
Ah haircare. That feeling when you have a good hair day is the best feeling ever! I usually go to the hairdresser every two to three months for a good old trim and a fantastic blow-dry. I colour my hair every 6 weeks, and maintaining the vibrant, healthy hair can be quite a chore! Here are a few of my tips on how I keep my hair looking vibrant in between my cuts and the products that I use.
Tip 1:
Don’t always blow dry your hair or use heat products like straighteners or curling tongs.
Heat as we all know can damage hair. I hardly ever blow-dry my hair at home. I normally only have my hair blowdried when I am at the salon. I like to wash my hair in the evening, and let it dry naturally. I may apply some oil at the tips, and that is it. I wake up with my natural curls.
Tip 2:
Don’t over colour your hair.
I colour my hair every 6 weeks usually. Some people colour their hair way too often, like every week. I would not recommend this!
Tip 3:
Go to a hairdresser you trust with your locks! Don’t waltz into the unknown and then ask them to do a colour, cut and blowdry as you may feel incredibly disappointed if they cut your hair wrong or the colour isn’t what you wanted. If it is wrong, then go back and ask if they can correct it, or find another hairdresser. Ask friends or family members which hairdresser they would reccommend.
Tip 4:
For people with hair like mine, I would advise not to wash it every day. My hair is thick and quite wavy (not as curly as my sisters curls) and I wash it every three days. It doesn’t need more washing!
Tip 5:
Use products that work for you. I have tried lots of products. Some don’t work for my hair at all, so go with what you feel makes your hair healthier.
Tip 6:
Visit your hairdresser regularly. There’s nothing worse than getting loads of split ends, and then your hairdresser has to cut a huge chunk of your hair off because it is in such bad condition!
Tip 7:
Choose a style that works for you. Some people suit with all different styles which is great. I would love to go for a completely different style, but because my hair is thick and wavy, some styles won’t work and I don’t want a fringe. I like to keep my hair fairly long with layers. I once had my hair cut shorter and it was awful!
Products I use:
I have tried and tested many products over the years, and in the winter months, my hair and scalp can become incredibly dry. Some shampoos really don’t work well for me, and others work much better for my coloured hair.
Noughty Rise and Shine Shampoo and conditioner
The noughty range is vegetarian and vegan friendly and the products below are gluten free!
Rise & Shine Everyday Shampoo, Rise & Shine Everyday Conditioner, Wave Hello Curl Defining Shampoo, Wave Hello curl Defining Conditioner, Detox Dynamo 2in1 Shampoo and Conditioner.
Loreal Elnett Satin Heat Protecting Styling Spray
Good for when you use heat on your hair. It’s light and smells divine!
Pure Argan Oil Holland and Barrett
I use this if I have dry ends. I towel dry my hair, and then add just a small amount in my palm and work through the ends. I will then either blow-dry for silky smooth ends or leave to dry naturally.
Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Smoothing Serum
I add a touch of this when I have time to properly blow dry my hair. It’s paraben free, gluten free, vegan and colour safe.
Decoding the ingredients
There are lots of products out there that clearly state that all ingredients are gluten free which is great. But there are some sneaky words in certain product ingredients that you should watch out for.
Triticum vulgare (wheat)
Hordeum vulgare (barley)
Secale cereale (rye)
Avena sativa (oats)
Wheat germ oil
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Stearyl dimonium hydroxypropyl (hydrolyzed wheat protein)
Laurdimonium hydroxypropyl (hydrolyzed wheat protein)
Colloidal oatmeal
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (may contain wheat)
Dextrin palmitate (starch, possibly gluten-based)
Vitamin E (frequently derived from wheat)
Malt extract (usually barley)
Beta glucan (frequently derived from wheat)
Vegetable protein (may contain wheat, barley, rye and/or oats)
If you don’t see any of these ingredient names in your product it still may not mean the product is completely gluten free, unless it is stated on the product. There there are lots of other chemicals that can be derived from wheat, barley, rye or oats. Also watch out for the word ‘Fragrance’.
If you do want to suss out what exactly is in your product, then I would suggest contacting the company and hopefully you will get a response. If not, you can try googling the product and looking at the company website.
Also if you didn’t get the chance to check out my sisters You Tube Video on how she maintains her VERY curly hair then check it out below!
Ekaterina’s YouTube Curly Hair Video
Ekaterina’s Greek Expectations Blog
Have a Happy Hair Day!
♥
xoxoxo
lovely tips
I’ve just came across your blog Christiana, love your hair posts and tips – do you have any more posts on this? 🙂
Author
Hello! Thankyou for your comments and welcome to my blog! I will hopefully be doing some more beauty and hair product reviews in the near future! It is quite difficult sourcing products that actually are ok for my hair as I have a very sensitive scalp so a lot of products that I used to use I cant use anymore. I try and steer clear of wheat protein based products but I am not even sure if it is the wheat protein that is affecting my scalp or another ingredient as it seems to be loads of shampoos that I can no longer use. 🙁