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I love hair. I’ve been feeling it professionally for over forty years and no matter what type or length I want it to be its best. Healthy hair emits a vibrant energy that’s enticing to onlookers and confidence-boosting to the wearer.
So for these new blogs I’m going back to basics and dealing with one issue each week. I’ll also walk you through all the self-harm that goes on with hair.
Follow the principles and you’ll dramatically improve the quality and thickness of your hair. If your hair is too thick and unmanageable, the tips will improve the quality to make it less frizzy or bushy and more softly pliable.
I can’t promise wolf-whistles as the PC police banned that some time ago, but it will be better looking, easier to manage and styling will last longer.
For most people most of the time, the quality of hair at the root is the best you’re genetically predisposed to get. Protecting that from thinning and breaking gives the biggest gains. So when looking at hair health there isn’t one silver bullet.
Some of the tips are quick wins and some are an investment that pays back long term. We take a holistic approach to address the many areas of potential damage that go on with hair and follow our salon protocols developed over 44 years of professional practice. Each may yield a few extra % improvement. Taken together they can double the amount of hair in many cases.
‘Mechanical aids’ sounds a bit odd to me as I start to think of engines and gears but really this is just about the physical implements and tools that are used with hair.
LEFT IMAGE: Unwitting self harm and/or professional incompetence has led to the loss of 90% of the hair at the ends.
Healthy hair is flexible and can withstand more handling. Drier hair is more vulnerable to wear and breakage if too much force is applied. Badly designed brushes and combs that tear through hair will snap and reduce the amount of hair you have to play with. Rough bristles or teeth will wear and tear the hairshaft.
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This brush is now MY NO.1 BRUSH! I love it, I have quite thick hair, this brush glides through with no issues, it leaves my hair feel so smooth and it doesn't tug, I have never been so happy with a hair brush! I use it for both distributing product and daily brushing, very happy and would not hesitate to recommend.
For styling, see our selection of professional brushes here
Our combs are saw cut from one piece of vulcanised rubber and polished by hand. The teeth are super smooth unlike moulded plastic combs whose imperfections can lacerate the surface of hair.
Thin inflexible ties exert more pressure per sq. mm on hair. If something’s going to give it will be the hair. And if it’s going in and out clumsily each day it could break maybe ten hairs. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but over a year that could be 3650 or 3% of your hairs. Double or treble that for longer hair. Wider softer ties exert less pressure, saving up to 7% of your hair.
If you put a handbag over one shoulder, remember to move your hair first. Continual friction and pressure from the strap can break a lot of hair.
Also known as TTM, this unfortunate affliction is the urge to twist or pull out one’s own hair. The nervous disorder was named in the 19th century by combining three Greek words – thrix (hair), tillein (pulling) and mania (madness) – but it wasn't formally recognised as a disorder until the 1980s. If you don’t suffer, or you grew out of this, you may think it's easy to tell someone to just stop. But the issues and behaviour patterns are deeper and various internet self-help groups discuss suggestions to overcome this.
Michael Van Clarke
