Though some members of the Travel Beauty team have sworn off blow dryers, we know such a stance is not a viable option for everyone. Blow dryers have become an indispensable styling tool to women (and men) everywhere. We here at Travel Beauty would certainly never underestimate the positive effects of a beautiful blowout! Unfortunately, constant blow drying can damage hair, making it look less beautiful over time. What to do, what to do?!

We asked legendary Trichologist and Travel Beauty Expert Philip Kingsley for his sage advice on blow dryer best practices so we can style as safely as possible. You’ll be surprised to hear his stance on blow dry styling! Read on…

Q: Should blow dryers be eliminated from my hair routine?

A: Definitely not! The blow dryer is an excellent tool to help style the hair in the way that is most pleasing. Hair is deeply psychological and a hairstyle you are happy with is a great morale booster.

The poor blow dryer has been unfairly blamed for many hair problems: hair loss, dry hair, breaking hair, dull hair…just to name a few. However, with correct use, the blow dryer does no damage at all. It should be held a minimum of 9 inches away from the hair, and as the hair dries, the heat should be reduced until the hair is just dried – not longer. Damage occurs when the dryer is kept on after the hair has dried. This will result in the moisture content of the hair cells being depleted – and can lead to breakage and dullness. You can also help protect your hair with a heat protective conditioning spray, like Daily Damage Defence. (If the dryer damage is already done, weekly deep conditioning treatments with Elasticizer will go a long way in restoring hair health.)

Furthermore, it’s important to remember that the styling brush you use can do a great deal of damage. I have seen many cases where excessive pulling of the hair and scratching of the scalp has resulted in mass hair breakage and traction hair loss, as well as a sore (and sometimes damaged) scalp. In terms of the hair, it is technically dead tissue once grown, and therefore does not regenerate itself once damaged like the cells of your skin do. Hair needs to be treated with consideration! Careful use of both brush and blow dryer will give you happy hair days!

Hungry for more expert hair and scalp care tips and advice? Visit Philip’s expert page on Travel Beauty. (His daughter, Anabel Kingsley is a Travel Beauty expert too!) You can also check out Travel Beauty’s full collection of Philip Kingsley products, including shampoos, conditioners, scalp treatments and styling products.

While it’s well known that working out is beneficial to the body, it can actually be good for hair, too. Mild to moderate exercise helps to reduce stress levels, calm anxiety and ward off a whole host of health problems – all of which can affect hair growth. There are even things you can do to immediately improve the condition of your hair while exercising. However, there can also be drawbacks. Below I’ll explain how to keep your hair in tip-top condition during your weekly workouts.

Swimming

It’s a definite must to protect your hair when you swim. Like bleach, chlorinated water is an oxidizer and can seriously dry out your strands. It may also turn blonde hair green. A safe bet is to wear a silicone swim cap. And if you have hair below shoulder length, purchase one specifically for long hair (Speedo, amongst other brands sells them and in an array of fun colours). Personally, I like to apply our waterproof hydrating Philip Kingsley Swimcap Cream before doing my morning laps. It not only protects the hair, but also moisturizes it. Shampoo it out and condition as usual for shiny post-pool hair. You can even wear it under your regular swim cap if you don’t like getting your hair wet. The longer you leave it in, the more intensive the treatment will be – so as an added benefit it gives me extra incentive to crawl through those last laps (pun intended).

Hair-up

Take a look at how you tie your hair up. If it feels like your ponytail/bun is pulling, make it looser. Traction from tight styles can break hair around the hairline and temples, and over time pull it from the follicle resulting in hair loss. What you use to keep your hair in place is also important. Tight rubber/plastic bands can cut into the hair shaft and fracture it. I suggest purchasing some large scrunchies and/or fabric-covered bands. They are gentle on the hair shaft and less likely to pull.

Cardio

It may seem obvious, but you should wash your hair after you work up a sweat. Your scalp becomes just as sweaty as the rest of you. Forgoing shampoo is bad news for two reasons. Firstly, hair traps sweat, which creates the ideal environment for bacterial growth. As bacteria begin to break down the sweat, your hair can start to smell. Secondly, proliferation of bacteria can irritate your scalp. If you don’t have time to shampoo, make sure to use an anti-microbial dry shampoo and scalp toner. (PK One More Day Dry Shampoo and Scalp Toning Tonic).

Don’t Overdo It

High intensity work-outs can be fine, but overdoing it can send your androgen (male hormone) levels rocketing. And if you have a genetic pre-disposition to hair thinning, this could be a problem.

Re-fuel

Eat nutritious, energy dense foods post workout. Nuts, bananas and granola are good choices. If your body is left hungry and depleted, your hair cells are going to be feeling it even more. As hair is a non-essential tissue, it is usually the first part of you to take a hit from any form of dietary or energy deficiency.

Mat Work

Depending on the class you take, you may not work up a huge sweat during an hour of yoga, Pilates or meditation. You may also have washed your hair in the morning, or leave it until the next day. Do yourself (and your hair) a favor and wipe down the mat you use before lying on it. You are otherwise subjecting your hair and scalp to other people’s germs and sweat while your doing roll ups, hip lifts and mindful breathing.

Multi-task

Using a weekly deep conditioning hair mask can do wonders for the condition of the hair. But sometimes it’s hard to find the time. The solution? Work one into your locks before working out. I recommend our Philip Kingsley Elasticizer – a multi-award winning pre-shampoo conditioning treatment that was originally formulated for Audrey Hepburn.

Have questions for Anabel? Please comment on this blog and all will be answered.

Last week a friend phoned for advice as she changed her hair colour from light brunette to a gorgeous ‘Scandinavian blonde’. After having frantically googled tips for caring for bleached hair, she was left torn between conflicting information. ‘I’ve been told I shouldn’t wash it’ she said ‘because the natural oils will be dried out.’ It seems when someone gets a new look they’re bombarded with new advice – and more often than not that advice is full of urban myth.

Urban Shampoo Myths

Recently, we’ve seen an explosion of this surrounding the co-washing and ‘no poo’ movement. Cleansing conditioners and other similar products are popping up left right and centre, promising to keep locks healthy and shiny with no need for shampoo. While co-washing is better for your hair than no washing at all, the facts out there are misleading. Even though ‘natural’ oils do offer the hair some protection by helping to reduce friction, they do not hydrate the hair shaft; it is the water, and not the oil content of your strands that does this. This means that shampooing actually helps to restore moisture.

Co-washing

Although co-washing does involve wetting your hair, it’s akin to only washing your body with moisturizer, and will have similar results. Just think – there are roughly 20 thousand oil glands on the scalp (more than your underarms!), not to mention sweat glands, so bad odour will be an issue. Oils on your scalp are also the perfect breeding ground for yeasts and bacteria, so forgo shampooing for more than two days and you’re likely to end up with a case of dandruff and itching. Lack of body and volume are also something to consider, especially if you have fine hair.

But What About Cleansing Conditioners?

Simply put, these are a re-hash of ‘two-in-one’ shampoos that were invented 30 years ago; new name, same idea. The problem with these is that they are neither great at cleansing nor at conditioning. Hair itself is negatively charged, so for a shampoo to remove grime, it too needs to be negatively charged to repel dirt away; and for a conditioner to work well it must be positively charged, so it is attracted to the hair shaft. Cleansing conditioners try to take both of these benefits into account in a formulation, but it’s just not as effective. Shampooing should take roughly 60 seconds of your day, so if you put in that little extra time, you’ll get much more from your hair care routine.

Needless to say, I assured my friend to keep washing her hair as usual and got a very happy text by the end of the week. As she put it her tresses ‘had progressively improved condition with each wash’.

Tops Tips for Shampooing & Conditioning

• Shampoo as often as you can to keep your scalp environment healthy, and your hair shiny and full of bounce.

• If you find your hair is dry, coated or rough after shampooing, chances are you are using the wrong shampoo/conditioner. Choose a shampoo that’s geared towards your hair texture, and a conditioner that takes your hair’s general condition and length into account. For instance, if you have fine, processed hair, use a Body Building Shampoo and Moisture Balancing Conditioner. Don’t apply conditioner close to your scalp. It’s not needed here and will simply weigh your roots down. Starting at your ends, gently comb conditioner through to your mid-lengths for the best results.

• Piling hair on top of your head when shampooing can cause tangles, breakage, and as a worst-case scenario, matting. Gently massage shampoo into your root area, and let the suds run down through the lengths of your hair.

• If you think you’ve rinsed your shampoo enough, rinse again! Improper rinsing is a common cause of dull looking locks.

• If your hair is dry, coloured, bleached or past shoulder length, apply a weekly pre-shampoo conditioner, such as our multi-award winning Elasticizer for an extra moisture surge. If your hair is particularly damaged, do this 2x weekly. Towel-dry by gently squeezing out excess moisture. Rough drying and ‘twisting’ will raise the hair cuticle and undo a lot of the work of a conditioner!

• Shampoos are not a ‘do everything’ product. For extra body after shampooing, apply a volumizing spray to your roots. I love Philip Kingsley Maximizer as it’s light-weight, but offers enough hold to keep my style bouncy throughout the day.

Maintaining gorgeous, healthy hair can be quite time consuming. Trips to the salon, styling, shampooing, conditioning and weekly hair masks can all add up, and often fall by the wayside when we are super busy. This month, the lovely Team at Travel Beauty have asked that I put together a list of my top quick fixes for keeping locks in great shape. I hope they help you as much as they have helped me!

Quick Moisture Surge

I try to use a pre-shampoo conditioner, such as PK Elasticizer, at least once a week. It helps to keep my hair elastic and minimizes breakage, so I need fewer trips to the salon to get trims. However, setting aside the time to let it work its magic can be a bit of a challenge. To get around this, I apply it before bed, sleep with it in overnight and then shampoo and condition in the morning as usual for maintained hassle–free healthy hair.

Salon Saver

As just mentioned, using a weekly pre-shampoo conditioner will help keep your hair in better condition so you’ll need to get it cut less often. However, daily environmental weathering and tearing a comb through tangles can also break your hair at different lengths, making it unmanageable and styling more time consuming. My top tip for warding off these unruly, split and uneven ends – and subsequent salon trips  - is to use a daily protective detangling spray, such as PK Daily Damage Defence. It helps to keep your cuticle intact and also guards against damage from UV rays.

Dry Shampoo

Sometimes there just isn’t time to wash our hair every day…or an extra 30 minutes of sleep is seriously needed. Invest in a well-formulated dry shampoo with scalp benefits, like PK One More Day. It soaks up excess oils from the hair, but also soothes the scalp to prevent that tell-tale itching between washes.  That said, try not to leave more than a day between washes – your hair gets just as dirty as your face and infrequent shampooing can lead to dandruff and an imbalance of scalp flora.

Dandruff

The best way to soothe and clear dandruff is to shampoo daily with an antimicrobial shampoo. However, if you simply can’t fit this into your schedule, apply a flaky itchy Scalp Toner to the affected areas on the days you don’t wash your hair. Re-apply as necessary throughout the day as itching and/or irritation occur.

Fast Food

If you’ve read any of my blogs, you’ll know I’m a huge proponent of a healthy, balanced diet. Hair is the second fastest growing tissue your body supports, yet it is also non-vital tissue, so it needs the right hits of vitamins, minerals, proteins and energy at regular intervals to stay healthy. Breakfast is the most important meal, as that’s when energy levels to your follicles are at their lowest – but it’s also often the hardest meal to get right as we’re often rushing out the door or simply too sleepy to think straight! My tip is to boil 2 eggs the night before and slice them up onto whole wheat toast when you get into work, or with your morning coffee. This gives you a great protein and complex carbohydrate boost, and takes no time at all.

Going to the hairdressers this week I was reprimanded by my stylist for my unsightly ends. I explained that I don’t cut my hair during the summer. What’s the point when you’re traveling and constantly in and out of the sun, pool and brutal air conditioning? Well, now, and perhaps many of you can relate, I am left with a bit of a tresstastrophe as we transition into the fall months. Below are my top tips to getting your locks back to looking lovely – and rest assured, I’ll be following them too!

Make The Cut

Wispy ends actually make hair appear thinner and shorter, and weigh down the rest of your style. What’s more, split ends can continue to break all the way up the hair shaft, causing a great deal of damage. There are a few ways to fix this. You can either have your stylist take a good inch off, or have your hair twisted in small sections, and where the ends stick out, ask your hairdresser to snip them off. The latter is a bit tedious, but it does preserve the length as much as possible.

Re-Moisturize

Chances are your hair is in need of a good moisture surge post-summer. Apply a pre-shampoo conditioner to your hair twice a week and leave it on for an hour, or sleep with it in. Philip Kingsley Elasticizer restores elasticity to damaged hair, and also improves manageability, strength and shine. You may also want to use a daily protective conditioning spray (Daily Damage Defence) and a light-weight post-shampoo cream, such as Preen Cream, to keep hair protected throughout the day.

Colour Me Pretty

If you’re a bleach fanatic, take the opportunity to temporarily colour your hair a warm and vibrant shade for fall. It will give your locks a bit of a break and your strands a chance to repair. In England these are called ‘veg’ dyes and they wash out within about a week or so. You can take subsequent applications home with you, and they are very easy to apply. My preference is a rich chestnut, but you can have your colourist recommend the best hue for your skin tone. Many salons offer consultations on colour matching, so take advantage if they have them!

Eat Right

People’s eating habits are usually pretty healthy in the summer, with fresh fish, seafood, salads and bbq’s readily available. However, come autumn, don’t let your nutritional intake slip into a flurry of processed foods, crash diets or juice fasts. Research the produce in season and try to incorporate fresh foods as much as possible – hair essential vitamins and minerals and easily destroyed with refining processes, shipping and prolonged storage.

Blow Dry Correctly

With the weather turning colder, letting your hair dry naturally isn’t such an attractive option. Blow-drying your hair is fine as long as you hold the dryer at least 12 inches away and use a heat protective spray or serum, such as Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defence or Straight Hair. Simply apply to the mid-lengths and ends of your hair, and turn off the dryer once your hair is dry – don’t keep going over the same areas.