resulting in lacklustre hair. Overtime it can also weigh down your hair which can in turn result in greasy looking hair and more frequent washes which won’t resolve the issue. To replenish hydration that strengthens your hair shaft, my current fave is the Living Proof No Frizz Shampoo and Conditioner. It’s lightweight, non-scented and does exactly what it says on the bottle. Less frizz with no harmful chemicals or ingredients. If you’re ever in doubt, give the ingredient list a quick scan. Nutrofol has a great guide breaking down what exactly to avoid – https://nutrafol.com/blog/15-shampoo-ingredients-to-avoid/.

After rinsing your shampoo out, gently squeeze excess water from your hair, this step then prepares your hair to soak up the conditioner, compared to just applying it over really wet hair which is mostly water, it glazes over your hair, majority of the conditioner sadly just ends up below your feet down the drain! Get the most out of conditioner for it to actually have positive effects on your hair. After all, conditioner is meant to act like a sealant to replenish moisture which helps strengthen your hair ready for the pollutants and styling tools at your disposal! Reminder: finish your hair wash with a cold shot of water, coldest you can tolerate seals in moisture, shine and lessens frizz!

Finally, leave-in conditioner hydrates, softens, detangles and makes hair far more manageable as you’re not raking brittle, dry hair which in turn creates knots resulting in time needed to unravel your mane, leading to breakage which many times is unnecessary if you use the right products. I use the leave-in conditioner within the same range mentioned above Living Proof No Frizz Leave-In Conditioner. If you’re styling your hair with heat, always remember to apply heat protectant to reduce heat damage. If you’re a natural curly haired gurly, embrace your natural curl pattern, it’s your crowning glory after all. And my straight haired girly’s, there’s no need to apply heat for volume and curls. You can braid your hair when damp, leave overnight then unravel the next day to a gorgeous wavy pattern! Or if you’re on the TikTok bandwagon, heatless curling rollers can also be an absolute lifesaver to waking up to wavy/curly hair no heat-menial effort needed, the SILKE Heatless Curler plays no games. Finishing off with a touch of argan oil, to add shine and moisture focusing on the ends of your hair. One of my favourites is the MOROCCANOIL Treatment Hair Oil.

Scrunchies are your best friend especially satin or silk ones! Hair ties aren’t all bad, but unless its a must, go for the scrunchies, they won’t pull, break or put strain on your hair. After all, the more you care you your hair, the longer it’ll wear. That rhymes, right?

What do you think? Do you dye your hair? Do you suffer from dry brittle hair or want longer growing hair naturally? Comment below any thoughts, questions or if you’ve enjoyed reading these top tips!