Nobody, barring hair stylists or rapidly balding men, should take hair too seriously. That’s work best left to the multi-million dollar hair companies. They rack their scientists’ brains concocting conditioners and pomades before moving on to parfumiers to elevate the scents. Then come the marketing teams to mastermind attractive packaging, designed to look beautiful in salons where stylists informed by international runways artfully snip locks to unveil a younger-looking, fresher person from the hair atrocities that previously claimed them.
Yes, by the time the subject of hair trickles down to the rest of us, all the hard thinking on the topic has been done, leaving but one simple consideration: keep your hair healthy.
The rules for not damaging it in the first place are well known. Observe a healthy diet, avoid overuse of heated appliances, treat your hair gently when wet—this is not the stuff of rocket science. Unfortunately, neither is it the exhaustive list of how hair can be harmed. For example, simply stepping into the elements each winter stresses your tresses, so each spring you’ll need to breathe life back into your locks.
This could be as easy as going to sleep. Comb in Nexxus’s new Pro-Mend Split End Binding Overnight Treatment Creme and hit the pillow. It claims to repair 94 per cent of split ends before you wake, and it also protects against future splits.
Or, just jump in the shower. Shu Uemura’s new Shusu Sleek Smoothing Shampoo targets coarse strands with black cumin oil, which is ripe with omegas and natural antioxidants that leave hair nourished and shiny. While essential minerals and lipids work magic on your frizz, its unique, unisex, calming floral oriental scent, inspired by spices and oils, works wonders on frazzled nerves.
Celebrities swear by Montreal-based Moroccanoil’s vitamin-rich Argan oil treatment. A dime-sized amount worked through damp hair improves elasticity and cuts blow dry time by 30 to 40 per cent. Aveda’s Smooth Infusion Style-Prep Smoother performs similar work, using wheat protein, tapioca starch, aloe, maize and guar beans. It also defends against humidity for up to 12 hours and shortens styling time.
Elixir Ultime is a new arrival for Kérastase and blends Amazonian pracaxi oil—proven to facilitate cellular renewal—with Argan, maize and camellia oils to deeply condition and heal hair fibres. This jack-of-all-trades product can be used as a pre-cleanse, for intensive conditioning, for pre-blow dry or for finishing touches and retouches. Once hair is on the mend, shield it with Oribe’s Imperméable Anti-Humidity Spray, a finishing product that protects hair without weighing it down.
Eventually, though, there does come a point when it stops making sense to fight nature’s course. If you’ve tried every product on the market and are still struggling with unruly locks, spritz in John Masters Organics Sea Mist. The sea salt will give hair fullness, body, a tousled texture and a matte finish—essentially a controlled, deliberate version of what was happening anyway. After all, you don’t want to take your hair too seriously.
Photo: Mark Reynolds.
