The simple guide to happy hair

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bacteria, brittleness, brushes, Busy lives, central heating, chop, coconut oil, cold winter months, combs, conditioner, conditioning mask, damage, damp cloth, dandruff, dark brown sugar, deep-cleansing shampoo, drink lots of water, dry naturally, drying, extreme cold, feeling lighter, germs, hair glossy, hairdresser, hairdryers, healthy, heated styling tools, heavy, homes, hydrated, ingredients, locks, longer styles, looking better, lotions and potions, massage, product build up, product residue, regular products, scalp, silicon heavy product, six to eight weeks, skin, snow, split ends, springtime ready, straighteners, super-stylish bottle, tongs, trim, warm water, week, work

Springtime is typically when we spruce up our homes and gardens, but it’s a great time to tackle our locks, too.

The wind and snow of the cold winter months, can cause drying, split ends and dandruff as well as product build up and a lack of bounce and shine.

We have put together a simple, but effective, plan to get your hair glossy, healthy and springtime ready.

Go for a chop
Before you do anything else, book in with your hairdresser and have a decent cut. Busy lives, and longer styles, can mean we leave having a cut for months, but this won’t do you any favours. A trim every six to eight weeks will not only leave your hair looking better and feeling lighter, but it strengthens it so you are less likely to have to deal with split ends and breaking due to brittleness.

Ditch the build up
Product build-up can leave hair looking lank and dull – the opposite of what we want if we are spending hard-earned cash on lotions and potions. Many people don’t know this, but silicon heavy products can, over time, cause build up on the hair shaft which can make it look and feel heavy. To bring your hair back to life, go for a deep-cleansing shampoo and conditioner, something different to your regular products, and wash two or three times a week and let it dry naturally whenever you can.

Put a mask on it
Once a week we suggest that you put a conditioning mask on your hair and let the ingredients get to work. There are some great options on the market, or you can keep things simple and massage coconut oil straight from the pot into your hair and you will feel a difference in no time at all.

Go for the scalp
Winter isn’t just hard on our hair, your scalp is constantly exposed to extreme cold outside then the warmth of central heating inside which can make skin dry and cause flaking. To combat the impact of the winter, mix two tablespoons of dark brown sugar, two tablespoons of fine oats and a tablespoon of olive oil together and massage into your scalp before washing away with warm water and shampoo.

Turn the heat off
We know you love them, but heated styling tools cause all manner of damage to your hair, so why not just turn them off for a week or two and let your hair dry naturally. Put hairdryers, straighteners and tongs away but before you do, give them a clean with a damp cloth to take away product residue as well as bacteria and germs, and this goes for your brushes and combs too.

Go H2O
We say this a lot but drink lots of water. As well as being great for your skin, it helps your hair, too. Buy yourself a super-stylish bottle and take it with you wherever you go to ensure you and your hair are totally hydrated all the time.

We hope these tips get your hair look great all summer long.

Team Pure-Beauty

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Ageing Beauty Issues – Thinning Hair

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ageing, blow dry, breakage, conditioner, cool, curling, dermalogica, Dermalogica Daily Cleansing Shampoo, Dermalogica Daily Conditioning Rinse, greasy, hair, hair care, heat, heat styling, oily, scalp, shaft, shampoo, straigheners, straightening, styling, thin, thinning, tongs, volume, volumising, washing

Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-black-tank-top-with-braided-hair-167704/(Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license)

One issue that many of our clients report to us is the feeling that their hair is thinning as they get older. It’s a common issue among women over the age of 40 and had a couple of underlying reasons – hormone changes can cause hair loss, whilst the actual shaft of the hair also thins naturally with age, so even if you don’t get a huge amount of actual loss, the bulk of your hair will feel depleted as you get older. There’s not a lot that can be done to reverse the biological processes which cause these problems, but there are a few things that you can do to improve the appearance of thinning hair, and we’ve got a few of them for you:

Use Lightweight Products

Keeping thinning hair clean is an absolute must because thinning hair will look exponentially worse if it’s greasy, however using heavy, oil-based products will do nothing but weigh your hair down even further, making already thinning hair look heavy and lank. Dermalogica Daily Cleansing Shampoo is a product designed for daily use and contains zero sulphates, whilst Dermalogica Daily Conditioning Rinse adds moisture to the hair without weighing it down, restoring softness and shine for vibrantly-healthy hair.

Use a Soft Brush

When the hair shaft starts to thin out, this will make it more prone to breakage, which could be a disaster for thinning hair. Opt for a brush with soft bristles which will glide through the hair rather than tugging at it and causing breakage.

Think About Your Style

Wearing thinning hair scraped back into a ponytail is only going to accentuate the thinning even more, especially if you can see your scalp through the hair. Wearing the hair loose and bouncy by blow drying it on a cool setting with a volumising product will help to create the illusion of volume and make your hair look thicker with little effort.

Get Your Vitamins

Hair loss and thinning can be a knock-on effect of vitamin deficiencies, usually vitamin D or vitamin B12. Many reports now suggest that “multivitamins” are of little use as our body simply excretes them before they have a chance to be absorbed, but taking individual vitamins, or getting them through your food, can still be beneficial. Liver is a good source of BOTH vitamin B12 and D, as are eggs and cheese.

Avoid Heat Styling

One of the biggest causes of damage to hair is heat styling, either with straighteners or curling irons, so avoiding using these when your hair is thinning is a good idea. Opt for straightening with a soft brush and cool blow dryer and curl with rags or soft curlers, depending on the diameter of the curl you want.

The perfect BBQ

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apron, BBQ, beef tomatoes, butchers, chicken, Chops, chutney, cook, corn on the cob, courgettes, couscous, cucumber, Frech bread, green salad, grill, hydration, lemon wedges, lumps, nibbles, olives, organic, oven, pasta, pasts, pitta, recipe, recipes, sausages, sides, summer, supermarket, tomoatoes, tongs, twist, well-seasoned

Whilst the weather might not be playing ball, we are still certainly making the most of the summer days and longer, lighter nights.

Wearing an extra jumper, putting an umbrella in your bag and having a weather app on your phone are all ways you can be prepared for whatever the great British weather throws at you.

Another summer winning is being sure are ready for a BBQ at the drop of the hat – even if you end up wearing it.

First, things first, get your kit right. The real essentials are an apron, oven gloves (heavy duty), good quality (not plastic) fish slice, foil and of course a pair of tongs so you reduce the chance of losing those tasty burgers in the ashes.

It is essential to place your BBQ on a flat even level and keep it away from bushes and tress to reduce fire hazards. On a health and safety note, you might want to have a bucket of water close to hand – just in case.

Get the right charcoal. It is really easy to pick up a bag of bricks at the supermarket, but if you want your food to taste great, you need to choice your fuel carefully. Lumpwood charcoal is an excellent choice. If you want to go pro and really impress your guests, chicory wood chips add amazing flavour and a professional twist.

If you want to achieve the perfect BBQ, you have to be patient. The secret is waiting for the flames to die down and for the coals to be grey and glowing. Once you have got to this point, you then need to ensure you control the temperature to ensure your food is well cooked.

What to cook is next on the list.

Keep it fresh, healthy and where you can, organic. Yes you can go to the freezer section of the supermarket and go for those tempting BOGOF offers, but they don’t really make the perfect BBQ cut.

If you have the time, go for homemade burgers. These are super-easy to make and taste phenomenal. Get some fresh, organic minced beef, mix with a little salt and pepper, shape into patties and get them on the grill. Cook them all the way through, serve in focaccia or pitta and those natural flavours will really stand out.

Chops, chicken and sausages are other BBQ favourites as are jacket potatoes! Local butchers stock an outstanding selection of organic, well-seasoned BBQ options and will be happy to talk about how best to cook them and even what wine works well! You can also look at vegetable kebabs using peppers, courgettes and beef tomatoes with corn on the cob.

Put out nibbles of course but go for healthy sides if you can. Make up a crisp, fresh green salad with olives, tomatoes and spinach. Homemade potato salad and coleslaw are always winners. Couscous and pasta are popular choices as is chunky French bread and of course, classic burger buns. Ketchup, mayo and mustard, well they go without saying, and chutney is a pretty good addition too.

We know people love a pint or glass of wine at a BBQ but also offer jugs of iced water with lemon wedges and cucumber to maintain hydration levels.

Next week we will be looking at some great, easy to make BBQ recipes we know you are going to love.