hannah’s hair care tips

Your hair is your crowning glory. Hair thickness, length and shine have a lot to do with how you treat your mane, but they’re also a reflection of scalp health, which is often ignored and sidelined. But help is at hand, and often the best things to do are also the easiest! Here are 5 of Hannah’s top hair care tips to reduce damage and weathering.

remove excess water after washing

The longer your hair stays wet, the more the cortex of your hair will swell and break, resulting in brittle ends and lots of flyaways. Be sure to pat the hair dry and not rub it into the towel - this causes friction, so if you treat it as if you're rubbing it too hard, the hair will be susceptible to damage and will fur up the cuticle cells of the hair.

use soft fabric towels

You wouldn’t use your body products on your hair, so why are you using your regular bath towel to dry your strands? There are countless reasons a microfibre towel is better for your hair. Microfibre towels absorb water with ease, they demand less friction — no tugging and pulling to get your hair dry and ready to style. Give your hair a break from the breakage by swapping to a microfibre towel this season!

allow the hair to 70% air-dry first

Air drying (like over washing) over an extended period can cause scalp to compensate, over produce oil leaving hair more oily, and causing you to fight the imbalance with more and more shampoo for oily scalp and hair. When the hair is about 70% dry, do a quick blowdry to finish. This way, you reduce the amount of time and heat needed to dry your hair.

use a heat defence spray

Heat protection sprays protect your hair and some can even help enhance the effectiveness of heated styling tools. Heat protectants add a barrier between your styling tool and your hair, sealing in moisture and fending off frizz. They also work to smooth the cuticle, making your hair look smooth and feel soft. With the right preventative spray, you can reduce the chances of heat damaged hair - even though using heat protectant doesn’t completely prevent heat damage, especially if you’re styling often.

do not use straighteners above 180 °

GHD's Technology Officer Dr Tim Moore said this, “Putting your styler at the hottest temperature is not the key to getting your hair how you want it. Usually any temperature above 200 degrees celcius will cause damage to your hair. It needs to be set below the temperature that damage starts to occur but above a temperature that allows you to style it.” Anything above 185° will create vertical cracks along the cuticle, resulting in tangles and splits.