Beautiful Hair – Heat or No Heat?

beauty-with-silky-hairOur hair is very precious to us and our overall confidence, but it’s not just about your hair looking good. Being conscious of how you treat your hair will keep it healthy and strong, which is what is most important. With the warmer weather here, it is a great time to put the heated styling tools down.

We all know that using heat is damaging to our hair, and with the humidity, sweaty gym sessions and summer downpours, it makes sense to avoid putting heat on your hair on a daily basis. Trichologist Iain Sallis is a leading expert in hair related issues with 10 private clinics nationwide, he stresses:

Iain Sallis
Trichologist Iain Sallis

“The thing you need to remember about hair is that it is dead! No nerve endings, no blood vessels, so it cannot repair itself. Once it has been damaged the only thing you can do is use products to smooth the roughened cuticles down or cut the degree of damage down.

You can never rectify the damage once it is done! The main culprit for hair damage these days must be over use of heated appliances (straightening irons etc.)  As the hair is not built to withstand such intense heat, it becomes dry, dull, starts breaking and the only way to make it look better is to, yup you guessed it, use straightening irons on it again…And so the cycle continues.”

There are plenty of hairstyles that don’t require heat and look great. Braids are great example of a hair style that looks great and are a perfect option for second day hair. Iain Sallis offers some healthy hair tips to keep your hair in great condition:

  • Try not to super style your hair every day, use put-ups on second day hair.
  • Treat your hair – indulge in a really good hair mask and use it a few times during the week.
  • Go for a hair cut! Getting the dry, over styled split ends taken off will ensure your hair feels in top condition.
  • Eat right. Occasionally dry hair is naturally produced (along with dry skin) but this is exacerbated by environment and external usage of the wrong products and processing. Sometimes this can be helped internally by eating oily foods: salmon, sardines, mackerel, and by eating food rich in protein and Omega 3, 6 & 9 helps. However, this takes time, so a moisturising conditioner and styling aid would give quicker results. A deep penetrating treatment used on a weekly basis would help considerably.
  • Miss B

    Belinda Wanis, aka Miss B, is a Belle About Town who likes to bring a little bit of style into every aspect of her life. An experienced journalist with over 20 years in the industry she turned to the web, creating Belle About Town in early 2010, to fill a gap for tech-savvy stylish women who want the best life has to offer at their fingertips. She loves a decadent cocktail bar, a beautifully cut dress, cultural getaways, quality over quantity and is partial to Asian-fusion food. A globetrotter, who has lived in Australia, the UK and Denmark, she enjoys holidaying in the sun and you can often find her on a beach in Thailand or on shopping breaks in Sydney or New York. But her first love is, of course, London!