Grant Withnell, Schwarzkopf National Technical Educator has put together these 17 tips to keep your hair healthy and happy through summer:
1. Firstly it’s essential to have a good hair care regime. That means using a good quality shampoo and conditioner as well as a leave in product or treatment mask – they are the best things you can use on hair.
2. Leave in treatments and/or masks are key to the prevention, maintenance and ongoing care for hair. You need to think of treatments as a preventative rather than a cure to protect hair. So many women make the mistake of using treatments after the damage is done – treatments keep the hair healthy and not only repair existing damage but also help prevent future damage.
3. Trimming your hair every 6 weeks will keep it manageable and split-end free.
4. To fix split ends, using the 3-step system as above can prevent them from occurring in the first place. If they do occur, use an oil based product to smooth the ends such as the Extra Care 6 Miracles Oils.
(Image: Grant Withnell)
5. Now that winter is almost over, it’s time for some summer fun! You can achieve a subtle change in your look but lightening your natural hair colour, but please avoid heavy bleaching. Schwarzkopf Nordic Blonde Lightening Spray gradually lightens hair by working with the sun. The unique heat activated formula with caring Argan Oil lightens hair up to ¼ of a shade per application for a subtle summer glow.
6. If you have coloured hair, always use a colour protect product with a UV filter and try not to wash the hair too much. Normally the recommendation is to only wash your hair when it needs it, however, I believe that as long as you use a good shampoo you can wash your hair as often as it needs it, there is no thing as too much – it’s a personal choice.
7. If you are worried your colour is becoming dull, use semi-permanent colours to freshen up natural or coloured hair as semi-permanents add great shine and vibrancy without too much risk. Try Schwarzkopf Live Colour Semi-permanent which lasts for 8 washes.
8. If you have coloured hair, I would recommend products with nutrients that have a moisturising benefit that specifically treats dull, fragile hair. Or products that contain co-enzyme Q10, to stimulate the root of the hair
9. If the hair is coarse then I would recommend using a leave in treatment to add shine and smooth the hair surface and a shampoo and conditioner with a moisture component will add some softness to the hair.
10. If you are wanting to speed up hair growth to ensure long locks for the summer season, a healthy diet and plenty of water not only benefits the body but does wonders for promoting healthy, long hair.
11. Summer season is party season so to ensure you always have beautiful, voluminous hair my favourite product for styling flat hair is Schwarzkopf Extra Care Volume Powder, which you apply to the roots when stying to create long lasting volume.
12. If you’ve got very knotty hair from a day at the beach, the best way to tame it without causing too much breakage is to use is either a leave-in conditioner or an oil mist spray to smoothen the cuticle – this is the bit which causes the knotting of hair – again use a wide tooth comb or Denman brush – these won’t pull though knots and will reduce damage to the hair.
13. Do not tie hair up when it’s wet – as hair dries it shrinks and therefore pulls more tightly on the hairline
14. If you tend to get oily roots try using dry shampoo instead of washing your hair everyday. Washing your hair stimulates the sebaceous glands so it produces more sebum which lubricates your scalp. Using dry shampoo prevents having to do this all the time, there is no harm in using dry shampoo a couple of days in a row if you need to, however, after that things can look a little untidy.
15. If you are worried about your hair going green from the pool, the best way to avoid this is to rinse hair immediately after getting out of pool and use a liquid leave in conditioner when at the pool as they can dilute chlorine. The green tint is caused by the copper in chlorine.
16. We all love tousled, summer waves but seawater can be pretty harsh on hair. After a swim in the ocean, salt crystals may form in your hair causing it to look dull and feel dry. To get that look without diving into the ocean, use Schwarzkopf Taft Full On Sea Salt Spray to get that beachy look without the crunch!
17. The beauty-must have this summer is the latest innovation from Schwarzkopf – Extra Care BB Cream. Providing 11 benefits in 1 including softness, shine, frizz control, deep nourishment and repair; this is THE beach bag essential for any girl on the go this summer!
Hi, I’m Anna the Editor of Beauty and Lace.