Over the past two years, I’ve quietly achieved something I once thought was beyond me: I’ve grown my hair to the longest it has ever been and, better again, I’ve resisted the near-compulsive urge to chop it all off the minute it grazes my collarbone.
Historically, that’s been the pattern. I have fine hair, but plenty of it, and for years, there was a tipping point. The length would extend, the ends would begin to thin into that telltale rat’s tail-like wisp, and suddenly I’d be sitting in front of my hairstylist, Kate, murmuring, “Maybe just above the shoulders?”
This time, though, it’s different. At a recent colour appointment, Kate said my hair was in the best condition she’d ever seen it. The density at the ends was – for the first time – on par with the roots.
Before you jump to the conclusion that this miraculous change involved a dramatic overhaul in my haircare routine or shelves of new products, I can assure you the changes I made were small, but mighty.
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The first was almost embarrassingly basic: I started washing my hair properly. Not the quick wet-lather-rinse we may think is sufficient, but an actual cleanse. With the mountain of dry shampoos, texture sprays and other styling products we layer on throughout the week (just me?), a single shampoo rarely cuts it any more. The double cleanse (washing twice) works wonders. The first wash loosens product and oil, the second cleans the scalp and lengths.
After that comes treatment. For the past two years, I’ve been devoted to Kérastase Chroma Absolu High Shine Treatment (€58 from lookfantastic.com). I’m lucky to have a reasonable shine to my hair, but since incorporating this, it’s taken on a mirror-like finish (on a recent work trip, I bumped into a colleague I hadn’t seen in a while and she bypassed the usual greetings to ask what I was using on my hair because it looked so shiny).
The beauty of this treatment is that it also doubles as a conditioner, so there’s no extra product or step involved, just the right one. It has a little pointed applicator, which I shake through the ends and lengths of my hair, leave for two minutes, then rinse. My hair feels silky soft afterwards, and it doesn’t weigh it down either.
Next comes one of the other simple changes I made, that’s made all the difference: I invested in a wet brush that doesn’t pull or yank on the hair. I had been using a Tangle Teezer for years, but once I started using the wet brush, I realised how often the Tangle Teezer snagged in my hair.
I opted for the Oribe Flat Brush (€112 from Space NK) – definitely an investment, but a worthy one. I have more hair as a result – it glides through with no pulling, and there’s much less hair sitting in the bristles after I brush.
The final step before styling is hair oil. I used to apply oil sporadically, when the ends looked particularly bedraggled. I was using reactively rather than preventively.
Now, immediately after detangling post-shower, I work a pump through the mid-lengths and ends. My current favourite is Kérastase Elixir Ultime Hair Oil (€68 from Boots). It smooths, locks in moisture and creates a barrier between my hair and the avalanche of styling products that inevitably follow. After blow-drying, I repeat the process lightly on dry hair, focusing on the ends to tame flyaways and add more shine.
This week I’m loving ... Sol De Janeiro Rosa Charmosa Dewy Cream
New from Sol de Janeiro is Rosa Charmosa Dewy Cream (€21 for 75ml from Brown Thomas) – a fresh, fruity and altogether delicious twist on their bestselling body cream. It smells (and looks) like whipped marshmallow, layered with notes of pink pepper, passionfruit and amber. It’s intensely hydrating and leaves the skin with a luminous, radiant glow.
