Our hair has a huge impact on how we feel. No matter what clothes we wear, how our makeup looks, or shoes or handbags we accessorise with, if we are not happy with our hair, our mood can deflate. This applies to any time of year, but perhaps concerns over our locks peak around the holiday season when we are inundated with work events, holiday drinks and family gatherings. While I cannot alleviate holiday stress, I can certainly offer advice on how to make your tresses look their very best. Here are some lesser known tips on how to maintain healthy, beautiful locks throughout the season:

Eat And Be Merry

Many women I speak to stress about their diet during the holiday season. It can be, without doubt, a season of indulgence. However, while you might be wary of consuming extra calories, your follicles may in fact be rejoicing over the buffet of extra available nutrients; a lot of seasonal ‘delicacies’ are very beneficial to the formation of hair cells. For instance, beef stews and liver pates are excellent sources of iron, a mineral that helps to produce hair cell protein. Turkey, smoked fish, poultry and pecans are great sources of protein – the substance that your hair is made of. Almonds and pork provide the body with biotin, another hair essential nutrient. And those delectable devilled eggs served at many a soiree contain all of the above. So take advantage of these seasonal foods!

However, if you suffer from dandruff the holidays can have their drawbacks. Full fat dairy products, white wine and champagne can worsen flaking and itching in predisposed individuals. Instead, opt for skimmed or soy milk and enjoy your meal with a glass of red wine. If you simply can’t resist imbibing, keep a targeted shampoo and scalp toner handy. Philip Kingsley Flaky/Itchy Scalp Shampoo and Flaky/Itchy Scalp Toner work like magic.

Mane Management

Donning new hairstyles is part of the fun of party season. However, if your locks are dry and damaged, it can really limit your options. To improve the manageability and condition of your hair, apply a pre-shampoo conditioner once to twice a week. I sleep with our Elasticizer in my hair the night before a big event to ensure a shiny, bouncy blow-dry. It works after just one use, with benefits improving over time.

Immune Booster

Hair is incredibly sensitive to general health. Psychologically it holds vast importance, but physiologically it is dispensable. Basically, whenever we are unwell, our hair is often the first part of us to suffer the consequences. While I cannot offer a fool-proof method to ward off flus and fevers, you can help keep your immune system robust by eating well, getting enough sleep and keeping stress levels to a minimum. Not an easy feat I know – and I, myself, am often guilty of falling short! What I have found helpful is taking our daily multi-vitamin, Tricho Complex; a supplement we formulated with the unique need of the hair in mind. In terms of stress, gentle swimming and Pilates can be very helpful. And as for a restful night – try opting for a book before bed rather than checking your emails. The light from a computer is known to disrupt sleep patterns.

Fighting Frizz

Every time we step from cozy heated buildings into the chilly and blustery outdoors, changes in atmospheric moisture content cause our hairs to change shape. AKA to FRIZZ.  And at no time is this more common (and annoying!) than during the peak of winter. To diminish the likelihood of frizzies and flyaways, use products that prevent moisture in the air from penetrating the hair shaft. I love our Preen Cream– a lightweight leave in conditioning cream that keeps locks manageable and shiny without added weight.

“But you don’t know MY hair!” many of you are saying right now as you read that headline. You’re right, we don’t know your hair. But whether it’s long or short, curly or straight or in between, dry or oily, color-treated or natural, there are certain principles that apply to everyone (everyone, who has hair, that is). Here are our top 10 universal guidelines for helping your locks look their best.

Let It Be

That is, let your hair be itself, let it live as it wants to live. Embrace your natural texture, growth patterns, and color. You can beat your mane into submission with heat, chemicals and brute strength, and you may get the look you’re aiming for. Hair strands can be shaped, to an extent. But if the manipulation is too severe, over time you’ll create damage and your tresses will eventually rebel. Accepting what you have is freeing, encourages you to work with your best features, and will result in healthier, better looking hair.

Shampoo Less Often

No more than twice per week, once a week if you can do it. Simply rinse your hair and scalp when you shower. You can always condition, just don’t use shampoo every time.

Add Moisture

Conditioners and treatments give moisture back, which is critical for healthy hair. Think of your fingernails and cuticles. In the winter you may apply lotion or oil to your fingernails several times a day because you can readily see the dryness. Hair strands have a cuticle also. Dryness leads to cracked cuticles which leads to frizziness and breakage. Caretrico Privy Treatment Slim Though is a deep conditioning treatment that can be used as a hair mask twice per week as well as a daily conditioner. Ideal for thick, course and/or curly hair. Caretrico Privy Treatment Moist Sleek  is a moisturizing treatment for those with finer or wavy hair.

Deep Condition With a Professional

Good salons have thorough conditioning treatments that include several steps using rebuilding products and heat and/or mist processes that help deliver the products into the hair. Do a bit of research in your area to find the salons with the best recommendations. Doing this on a regular basis will make a big difference in your hair. At Salon Ishi we have a number of deep conditioning treatments including our exclusive Sherpa Treatment.

Use Protection

On your hair, we mean. After shampooing and conditioning, or anytime you style, give your hair some protection from the strong heat of your styling tools and from dehydrating environmental elements by using products specifically designed to give your hair a bit of armor for defense. Caretrico After Treatment Enrich Milk is a leave in conditioner and styling treatment that not only infuses the hair with moisture but protects it from pollution, the elements and heat damage from styling tools.

Take Care Of Your Scalp

Healthy hair grows from a healthy scalp. Keep your scalp clean. If you have a problem with dryness, oiliness or fungus, treat it. While you may need to see a dermatologist, there are steps you can take on your own. S-Heart-S Scalp Brush Mini is a great tool for massaging and cleaning the scalp, removing dry flaky skin and product buildup from the scalp and hair cuticle. For a flaky or oily scalp, you may also want to try a scalp toner.  The skin on your head requires care too.

Get Your Hair Cut Regularly

There is no “treatment” that will fix split ends. They will keep on splitting, higher and higher. Weak ends result in breakage and unhealthy looking hair. Regular cuts get rid of weak ends and give a fresh appearance.

Take Your Vitamins

Yes, they help. Hair and nails are made of protein and a healthy diet that includes vitamins created to promote the growth of hair and nails is helpful. Vitamin A, Omega 3s and B-complex vitamins like folic acid and biotin all promote cell turnover.

Have a Personal Consultation With Your Hair Care Professional

Okay, we agree, your hair is special. Therefore, talk with your hairdresser to get personalized recommendations for products, treatments, regimens, schedules, and processes that will help you have the healthiest, most beautiful hair possible

Use Color and Chemical Treatments Sparingly, and Have It Done Professionally

Sometimes we just gotta have that color, cover that gray, or get those curls. If that’s you, go to a reputable salon and work with a professional who knows how to use the products while maintaining the integrity of your hair. It is undeniably more expensive than doing it yourself. But your hair will be much healthier in the hands of a professional and you’ll end up with much better looking hair.

The good news is that with a little effort you CAN have healthier, better looking hair. Here’s to you and your best hair!

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.

I attended Salon International in London this weekend, and a predominant question I received from women was “why won’t my hair grow?” This wasn’t entirely surprising as long locks are highly coveted, but the lack of knowledge regarding what might be causing lackluster lock growth was quite eye opening! If you are one of the many women who have this question, it’s important to realise that your hair is, in fact, growing, even if it seems to be staying the same length. What is also happening is that it’s either falling out or breaking before it reaches the point you want it to.

Firstly, how long your hair is able to grow is largely down to the genetic card you were dealt. On average, hair can sustain growth for 4 years, although in some it can be as much as 7. As hair grows on average half an inch a month, this means that most people’s hair growth cycle allows for hair to reach around 24 inches in length, which is actually pretty long! While there’s nothing you can do to change your pre-determined growth cycle, there are definitely things that can disrupt it – and therefore various methods of optimising the potential of your tresses.

Diet

Hair is non-essential tissue so it’s given last dibs on the nutrients you intake. Cut out any food group and your follicles basically throw in the towel on supporting growth. Diets lacking iron, protein, Vitamin B12 and complex carbohydrates are most commonly to blame, so check that you are in-taking enough of these. Also, make sure that if there is a big gap between meals to snack on a healthy carbohydrate, such as fresh fruit. Energy levels to your follicles drop 4 hours after eating, so they often need a boost!

Breakage

Hair that is overly processed and lacks moisture will break – and breakage equals loss of length. Depending on the level of damage, this breakage could occur anywhere from a few inches from your scalp to just past your shoulders. In this instance, you need to restore elasticity to your locks to help it reach the desired length. Use a pre-shampoo conditioner, such as Philip Kingsley Elasticizer twice weekly, and a protective conditioning spray, such as Daily Damage Defence, every day. Also, try to keep the use of straighteners to a minimum and ask your colourist to be especially careful not to overlap previous applications.

Hormones

Conditions such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome can shorten the duration of your hair growth cycle, as well as increased hair loss, and hair not seeming to grow. Other symptoms can include acne, oily skin, increased facial hair, weight gain and tiredness. Get a yearly medical to check your hormone levels – there are very effective prescription medications to manage imbalances. Similarly, some birth control pills can have this effect if your follicles are sensitive to certain hormones. If you notice your hair is falling out or thinning at the ends 6-12 weeks after starting the pill, talk to your doctor. As a general rule, Yasmin and Dianette are the most ‘hair friendly’ out of all the pills – and are sometimes even used to treat hair thinning.

Scalp

A healthy scalp optimises healthy hair growth! If you notice your scalp is itchy or flaky, use products that will promptly nip it in the bud and revitalise your scalp environment. I suggest our Take Comfort Jet Set, which contains a soothing scalp toner, a highly effective shampoo and a moisture balancing conditioner.

There is very little difference between caring for your hair at the beach and when skiing. In each instance, your hair is subjected to similar environmental hazards. For example, windy conditions, the sun, sweat, salt or chlorinated pool/sauna water, even hats—be they large rimmed sun hats or snug & wooly ski attire.

The primary consideration is protection from all of these elements, of which I will describe below:

Salt & Chlorinated Water

Salt water has an osmotic effect on the hair, meaning that it leaches water out of your hair. Chlorinated water can be just as damaging. To protect your hair from associated distress, use Philip Kingsley Swimcap. I originally formulated it for the U.S. synchronized swim team in 1984 and it contains UV protectors, moisturizers and is highly water resistant.

The Sun

Have you noticed that the skin on your face burns just as easily on the beach as when skiing? The same applies to your hair & scalp. The sun on both the slopes and the beach can be exceedingly damaging, causing hair to become brittle and dry and any exposed scalp prone to burn. To help prevent this, use my Swimcap Cream (as described earlier), or wear a hat. To re-hydrate and replenish your hair & scalp, apply an intensive treatment twice a week. I recommend using my Exfoliating Scalp Mask and multi-award winning pre-shampoo conditioner, Elasticizer. They both ensure trouble-free scalps and resilient, manageable, shiny hair.

Wind

Apply weatherproof products that counteract dehydration. For example, Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defence. As an added bonus, this will enable you to have protected and flyaway-free hair when going to social events!

Sweat

The sun, physical exertion and hats can all cause a sweaty scalp. This can result in itching, a buildup of bacteria and greasy looking hair. Apply Philip Kingsley Scalp Toner to your scalp to inhibit the spread of bacteria, clear irritation and soak up excess oils. Furthermore, always shampoo your hair at the end of the day to thoroughly cleanse your scalp and hair. Choose the correct shampoo according to your hair type and follow with the correct conditioner, also according to your hair type.  If necessary – and it won’t harm – shampoo your hair in the morning, too.