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If you’re styling waves or curls into your hair, you may notice it being a little straighter or harder to style recently. This is down to dehydration and it’s exaggerated in the dry atmosphere of winter. Outside, the air is cold and dry. Inside, the air is warm and dry, so your hair cannot re-absorb moisture from the atmosphere by osmosis. The dry atmosphere is taking it from the hair. And your skin while it’s at it.
When hair becomes too dehydrated or damaged it loses the ability to bend. Often seen on people with naturally wavy hair where the ends are straight, especially around the front on A-line haircuts. Brittle dry hair is wanting moisture. It will be duller, straighter and feel rougher. It lacks that natural 3% water-content, as in fresh supple root hair, that gives the hair flexibility, bounce and shine. Brittle hair comes from damage to the protein core which has left it thinner and more hollowed out, and so unable to hold as much moisture.
1. Excess hair colouring – harsh tints, recolouring over and over on the same hair
2. Aggressive heat styling – too hot, too close, for too long, and too often
3. Siliconised products – (the hydrophobic silicone or heavy oils dehydrate the hair despite what it says on the pack)
But WFH is a great opportunity to kill your hair a little less and lavish some healing into your locks. No excuses. Regular LifeSaver Prewash Treatment is truly nourishing and protective in a natural way. Nothing else comes close.
Two problems with curly hair:
a. Naturally curly/wavy hair disturbed while drying, or afterwards, separates off in different directions creating a fluffy or even frizzy look. Think cotton wool as opposed to cotton thread. Same fibres, different layout.
b. When hair becomes too dehydrated or damaged it loses the ability to bend. The tips then hang poker straight. The water (3% of fresh root hair) gives it flexibility and shine. Dry ends hold little or no water.
Most curly hair products are quite harsh using either gel like substances to hold hair aligned while it dries in place, or silicone additives to smooth down the frizz. The problem with hydrophobic silicones or heavy oils is they exacerbate point b) so the next day you’re fighting further dehydration.
The best way to style hair is with products that also feed back moisture into the hair rather than deplete it. LifeSaver UV is a great example as it gives control and UV protection on naturally wavy hair but also, in smaller doses, heat protection and hydration for smooth styling too.
Here’s an example of LifeSaver UV Styling Treatment applied directly to dry frizzy hair. Apply enough to wet hair down or apply to damp hair. This then gives enough hold to keep the waves in place while they dry, to stop the individual hairs fluffing out, or collectively going wayward. And it’s massively moisturising and protecting so it encourages the hair to bend effortlessly. Naturally wavy hair gets its mojo back. Naturally straight hair becomes easier to wave and lasts longer.
Michael Van Clarke
Where were you standing when you decided to adjust your hair colour? Do you stand there often?
At the first salon I worked as a junior, back in the last century, the colourists at the salon had an interesting technique for showing clients their finished results; escorting them to the ladies toilet where a single electric wall light seemed to cast a favourable glow.