AS the cold weather sets in, our hair can change significantly. Here, celebrity hairdresser Luke Benson reveals 15 ways to protect your locks and simple styles during the chillier months.
9
Rock your roots
FOLLOW Kim Kardashian’s lead and rock your roots.
The reality star has just done the Dolce & Gabbana show with big black roots.
9
This balayage look has made it so much easier for people to avoid having a regular colour or to re-foil accent bits at the front, meaning you don’t need to have colour damage all the time.
Brushing
BRUSH with care. When your hair is wet, make sure you brush it only from mid-length to the ends — don’t go straight from the roots to the ends.
If you do that, any tangles from the top will get bunched up in the mid-lengths and it will be a mess.
Work in three, four and five-inch sections to the ends, depending on the length of your hair.
Then, when you do your last full stroke from root to end, it should just glide through.
If your mane is dry and has been tangled in the wind, do the same. When it’s dry, those flyaway bits will get knotted in.
No drying after rain
RAIN causes the same issues as humidity or any other kind of wetness in the air.
If you’ve got naturally frizzy hair, the rain will bring it out and undo what you’ve done when blowdrying it to make it smoother.
9
But don’t be tempted to dry it again — all that added heat will damage your locks.
Regular hair cuts
CUTS throughout the season are really important.
Even though hair grows out of the root, if the whole shaft isn’t healthy, it won’t grow at all.
The hair on the ends is more likely to break, so by nipping off the ends, you’ve got a fully healthy hair shaft which will encourage growth.
It doesn’t mean you need to have loads lopped off, just a maintenance cut every eight to 12 weeks. Autumn is a great time to have a snip. A lot of people wear their hair up more during the colder months.
So perhaps think about cutting off a good section of your length so it grows longer for the summer when you might be wearing it down more.
Dry naturally
EVERYONE thinks summer is the worst time for hair because of damage from UV rays.
But as the seasons change and the colder weather draws in, we often overdry our tresses, applying more heat than we would in summer.
Heat changes the surface of the hair shaft, creating little holes vulnerable to damage.
It makes your locks rougher — and rougher hair shafts don’t reflect the light like smooth hair shafts would — so your mane looks less shiny.
Give your hair a break. Drying it naturally is a good way to avoid damage.
Depending on your hair type, you may need some products — mousse, serum or oil — to help smooth it.
Plait’s the way
TO avoid styling with hot irons, plait your hair when wet then leave to dry for a few hours or even overnight.
Celebs like Blake Lively, below, love this relaxed, wavy and undone look.
9
And it’s really easy to achieve at home without styling.
Headbands
HEADBANDS are your friends — they don’t damage your locks and they are a great way to cover up if it’s wash day.
They’re also great to use if you’re due to get your colour done but you want to hold off for a few weeks.
You can cover up your regrowth line with a hairband.
Wear a hat
WEAR loose-fitting hats on the commute.
Hats are great for protecting your locks from the elements — and you don’t have to tuck all of your hair into the hat.
9
Why not try leaving the ends out and giving them a bit of texture so you’ve still got a cool look.
The wet look
KIM KARDASHIAN and Megan Fox, below, are just two fans of the wet look for the autumn and winter seasons.
Add mousse or a gel to wet hair and comb it through before scrunching it a little bit so there’s some element of shape
Then fix with hairspray and wait for the gel to dry.
9
Use a flat sectioning grip to separate areas.
Natural sway
IF you use heated styling wands, try to embrace your natural movement and don’t feel you have to straighten or curl your hair to within an inch of its life.
If you use a hair protector and re-tong certain areas while leaving some bits natural, it will look like it’s been “done” but you’ve not gone through the whole head with loads of heat and caused damage.
You can even put it up in a high ponytail and tong some bits at the front to give the impression you’ve styled all your tresses —
Beyonce is a fan of this look.
Tie hair loosely
FROM a fashion point of view, a loose bun or ponytail looks very cool, but it’s also better for your hair than a scraped-back ’do which can cause breakages.
A textured knot rather than a scraped-back ballet bun is not going to pull on your hair as much either.
9
Buy a good brush
WIND leaves your hair more tangled — so it’s important to avoid damaging your tresses when you brush those knots out.
Tangle teasers are a great option, especially if it’s rained and your hair is also wet.
9
And a really good boar- bristle dressing brush is great for laying the cuticle flat and making your hair look smoother.
Parade braids
IF your hair is in need of a wash, avoid drying products, including dry shampoos.
A good way to hide grease is to wrap a headscarf around your crown and braid it into your hair.
It’s a quick and interesting style.
And it will hide any greasy roots.
Avoid cheap hair bobbles
HAIR bobbles can damage the hair shaft. So for winter it’s worth investing in decent bobbles, which are kinder to wear.
Any that have material round the band, like scrunchies, are softer than ones that are mini-hair elastics.
9
Hailey Bieber, above, uses these types of ties to protect her locks.
They’ll hold the hair, but they’re not fully squeezing the shaft like an elastic bobble would.
Go darker
IF you’re naturally dark-haired, with highlights, then autumn is a great time to go back to your natural colour, as it means you will have no upkeep.
Lots of celebrities choose to let their hair go darker in winter and use highlights in the summer when the sun naturally lightens the locks.