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You are here: Backpacker Resources > Travel Tips for Women > Damaged Hair

Damaged Hair

In this edition I pondered the damage done to the everyday hair of the everyday backpacker. With different water types around the world, a rush to get ready with no time, or chance, to blow dry your hair, a stolen moment with a new friend’s unfamiliar hair straighteners here and there, and a tight budget it can be hard to sling shot around the globe and come out the other side looking like anything other than a giant fuzz ball. Charged with combating that look, I let Beauty Terrorist off the leash and here’s what she retrieved.

Identifying and Avoiding the Causes of Bad Hair

It’s never been proven that running around with wet hair causes illness (unless you’re in the artic and it’s a loss of body heat deal) but it has been proven that leaving long hair to dry naturally causes split ends. On the flip side if you use a hair dryer too often the intense heat causes the hair to become singed and yes, that’s right, you get split ends this way too.

So what do you do if you can’t go natural or plug in a hair heater? Well the trick is to work out a formula that works for your hair. For example, if it’s naturally glossy then towel dry your hair for the most part and finish it off with a short blast on the hair dryer. If like so many others you have a little frizz issue then again towel dry most of the moisture and then comb a serum in, allowing your hair to dry while absorbing said nourishment.

Products for Everyday Use

If you’re going to use heat then you need to protect your hair before you switch on the straighteners or power up the blow dryer. Most hair care ranges market several heat protector sprays but the one that always works and gives you six months usage out of a 50ml bottle is floor polish. I kid you not. Laminates Drops from Sebastian are actually based on the chemical formula of a clear floor polish, with a few clever modifications built in, to make sure you don’t end up looking like the wooden floor from your school assemblies.

If you’re wondering about the leave in serums for frizzy hair, then John Freeda does a mean range of Frizz-Ease hair products that are affordable and gentle enough to use on a day to day basis. Just brish your hair when it’s wet, apply a little of this to a comb and run it through your locks. You’ll notice the difference after the first use – I swear.

The Once in a While Luxuries

Have you ever wondered why your hair is so very malleable after a wash and dry at the salon? Maybe it’s the expert head massage or perhaps it’s the way they dry it? It isn’t. The explanation is simple – chemicals. The cleansers and conditioners applied during your follicle scrub are super concentrated in order to make your hair more pliable during the cutting session. Now these products I speak of are too intense and expensive to use on a daily basis, but, once or twice a week . . . well that’s a different matter!

For a once a week treat look into a product from Sebastian called Potion 9. It’s a classic professional hair care regular and all you do is rub a pea sized amount through damp hair. If you simply leave it you are left with flowing and luxuriously soft, and wavy locks. If you blow dry it at this stage, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how much more cooperative you hair is.

If you’re a more than once a week - kinda girl and you want some serious hair bounce and professional gloss on a regular basis, then try adding Sebastian Body Double to your damp hair after every other wash. You need to activate this one with heat so a hair dryer or diffuser is a must with this product. When this sweet smelling potion gets warmed up it volumises, but it’s not the bad kind of Poodle parlour volume. It’s tameable and without hair spray, sticks to a pattern from there on it. Beautiful stuff.

Online Bargains To Be Had

This is a short and sweet tip before we say our goodbyes for the month, but if you want some serious professional product power at ridiculously low prices and you don’t mind trying out new things, then check out the Outlet Store on hqhair.com. Treats of all cosmetic varieties start at just £1 and if you’re in a hostel for more than a couple of days, postal delivery isn’t a problem. Go on. Be bad. Treat yourself.

- Rob Savage