Day 2. Hair- Let it Shine!

• 2. Hair: Let it Shine!
  First Impressions
  There are three areas that are worth spending a reasonable amount of money on - eyewear, swimwear and our hair!
  The first thing we notice when we encounter a person is their hair. We take just a moment to scan the colour and the cut, detect the condition, observe how well the hair is groomed, and then, based on what we’ve discerned in that micro-second, we categorise the wearer. It’s a sad fact that once we’ve mentally pigeon holed a person we seldom change that first impression. What is your hair saying about you?
• One of the quickest ways to turn back the clock is to have a fringe cut.
• Everyone looks younger with a fringe (Americans call fringes ‘bangs’). A fringe-benefit is that it camouflages lines, forehead and frown lines, and hides a receding hairline whilst diverting attention to the eyes – where we want people to look!
• A fringe is hair of any shape, length or thickness that falls across the forehead.
• The most youthful and flattering fringes are long and swept to one side; or graduated (wispy) and straight.
• Geometric fringes with sharp angles, puffy fringes, or those that stick out due to a strong cowlick are difficult to tame and generally unflattering. If this is your fringe try having it cut into a youthful graduated fringe. If you hate it you can always grow it back again!
• Thick curtain-like fringes that come to a stop on the cheekbone or brush the eyelashes (and hide the eyes) lead people to question the wearer’s self esteem.
• A fringe is always current and in fashion. Have your fringe trimmed regularly to maintain the shape.

A cut above
Many women have stuck with the hair style they wore when they felt their most attractive. Often that was years ago and now, with the chin showing signs of sagging and the eye colour not quite as intense as it used to be, the old hairstyle has lost its edge and looks a great deal less than youthful! If this is you it’s time to update and give yourself and your hair a new lease of life!

• A good haircut has the power to shave years off your appearance. It doesn’t have to be a cut that requires a lot of maintenance, and it doesn’t have to be a dramatic or sudden change.
• The best makeovers start gradually and evolve slowly; after all you’re the one doing it so you have to be comfortable with the transformation. Start with a small subtlety such as having graduated layers cut around your face, or switching the side you part your hair on, or moving your parting to a slightly different position. Tweak the length and ask the stylist to chop texture into the ends.
• If you decide this is your last ditch chance to grow your hair continue to have it cut regularly to retain the style and shape during the time it takes to gain length.
• The most attractive hairstyles are those in proportion to the body. A smallish head and curvy, fullish physique is visually balanced by hair worn in a fuller style. If the hair is short and worn flat against the head with little or no texture chopped into it, the overall appearance looks out of kilter.
• On the other hand, a tiny trim body topped with a cascading mane of hair can give the head a pumpkin-like appearance!
  
  

Keep your hairstyle evolving
How often do you come home from the hairdresser looking fantastic and feeling gorgeous, then the next day when you do your hair yourself it doesn’t look anywhere near as good? Its unlikely there’s anything wrong with the cut; you are probably the one doing the sabotaging in the way you’re styling it!
Watch how the hairdresser styles your hair.
Is it finger-dried?
What sort of brush is used?
In which direction is the blow dryer angled?
Ask to be shown how to style it yourself at home. Professionals want you to look good and they’ll guide you towards achieving your best hairstyle.

Some things to know:

• Natural healthy hair looks younger and more current than a helmet of bouffant, hair that has been sprayed rigid.
• Teasing and backcombing your hair to be up nearer to God is dated. Hair stands away from the scalp naturally when texture has been cut into it.
• Styling products such as rough paste enable you to mould and deconstruct your cut with ragged texture and create any extreme or funky style you want. Look for holding products with names such as fudge, gum, toffee, mud and spike.
• Youthful-looking hair bounces! It is ruffled, tousled, shaken and stirred and the perfect cut softens and frames the face.

Pump up the shine with brilliance sprays and hair polishes. Products containing micro-shine particles refine and clean the colour and add healthy-looking lustre.


Long and sensual or short and sexy?
Unfortunately long hair is more inclined to split, tangle, dry out and thin at the ends. There’s no getting away from the fact that long hair is high maintenance.
Hair caught into a tight, structured up-do pinned on top of your head not only looks old fashioned, it’ll give you a headache! Equally, scraping hair back into a tight pony tail or coil every day encourages the strands to drop out and the hair to thin.

• A shoulder-length cut gives the illusion of longer hair, even more so when the hair is graduated around the face.
• Soft, shiny, healthy hair grazing the shoulders always looks sophisticated, smart and feminine.
• If your hair grows long and doesn’t grow evenly (not everyone can grow their hair long!) and you end up with three sad bedraggled rats tails (one on each side and the third down the back) cut your losses, get with the programme and have a short, textured haircut!
• Fine oily hair benefits from regular trims. Daily shampooing and conditioning helps the appearance.
• Width and volume at the cheek line flatters, softens and lifts the face. Every centimetre counts; when width and volume are cut at the jaw line the opposite happens – facial lines are emphasized and the face shape appears rounder.
• Don’t be afraid of using hair products. Layering and texturing products applied with a light touch help create a full, soft and natural look.
• Hair worn in a medium-short length style rejuvenates the face, elongates the neck and thins the appearance of the upper torso.
• Short healthy hair carries bounce, is easy to care for, can add a little height and looks feminine, smart and sophisticated.
• Generally people perceive short hair as young, energetic and athletic.
  

Let it Shine
Shining hair is youthful hair!

• A deep conditioning treatment applied once or twice a month helps to keep hair healthy and shining.
• Newer shampoos have very different formulas from the shampoos of our youth that were mainly detergent - masked by fragrance. A small amount of modern shampoo, applied once, goes a long way.
• While modern formula shampoos do thoroughly clean the hair with one application, most hair benefits from two applications, the second will give it That Shine!
• Over-the-counter inexpensive shampoo containing silicone will deposit residue that sticks to the hair shaft. While this initially makes the hair feel soft, over just a little time the silicone residue builds up and the hair becomes lifeless and dull. The silicone build-up is almost impossible to dissolve.
• A more expensive shampoo from your hairdresser is a more viable option. Why? Because you use less! Usually a puddle the size of a dollar coin in the palm of your hand is enough. If you need to use any more than that either the shampoo’s a dud or you have exceptionally long hair!
• Brilliance sprays and polishes revitalize dry hair, refine colour tones and provide natural-looking shine. Buy them from your hairdresser.
• Dandruff is scruffy. It’s a telltale sign of over-processed dry hair on the head of someone who is careless about their grooming.
• Newer anti-dandruff shampoos quickly clear up dry-scalp induced dandruff.

A stroll down the hair-care aisle in a mass beauty or store will assure you there are plenty of products available at competitive prices to address any hair issue you have. Take your time and read the fine print on the labels. Take your reading glasses!

We're coming to Colouring the hair in the next few days - watch this space! Kisses, Dawn