Hair Woes November 12, 2010

My hair has been in a desperate state lately-the ends were really dry, the roots were very oily, my hair was particularly knotty and I had a bit of hair breakage, when I brushed it. Now, I not a person who uses hair straigheners, as I have naturally straight hair, and I rarely use a hair dryer, as I prefer to leave it dry naturally. So, it safe to say that heat damage can be ruled out.

I decided that I would take myself off my hair dresser to get her advice, as it was in need of a trim anyway. The first thing that she asked me was what shampoo I was using.  Well, you should have seen the look of horror on her face when I told her! I was quite embarrassed given her reaction, as it had come highly recommended by a friend of mine. When I asked her what would be a good  supermarket brand of shampoo to use, she recommended Pantene, especially Pantene’s new Aqua Light shampoo and conditioner.

The next question she asked me was how many times I shampoo my hair. I was a little baffled about this question, and thought she referred to how many times I washed my hair a week. What she meant though was how many times I shampooed my hair when I washed it. I replied that I shampooed it once, but rinsed twice (thinking that I had been doing the right thing). “No, no, no” she said, “You should be shampooing your hair at least two times each time you wash your hair, given that it is naturally oily!”. Que me hanging my head in shame

Apparently the reason behind this is that if your hair is oily or if you have oily roots, that one shampoo isn’t enough to remove the residue and oil from your hair. She did state that when shampooing your hair twice or more, it is important that you are using a very light, clarifying shampoo though.

Then she questioned my about how I condition my hair. I find that, given my hair is oily, conditioner really weights my hair down, and I have been using spray-in light weight conditioners and detangling sprays instead. “Oh no” she said, “Your much better using a conditioner on the ends of your hair, after shampooing and rinsing, rather than applying a leave-in conditioning spray afterwards”. It seems that I have been doing it all wrong! My hairdresser then went to explain that conditioning sprays are harder to prevent the spray going on to the roots, than a regular conditioner, which can make your hair oiler.

With that, and my hair looking in much better condition after a trim, I headed off to my local chemist to pick up the Pantene Aqua Light shampoo and conditioner. So far, so good-it is really light and your hair feels really clean afterwards. Thought I will have to use it a bit longer to give it a fair review. I must admit that I do feel better about my hair after seeking her advice, and now that I’ve had a trim and changed shampoos and conditioners, my hair looks much better!!!

I hope that these tips my hairdresser passed on are of some help to someone. It’s amazing how if your hair is looking bad, how much it can influence your mood!

Got any hair tips to share? Whats your go-to shampoo (supermarket or otherwise)?

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