Celebrity colourist shares 6 top tips to keeping your hair healthy and happy

Virgin Radio

21 Sep 2021, 13:07

Fed up of having a hair-mare? More haystack-vibe than Hollywood? Here's all you need to know from colourist-to-the-stars Louise Galvin on what to do and what NOT to do when it comes to maintaining the mane.

Speaking to Fabulous, the A-list hair guru has all the answers to keeping your barnet beautiful. And the good news it, it's much easier than you think... Here are six tricks to silkier, sexier hair...

1. Conditioner cons

She shared her tip about washing hair: "You put the conditioner on, half rinse (because that really disperses the product evenly), then separate it with your fingers because, remember, your fingers are always gentler on the hair, and then start brushing from the ends up.

“People in their 40s, 50s and upwards have really got to think about it because obviously their hair gets more fragile with menopause – hair does as we get older.”

2. Be careful with brushing

Brushing isn't as simple as it seems. She explained: “All these brushes like Tangle Teezer etc. they’re good, if people know how to use them properly, but most don’t.

“They just get the Tangle Teezer or the brush and start at the root.

“Now, because it does go through the hair quite well, it just slips through it.

“But if you actually looked at the brush afterwards, there would be a handful of hair in that brush.”

3. Don't over colour

She said: “As a consumer, whatever salon you’re going to, you’ve got to be a bit more aware.

“Look at what that colourist is doing.

“If you know you only want that grey touched up, or you just need that little bit of root done, watch they’re being careful and not being sloppy by overlapping your hair colour. 

“It makes a big difference.”

4. Avoid silicone in products

Louise said: “I hate silicone, I don’t have silicone in any of my products.

“Because, for me, that’s what gives that plastic-y build-up and your hair feels slippery, a bit sticky, and again, if your hair is fine, you don’t want that coated, slippery feeling because that’s how you get the build-up.

“Then all those big companies say, ‘Oh, now you’ve got to use a clarifying shampoo’.

“Well, of course you do, because you’ve got to strip out all the silicone!”

Louise explained: “Silicone is anything that ends in ‘-one’, so dimethicone, simethicone, silicone etc.”

5. Never double shampoo

Louise shared: “No one should be washing their hair twice a day every day, because then you’re over activating the sebaceous glands and then you end up with your hair getting greasier and getting rid of all the natural oils in the scalp,” explains Louise.

“Once is fine if you’re washing it regularly.

“If you’ve got fabulous, thick hair that only needs washing twice a week, then you definitely need two shampoos: Once to really get the bulk of the grease out and the second to clean it properly.”

6. Four products are more than enough

Louise explained: “You don’t need a thousand different hair products.

“You need a good shampoo, a good conditioner, a good treatment for when you want to have something a bit more intense, and then, if you use a styling product – that’s it.”

Glossy, shiny hair, here we come...