Change it up!!

Having a hair salon attached to our Clinic is great! 

The stylists give me great hints and tips.
I am usually very boring when it comes to my hair, I have had it styled long and blonde for years. The day before going on my travels to Australia I decided on a total change and cut my hair to a short bob. I found it very difficult to manage and blowdry properly. 

Since then I have let it grow back to it's long boring self again. 

Having had the same look for years Alan Bruton (the managing Director of Reds) convinced me to try another new look. Knowing a short cut was out of the question, he layered my hair and cut in a thick, long fringe. I have to say at the beginning I was very nervous as I really felt it wouldn't suit me and I am not the best at managing new looks. 

It took some time and a lot of practice but I have finally mastered the art of blow drying my own hair!

Its very important to use the correct type of brush. I have a variety of different sized round brushes. I use the smaller one on my fringe and medium to large ones on the rest of my hair. I picked these up in Hairspray, 7.99Euro for the smaller ones, 9.99Euro for the large ones. 



I purchased my hairdryer from Peter Marks, it is the same dryer the stylists use in salon. It's called TurboStratos 3800. It cost 59.95Euro. A good hair dryer makes a huge difference to your styling experience. A higher wattage rating will give high power to produce a strong, steady supply of air. Also make sure that the dryer itself is not too heavy. To get the best blowdry, take small sections of your hair at a time and use a medium sized round brush, rolling it as you move the drier down the length of hair. I use soft rollers on the top sections to give some extra volume. 
For a straight and sleek look go for a paddle brush. If you want more volume with 'soft curl' ends use a round brush. The larger the round brush, the more volume. Try avoid metal bristles, these can be quite harsh. Hairdressers are trained to use them. We may end up with a lot of breakage if we don't use them correctly.

It is very easy to get frustrated with blow drying your own hair. I almost gave up trying to do it as it can be time consuming. But, keep practicing.
Always try to air dry your hair a little first, if you start with very wet hair, you may need a lot of time. It also leads to too much heat on the hair.
When hair is wet apply your serum to help contain frizz/ protect from heat. I am now addicted to Redken hair products. I have everything from their shampoo and conditioner, to their mask, even my hairspray and mousse are Redken. Having blonde hair it's difficult to keep the ends from splitting and becoming dry but since I've started using Redken, it hasn't been an issue. I like to start with the back of my head as it is trickiest part.
 Go over each section a couple of times until it is completely dry. If you leave it wet, it will frizz up and affect the overall finished look.

Recently two of my cousins cut their hair in aid of 

The Rapunzel Foundation.

The Rapunzel Foundation is working to boost the level of hair donation in Ireland. They are doing this in order to increase the supply of the high quality untreated human hair which is used in the manufacture of wigs for people with alopecia and long term hair loss. Across Ireland the Foundation is creating an awareness of alopecia, a condition which can often have a social stigma attached to it due to a lack of understanding and information. 
The Rapunzel Foundation is financially assisting children and adults with alopecia who wish to wear a secure, comfortable, natural-looking human hair wig.

The donation needs to be 12 inches in length and untreated (no colour or highlights). It takes 20- 25 ponytails of hair to make one wig!

Their new fab looks!!

I'm so proud of them as not many young women would be willing to do this. Both had been growing their hair for years but are now loving their haircuts! 

http://www.rapunzelfoundation.com/rapunzel-support.html