How to Keep Your Hair Looking Good at Home

Just Like Honey

Hairstylist Alex Brownsell started Bleach London in her kitchen sink, bleaching and dyeing friends' hair with homemade colours, until her number one customer Sam Teasdale convinced her they needed to turn the idea into a real business. The result was the world’s first salon focused on colouring, rather than cutting. Ten years, three locations and a groundbreaking product launch later, Bleach London now ships an ever-evolving selection of hair care and colour products all over the world, and their products have become a must-buy for all blondes.
Their latest addition to the range, Just Like Honey, promises to transform fading, bleached blonde hair to a golden honey colour. Alex sees it as the next big colour trend. ‘It’s a good low-maintenance colour – and one you can achieve yourself at home if you’re already blonde. It’s a warmer, softer alternative to cool-toned ashy or silver blondes,’ she says. ‘And it needs fewer toning treatments between dyes or salon visits, because bleached hair naturally has warm or yellow undertones.’ (Just Like Honey, £6.50 bleachlondon.com)

The Miracle System

Josh Wood’s unique Miracle System is an easy way to achieve perfect at-home colour. With over 30 years in the industry, Josh is called on by celebrities and fashion designers around the world for his genius with hair colour. Luckily, he’s bottled his passion and expertise for you to use at home. How does it work? Permanent hair colour opens hair cuticles to allow colour to penetrate and then locks the colour in, and whilst conditioners are usually added after this stage (to the surface of the hair where they can easily wash away) the Miracle Shot is added during the actual colour process to condition deep into the hair shaft, before the cuticle closes, for longer-lasting colour and super shine. (The Miracle System, £29 joshwoodcolour.com) 

TLC from Kérastase

Hair fading fast? Colour-treated hair tends to need a little more TLC. Preserve precious hair colour for longer by using the right shampoo. Where many shampoos strip the colour from your hair or leave your locks dry and unmanageable, shampoos specially formulated to take care of colour-treated hair work to revive your colour. Not only will your colour last longer, it’ll look richer too. Kérastase's specially-formulated shampoo helps neutralise nasty external aggressors, a clever blend of UV filters and vitamin E help prevent fade from hash water particles, whilst the inclusion of rice bran oil improves light refraction so hair looks even glossier. (Reflection Bain Chromatique, £21.10 Kérastase at Hooker & Young, salons regionwide)

Stressed Locks 

Stress has taken its toll on our hair as well as our mental health. Stress-induced hair loss can be, well, stressful – but it shouldn’t be ignored. There are products that can help, including Minoxidil, a topical treatment which helps regrowth. For many, hopefully it is only a temporary problem, in which case just being gentle with your hair and scalp can make a difference. Dove’s Demacare-Anti Dandruff Shampoo, £3.99, is dermatologist recommended to help reduce hair loss by helping to remove any build up of dead skin cells over the scalp that can inhibit healthy hair growth. It also reduces irritation and scratching, which can exacerbate hair loss. Nutrafol is a supplement containing botanicals to reduce follicle damage and vitamins and minerals to help regrowth. (Nutrafol, £64 nutrafol.com) 

Colour Trends 

When it comes to new colour trends, it seems silhouette slicing is set to be the new balayage. ’Put down the makeup brushes now, there’s a new form of contouring in hand that’s going to go to your head’, says Seniz Alkan, colour director at London’s Neville Salon. Silhouette slicing is the hair equivalent of contouring. ’It’s about shadow placement and a clever use of light and dark tones that throw shadow and light onto your face in just the right places,’ Seniz explains. ‘For a heart-shaped face lighter pieces are woven around the jawline and ears to soften the bottom half of the face. By mixing fine, light tones with depth at the roots, the face takes on a slightly more oval shape.’

Bang-on Trend

And whilst we’ve all been forced to miss hair cuts this year, it seems that as a result many of us are determined to be a bit bolder with our choice of hair cut and colour for 2021. History shows how much our resilience is reflected in the simplest things – and yes, that includes hair styles – witness the post-war Victory Roll. A bold cut can lift spirits, so whether you are simply seeking a shorter, blunt-end, ’power’ bob, want to sport a pixie crop, or perhaps go 70s super-shaggy, this is the year. One of the biggest trends is predicted to be 70s curtain bangs, on both straight and curly hair, followed by more experimental flashes of colour. So, why bangs? Well they are sexy, and they do look good on everyone, plus they are super versatile. Unlike a classic fringe, curtain bangs part down the centre and are brushed loosely to either side of the face. Rather than being blunt and defined, they’re wispy and soft, creating a romantic, French-girl effect. That’s the new big bang theory anyway…