Strength and solutions for fine, weak hair

One of the questions I've been hearing often over the years from my clients is "How do I make my hair thicker? Not just when I'm styling it but every day..."

There are many reasons why some peoples hair is thicker than others. A lot of the time its just that everyones hair is different. Some people have thick hair and some have fine. But there are ways to take care of yourself and your hair if you do want to improve the strength, shine and density of your hair in the long term.

First of all, diet. Make sure you have a diet full of protein, iron and vitamins. So obviously more meats and veges but if you're a vegetarian then nuts, eggs and fish are also very important to your hair. Vitamin B complex, C and a multi vitamin is also going to be helpful.

There is also an amazing mineral supplement called Silica which, when taken daily, greatly improves hair strength, elasticity and shine. It also is great for the strength of your skin and nails and even prevents against wrinkles.

Secondly, products. For styling, a Sea Salt Spray or the Karpati Natural Hair Care Volumiser are going to improve thickness and texture when blowdrying or even letting the hair dry naturally.
For a great product that externally treats the hair so it will maintain strength and thickness and prevents against balding and thinning in a noninvasive fashion is the Activance range. I highly recommend the Hair Stimulant Spray and the Shampoo in this range. I have recommended it to many clients and even tested it out on myself and it helps even if your hair isn't thinning. I also found that my hair was less frizzy.

Lastly, treatments. Protein and Keratin treatments are so helpful in strengthening your hair.

Please try one or all of these if you wish for stronger, thicker and shinier hair. I hope to hear some great feedback.

Long Hair? Avoid tangles and knots while protecting your hair from damage!

If you have long hair that you’re styling daily and it’s always knotting and matting up you need to start using a leave in moisturizer and serum. Try to find one that’s right for your hair type. Many of these improve the condition of your hair, but this isn’t the main reason to use it. They also detangle the hair and protect it from styling thermals that you use day by day some even adding a finishing shine. Unfortunately using a supermarket brand may not always be the best choice but don’t run out and buy the most expensive product on the shelf. Be very careful to buy the right product, as everyone’s hair is different.

If your hair is fine and limp you may want to avoid it, but if its also very tangled the a light spray leave in treatment is best.

If it is damaged and course then try an Argon or Macadamia oil based product. These have moisturizers and proteins. Try Moroccan Oil products

If your hair is in perfect condition and just gets a bit frizzy just use a shine serum.

Because these products are for daily use the less cosmetic and more natural based brands are recommended. Try Silicone-Free Hair Repair from the karpati natural hair care range. That's also a good one if your hair is damaged buy fine as it doesn't weigh your hair down or make it oily.

Holiday Hair

How to wear your hair on holidays and what products to pack

The best way to pack is lightly when travelling. Guys are lucky, all they need is shampoo, one product and maybe a straightening iron at the most. But for girls theres also brushes treatments, products, clips, hairdryers and other bulky items.

When holidaying I want to be as low maintenance as possible. I don't want to be blowdrying my hair everyday. I wear my hair wavy or if I want to wear it straight I make sure I get a Keratin treatment before I head off so its easy to style while I'm away.

With both these options theres a way to limit taking up space in your luggage.
You can use a cleansing conditioner so you don't need to pack both shampoo and conditioner try Wen by Chaz Dean. Or if you don't like that most brands have tester size bottles you can try from salons. Get some of those, or if you already have some small bottles, transfer your products into the smaller sizes.

I would suggest taking a leave in hair moisturiser (try Redken leave in detangling spray or for something heavier try Redken Smoothing Cream)

And the only equipment I would take would be a wide toothed comb, a straightening iron and a butterfly clip.

If you still have room then you can add whatever other products are your favourites, but that should be all you need.

Essential Products! Gift Ideas for anyone

Looking for Christmas gift ideas?

Here are some great ideas, all prices that will suit almost anyone:

ghd for ceramic hair iron and products have some great gift packages that are amazing right now if you're looking to spend around $250-$310. When it comes to straightening irons the ghd brand is far superior to any other.

The best hairdryer on the market in my opinion is PARLUX 3800 which is now designed more eco friendly. It is an Italian brand but can be found with more information here (http://www.ry.com.au) for around $150

Another idea would be a salon voucher. These are great as you can purchase any treatment from a blowdry minimum to a haircut to a full colour to a keratin treatment to the works! Just find out where their favourite hairdresser is based.

There is a great styling product brand out there which is becoming very popular at the moment called EVO they have 3 summer favourites right now which are mostly for thickening and texture. But all EVO products are amazing with fun descriptions like "salty dog, cocktail beach spray - a sea-esque mist designed to give you salty, beach-based texture and a matt finish" Check out their site for more products all around the $30 price range. 

Other great options are product packages which most salons or department stores provide this time of the year. Also great brushes and hair accessories are amazing presents and can be either affordable or quite special depending on where you buy them.

For any further questions or ideas please feel free to leave me a comment.

Summer Frizz

Summer has arrived! 
Loving that its hot enough to swim. The salt water is giving my hair a great beach wave but when I'm not at the beach the humidity is sending my hair into a ball of frizz!

The best solution for this problem is products. 
There are so many frizz repelling products out there from sea salt sprays which absorb the moisture in your hair, to shine serums which calm and smooth out the frizz. There are even anti-humidity hair sprays. But the most powerful product out there is the Keratin Treatment.
This product, in addition to eliminating frizz and adding long lasting strength and moisture to your hair for around 3 to 6 months, used to get your hair super straight also.

In the last year there has been a lot of controversy over Keratin treatment products. Mostly surrounding one brand in particular. As a result, all brands took their products off the shelf and reformulated to meet OHS standards. I was very disappointed (as were my clients) to find that after this reformulation, the once perfect and long lasting, smoothing straightening treatment, was not as good and in some cases not working at all. So I had to give some refunds and re-dos. I wasn’t going to give up though. 

Which Keratin Product works best?

I took it upon myself to sample several different brands and start stocking the best one.

I’m very excited to have found it! Global Keratin. Its not as great as the original product in the sense that it doesn't straighten the hair as well, but it and definitely reduces frizz, improves the condition of the hair and lasts around 4 months. 

But, I am continually testing out brands as they come out so if I find one that works better I promise to update this post.

Get the most out of your colour.

I forget sometimes that a lot of people have trouble making their colour last. This is a problem I constantly manage to avoid for my clients. I'm all about creating low maintenance colour while giving them what they want.
I recently had a blog request on the subject though so I thought I'd share it:

"In your blog, I wonder if you could include a tip or two about getting the most out of your colour? I noticed shampoo ads are always talking up how they make your colour more vibrant for longer or some such, Is this really possible? Are there any other tips or an idea of how long a colour should last / how often you should have to redo it?"

Such a great question. Firstly, all colours fade, grow out or become dull over time. Do not believe these ads when they say that they will make your colour more vibrant. You can, however, use shampoos that aren't as harsh and don't strip out your colour. Please refer back to the Oily & Dry blog for how these shampoo's and conditioners work.

Secondly, it all depends on what kind of colour you have. You cant slow down the rate your hair grows so re-growth is always going to happen. If you have an all over permanent colour you aren't going to notice the regrowth as much if its close to your natural colour. Highlights are going to grow out better than tints as they're scattered colour so the regrowth line is less defined. The more natural the highlights are made to look, the less obvious the regrowth will be. You can get up to 3 months out of your highlights in some cases. If your permanent tint isn't close to your natural colour then I'd suggest getting it done every 4 to 6 weeks.

Thirdly there are ways to touch up your colour to make it last longer at home. You can buy salon shampoos that have toners built in. Red For red hair, Brown for brown hair etc. There's a great range in Goldwell for these type of products.

For a great colour alternative you can always get a semi-perminant. You wont have any regrowth as it is supposed to fade out. Although you can only deposit colour pigment with semi's which means you cant get a lighter colour without it being permanent. But please do not get a semi-permanent home colour. Every time I work with hair that has had a home job "semi" permanent, there is always a regrowth proving that it isn't a semi and will never fade out completely.

Sea Salt Spray!

Sea Salt Spray, Ocean Spritz, Salt Water Hair Products!

My favorite product out there! Giving your hair body and texture without making it greasy. It’s primarily used to enhance the curl or wave in your hair and give you a sexy beach look. But if you spray it moderately into your roots before blow-drying it is a fantastic body builder! It gives your style amazing long lasting volume. It’s a water based product with salt, so it actually absorbs the oil in your hair adding days to your blow-dry.

So what brand should you buy? Well you can't really get it wrong. They're all great. I even worked with a hairdresser once who lived up in the Central Coast of NSW and would fill a spray bottle up at McMasters beach. Apparently it was a great salt to water ratio. He used the spray like liquid gold in the salon.

So no matter what you try, please enjoy this product. Its one of my go-to's

Oily at the roots. Dry at the ends. Does this sound like your hair?

A common problem among clients, friends and even myself is that our hair gets oily really fast but the more we wash it, the dryer the ends gets. There are many reasons this could be happening. The wrong shampoo type, not washing your hair properly or you have naturally oily skin. Well I have some tips for all cases.

Firstly. Using  good salon, or even certain chemist shampoos and conditioners, is very important for keeping your scalp and hair healthy.

Supermarket brands can have a lot of horrible silicon, sulfate and sodium chloride in it. There are many types of silicon but the type that gets put into most mass production shampoos and conditioners is not the best for your hair in the long term. While making your hair ultra soft and shiny instantly, they also leave a build up of this silicon on the hair, which over time, builds up on the follicle, weaken it and dry it out. Sulfate and sodium chloride are in all harsh soaps and are generally drying of hair and skin. But they are found in almost all shampoos because they lather. The trick is finding a product with lower amounts. 

Recommendations

A great brand that is sulphate and sodium chloride free is the Trichovedic Hair Wisdom range.

Karpati Haircare shampoo and conditioner has absolutely no silicon in it and is 93% natural. It’s for all hair types and it’s found in most chemists but check stock lists.

Wen cleansing conditioner. It’s just one product and it doesn’t lather at all. Can only be purchased online.

Are you sick of Brassy Blondes? Some tips how to prevent this, and reasons why it occurs.

If your hair is blonde but is constantly getting yellow, orange or brassy you aren’t alone. This is a common problem amongst blondes. The reason for this (as you probably know and advise your hairdresser every time you sit down with them) is that you hair throws warmth when it is coloured. Well, the majority of people’s hair does. More so if your hair is naturally any shade of brown. This also happens when you wash your hair too often, style regularly with thermals (hairdryers, straighteners, tongs, hot rollers etc.), are out in the sun a lot or you swim regularly as all these things contribute too strip colour and health from your hair. It is always going to throw warmth when coloured any shade lighter than its natural colour.

Now if you want to avoid this in the salon when going blonde you need to avoid tints where possible where this problem occurs. Tinting is chosen over bleaching and highlights usually to cover grey, and colour throwing warmth in grey hair is less of an issue. But, when using a tint as a decision when highlighting (in foils), the finer the highlights the less brassy it will become. Eliminating tint completely and using bleach only in highlights is the best option but some brands of colour never get the yellow out completely. But if you do want low-lights (foils that are darker rather than lighter) ask your hairdresser if she will use a semi permanent instead of a tint in the foil. It will fade a little but tints fade also, the onle difference is the semi wont throw warmth or go brassy as it fades. 


Wella and L’Oreal salon brands are generally the best at achieving blondes so do ask your hairdresser before you get your colour.

Toners are great at counteracting yellow, but can sometimes dull your beautiful bright blonde down too much. So make sure your getting subtle ones.

To prevent this at home, every now and then use a silver shampoo (sometimes called blonde shampoo or violet) this will fight against rusty yellow blondes on a regular basis and maintain your toner between services. Wella SP range has an amazing silver shampoo, as does the Trichovedic Hair Wisdom range which is also sulphate and sodium chloride free.
Limit how often you wash and style your hair.
And when out in the sun or swimming use a leave in treatment/moisturiser/conditioner as a barrier. Try Moroccan Oil