If the last few weeks has left your locks in need of some serious TLC, now is the perfect time to work on getting your tresses back to their former glossy glory. If you’re not sure where to start, ghd ambassador Zoë Irwin’s has shared her six healthy hair commandments that will help nurture and repair your hair in no time.
MASSAGE SCALP YOUR
If you want healthy, shiny hair, paying attention to the health of your scalp is essential.“Massaging your scalp daily for 10 minutes has an incredible effect on the hair,” says Irwin. “It will relieve tension and increase the blood flow for thicker, healthier, longer hair. And it’s so easy to do!’’
TREATMENT LAYERING
Don’t fret if you can’t get to the salon for a treatment, you can recreate the experience at home. “Supercharge your hair by layering hair treatments,” says Irwin. “This technique is equivalent to a facial but for hair. Simply apply a mask and leave it for 15 minutes, rinse off and towel dry, then repeat twice until you have used three masks in total,” she says.
“The secret is to start with a protein mask which helps to bind broken fibres together and strengthen fragile, damaged hair. Then follow with a conditioning mask and finish with a colour mask to retain and enhance colour and shine.”
FREEZE DRY YOUR BLOW DRY
While it can tempting to blast your hair on the hottest setting Irwin’s advice is to do the opposite. “Turn down the heat on your hairdryer and improve the condition of your hair.” She recommends ghd’s new helios hairdryer which gets the job done without damaging hair with high temperatures. “The powerful airflow means that you don’t need to rely on heat for drying your hair, the power itself is enough. Always flash cool each section of your hair and dry with a round bristle brush to add moisture and shine.’’
BIGGER BETTER IS
Brushing your hair can help promote scalp health too explains Irwin. “Swap small brushes for big paddle brushes.” She recommends the ghd Paddle Brush. “As you sweep the ghd paddle brush along the scalp it will lightly massage and increase blood circulation to the scalp, helping to stimulate healthy hair growth. Plus, the wide surface means that more hair is being brushed at once, so less brushing is needed overall and thus less stress is put on the hair.’’
COLD RINSE
It might be a little tricky to do in winter, but a blast of cold water could help keep locks shiny. “By rinsing or washing your hair with cold water, you close and seal the hair cuticles which helps add extra shine and combat frizz. So always turn your shower to cold for a quick cold rinse before getting out.”
GENTLY DOES IT
“When hair is wet it is fragile and vulnerable to breakage so brush wet hair very gently,” explains Irwin. Rather than tug at it with your usual brush, Irwin says it’s important to work with the right tools. “Use a wide-tooth comb like the ghd detangling comb. The wide tooth design allows for delicate detangling on damp hair which is fragile and more prone to damage.”
