If you’re back from your summer holidays and your (relaxed or natural) hair is slightly worse for wear, what can you use for some intense afro hair care?
We tried really hard to be good; we wore our factor 30 every day and sprayed our hair with Paul Mitchell’s Sun Shield Conditioning Spray (£13.25) every time we went into the sun – we finished a 125 ml bottle in 16 days. It wasn’t quite death by all inclusive (thank goodness the sun sweats away all that extra food) but we ate more and exercised less than we planned.
On the plus side, the ombre – which was beginning to fade – has lightened considerably in the sun which saves a trip to the hair salon. On the down side, wearing our hair au naturel in all that sun, sea and sand has left it more than a little fried.
If your hair has also just returned from the summer sun – or you’re lucky enough to live in a place where it’s always sunny – try these tools and tips to help your hair recover.
There’s No Such Thing As Too Much Conditioner
Before we got on the plane home, we gave our hair a final co-wash in the lovely soft Caribbean water (London water is notoriously hard). We plastered it in Moroccanoil, put it in a ponytail and plaited the ends. Allow that to marinate on the plane ride home.
£28.48
Have A Deep Conditioning Treatment When You Get Home
As we had a co-wash before we left our destination, we figured the hair wasn’t dirty already so had another co-wash, this time with something a bit more intensive. We used Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Conditioner (£16.55) which contains argan oil, keratin, fatty acids and protein to detangle and reconstruct the hair. Be generous when applying; the sun is not your hair’s friend and this conditioner will help undo some of the damage it caused.
£16.55
Bring Out The Big Guns
With the intensive conditioner still on your hair, try the new Hair Therapy Wrap (£24.95) available from curly hair specialists Gidore. It’s like a heat/steam treatment in the comfort of your own home. Heat the gel packs for 45 – 80 seconds in the microwave, insert the heated packs (carefully) into the slots inside the bonnet and leave on for a minimum of 20 minutes, no electricity, wires etc; you’re free to go about your business wearing it (you won’t want to go outside in it as it is not attractive). We wore ours for 45 mins as that’s how long it took for the gel packs to turn stone cold and we figured the more conditioning heat the better.
£24.95
Style
Once you’ve rinsed it all out in warm water, apply generous amounts of argan oil paying particular attention to the ends and/or any lightened bits. As we’d been curly for three weeks we wanted to go straight so we applied two pumps of Label M Relaxing Balm (£12.49), two 5p sized pumps of Moroccan oil (can you tell we’re fans of the range?) and blow dried in sections. We added more Moroccan oil to particularly thirsty parts of the hair and then straightened with our trusty BaByliss Pro Ceramic 230 (£34.49) irons.
Although our hair certainly feels better, it’s going to take more than one conditioning session to get it back to its glossy goodness, so this is a process we are prepared to repeat for at least the next four weeks.
What are your hair recovery tips and tricks?
