How To Protect Holiday Hair In The Heat

It’s not just your skin you need to protect from the sun; UV rays have the power to do plenty of damage to your locks – from dryness to fading your summer blonde. You may not be able to feel it, but your hair burns in the sun just like skin, while UV rays also weaken your hair’s protein structure by making the shaft drier, brittle and more liable to breakage.

The amount of damage depends how much you expose your hair to the sun, the current condition of your locks and how much swimming you do – as chlorine and salt water can intensify the sun’s harmful effects.

Those with hair that is already damaged or processed will need to be more mindful, as this type of hair will be more vulnerable to sun damage. Also those with longer tresses should be more aware, as the longer the hair, the older and therefore weaker it is. Here, we run through our top tips on how to handle your holiday hair.

Pre-holiday fix

Before you head off for sunnier climes, schedule a trim before you go away and another for when you return to remove any damaged ends. Split ends interlock easily, increasing the likelihood of hair tangling and breaking. Any damage that might have been done during your break will be quickly dealt with, with a trim on your return. However, if you manage to protect your hair properly while away, the second appointment won’t be necessary.

Protect while on holiday

Apply a water-resistant UV filter like like Sachajuan Hair In The Sun & Hair After The Sun in order to help prevent damage. Just massage the sun cream into hair before hitting the beach to give UV protection that even withstands water. At the end of the day, you can either leave in or rinse out the aftersun treatment to restore moisture and shine. Some change – albeit minimal – is inevitable so if you want to keep locks safe, consider staying in the shade or wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

Repair post-holiday

Use a hydrating hair mask like Paul Mitchell After-Sun Replenishing Masque during and also after your summer holiday, as the combination of UV exposure and swimming can weaken the hair’s protein structure, making strands less elastic and manageable and easily broken. A nourishing mask will tackle any dryness and prevent colour fading. Relax in the evening with the masque on your hair, to combat the effects of sun, seawater and chlorine. The Paul Mitchell mask also has a UV filter which will help to protect hair the next day, too.

Once you return home, keep up the treatments twice a week, using a pre-shampoo conditioning treatment for 20 minutes in order to restore hair health to lock in moisture.

Gwen Stefani’s Haircare Routine Is Insane

EVER since she burst to fame 20 years ago with the era-defining hits Just A Girl and Don’t Speak, No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani has been known for her immaculate, platinum-blonde hair.

For two decades now we’ve barely seen a peroxided hair out of place from the stunning singer. Now, Gwen’s own personal hairstylist, Danilo, has revealed exactly how much work goes into creating and maintaining that perfect look, each and every day.

“The truth is Gwen’s hair has a career too. It has to entertain, it has to perform,” he tells E! News in a new interview, divulging just how much attention is paid to her famous locks.

“When I was coming up, I remember I was told that Marilyn [Monroe] would have her hairstylist come touch up her roots every 10 days … with a Q-tip. And I remember thinking, ‘Wow that’s a lot!’” Danilo laughed.

But as it turns out, Danilo’s routine with Stefani is even more stringent: touch-ups every seven to eight days.

“I know roots are in right now … but I don’t like them on her. I want her to look seamless,” he said.
And for those wondering how Stefani, a natural brunette, keeps her hair healthy and nourished despite constant bleaching, Danilo’s about to let you in on a little secret.

“We haven’t used bleach since 2004. I developed a high-lift formula that achieves the same effect but saves the quality of her hair. I did a lot of research and really looked at places of origins for blonde hair colour like Germany and Scandinavia. I’ve spent years finding and testing new lines and technology.”

Danilo says he colours, washes and treats Stefani’s hair once a week, leaving her to sit with a pack of deep conditioner for around 45 minutes.

But his real secret weapon? The reason his famous client has been able to maintain shimmering platinum blonde hair for so many years without damaging the strands?

Danilo styles with conditioner. Yep, very flawless hairstyle you see Stefani rock has been created using “layers of conditioner”.

“She gets multiple types of deep conditioning every day,” he reveals, which cancels out the damage to Stefani’s hair caused by the constant colouring.

Now we just need someone else from Stefani’s inner circle to explain why she looks younger today than she did in 1996 ...

Hair Care Tips for Colored and Naturally Red Hair

Red hair is just beautiful. It's really no surprise why poets and painters have tried to capture the beauty of red hair with their words or their canvasses since time immemorial. Fiery titian locks evoke images of dancing flames, of sunrises and sunsets, of energy and passion.

If you have red tresses, it's only right that you celebrate the glorious color of your hair. And because red hair is special, you should also take especially good care of it to keep healthy, manageable and vibrant. Here are hair care tips that can help you maintain the beauty of your ginger mane.

Never go out under direct sunlight without any covering for your head. Exposure to direct sunlight is bad enough as it is because it can cause heatstroke and dehydration. It can also cause your hair to dry, and if your hair is ginger-colored, the beautiful color of your tresses can fade as well. Whether natural or applied, red pigments are vulnerable to sunlight and can wash out very easily.

Natural red hair is also naturally coarse and prone to drying, splitting and breakage. To prevent this kind of damage to your ginger strands, it's important that you feed your locks with moisture regularly and generously. So, be lavish with conditioning your tresses. Wash your hair with conditioner every day and coat it with leave-on conditioner or hair serum. Every week, pamper your mane with deep conditioning. You should also shampoo less often - no more than once a week - to allow your strands' natural oils to do their work in nourishing and protecting your mane.

As much as possible, use products appropriate to your ginger hair. There may not be a lot of hair care products available that specifically cater to redheads, given that there are only so few natural redheads out there. But a thorough Internet search will yield some good results and lead you to great products for your fiery tresses. If you're not a natural redhead, you should use hair care products particularly designed for colored hair.

If you feel that you need to enhance the red highlights of your hair, you can rinse it with cranberry juice after washing it. Cranberry juice is very effective in bringing out the red in hair. Just be careful not to stain your clothes, your towels or any important household linen with cranberry juice, however.

Always be gentle when handling your ginger hair. Red tresses are naturally fragile. So, make it a point to be careful when dealing with your hair. Avoid yanking or tugging at it so its strands won't snap off. Additionally, try to minimize styling it with heat-based styling tools. Red hair doesn't take heat too well and so should be protected from it. If you have to blow-dry or iron your hair, make sure your tresses are coated with leave-on conditioner first.

Red hair is beautiful hair. Rather than scorning the brightness of your titian locks, you should embrace it. Celebrate your ginger hair by caring for it the way it needs to be cared for all the time.