Something else (perhaps trivial) this awful pandemic has shown us, is the impact our hair has on our mood and sense of self. During the early days of lockdown, our hair was the least of our problems while we were worrying about this unknown virus, then when lockdown life became more familiar, the state of our hair was a bit more amusing and a subject of conversation. But, by the end, an appointment with our hairdresser felt more precious than a toilet roll in March! Our hair really can make or break our day, so, with the thought of more possible restrictions coming into place over the winter months, I looked at ways to keep our hair Zoom-ready and mood-happy!
From what I gather from my brunette friends, they quickly became pros with box dyes (and most were really impressed with the quality of the products too) but for highlighted or balayage blondes, it wasn’t so easy. For many of us blondes, after a few weeks of growth, the roots stopped becoming the major problem; the issue lay more with the brassy tone of our hair! Mine literally went a pure metallic brass colour and flattering it was not! I already use It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In, £18 spray before blow-drying, which I love – I use the one for Blondes as it helps to de-frizz and de-tangle from the colour damage and also has UV and heat protection, but there are 7 Leave-Ins in the range for different hair needs, and all are incredible. It’s a 10 have also just launched the Miracle Brightening Shampoo, £19.50, which is the most striking tone of violet you will ever see (so Insta worthy) and the Miracle Clay Hair Mask for Blondes, £30 which removes all traces of brassiness in minutes! It restores colour and protects each strand of hair to leave them strong and shiny (a little goes a long way too, so expect the tub to last a while).
If flat, limp hair was your problem – so many people expressed to their hairdressers post lockdown that their hair was flatter than they ever experienced before, this was said to be a combination of adrenal stress, lack of exercise (i.e the circulation became sluggish) and lack of fresh air – Azure have got your back (or your rather, your roots), the Amplify Volumising Shampoo and Conditioner add oomph in the short term and long term. They give you that lovely, bouncy feel after the first wash, but overtime, the lightweight thickeners also boost up the individual strands to give an overall boost and fullness to the hair. If you fall into the #BigHairDontCare category, go for even more volume from your blow-dry with the Azure Amplify Featherweight Styling Cream, flipping and lifting your hair as you dry (unless you’re a frizzy girl like me where flipping and lifting coverts to trouble and strife! Our types always need to hold the hair taught when blow-drying but we can pull in an upward direction for more lift). Other products in the range have had mixed reviews but I can certainly vouch for the very clear volumizing effect of the amplify range, plus all Azure products are vegan and cruelty-free with 100% recyclable bottles too – as it should be.
Now for something really exciting that you won’t have seen before (unless you happened to be backstage at Victoria Beckham during London Fashion Week last month, where the hairdressers obsessed over this new haircare system they were using on their models….. no, me neither). I am certain that the technology of Reduit Precision Beauty is the future of all beauty. Yes, that’s a bold claim but here goes; think of the Beauty Apothecaries of yester-year whereby a customer would have their hair and beauty products made bespokely for them, with only the exact ingredients they needed for the desired effect. Fast forward a few years and this impractical business model evolved into something more familiar to what we see today; a wide selection of pre-made products with a good shelf-life, and of course necessary preservatives and bulking agents. I’d like to add; ‘preservative’ should not be considered a dirty word in beauty, there are many different types and they are absolutely necessary for a good shelf-life of a product (trust me, we wouldn’t want to be without them) but whether or not all the extra ingredients are good or bad, most are simply there to support the active ingredients in the products and their delivery into our hair or skin.
The Reduit (meaning ‘reduce’) device takes over the ‘delivery’ aspect and the Reduit hair and beauty ‘pods’ contain the actives – not only is waste reduced but, the coverage is better and you are not absorbing anything unnecessary that might weigh the hair down or clog the skin (it is usually these non-actives that cause irritation of the scalp or skin). **I will talk more about the skin pods another time because I’m a little bit obsessed with them and I don’t have enough space for all the gushing I would do about them in this article** But as for the hair pods, there are currently 6 types in the range with an LED version of each too; shampoo, conditioner, shine, strength, colour protect and volumising. The LED versions have the added benefit of LED light (obviously) to correspond with each pod i.e red LED in the Volume Mist to stimulate collagen production. I have mentioned once or few hundred times on StyleNest over the years, how frizzy my hair is, which in part is genetic but it is also hugely due to damage and the products I coat my hair with to try and protect it. Reduit has literally halted the cycle I found myself in, no longer am I weighing my hair down and clogging the follicles with heavy conditioners and serums that I came to rely upon, instead I am treating the inner part of the hair and lightly layering my pods for all my different hair needs – I don’t even use regular conditioner anymore, only Reduit’s Precision Conditioner! This is not a ‘quick-fix, instant results type product’ (although, you will notice how light and fresh your hair feels straight away), it is more about making your hair healthier and kind of self-sufficient – after all, the healthier our hair is, the more manageable it is. It’s fascinating stuff and such a pleasure to use too – I even use it on the kid’s hair – they need something more substantial than baby/toddler haircare ranges, but I don’t like the idea of all the silicones from ‘adult’ shampoos and conditioners covering their hair either. Reduit is perfect for them, although I’m a little shocked that I am so happy to share it tbh….
Last, I’d like to mention the notion of embracing the ‘old normal’. If you are a person that enjoyed having someone else blow-dry your hair, or if you are just really missing human interaction, I cannot recommend Duck & Dry more highly. Each salon has always been set out nice and spaciously but none more so that their stunning new salon in Islington – it doesn’t feel ‘Covid spaced out’ though, it feels like the same fun Duck & Dry style that so many of us have come to know and love; including the communal table for group bookings (this of course is Tier dependant but currently perfect for going with flatmates or people in your bubble for a different and fun trip out of the house!). Duck & Dry give plenty of time between appointments for sanitising, and of course, all staff wear masks and provide hand gel for everyone – it’s not clinical, just reassuring. The Islington salon, conveniently, has the most beautiful nail bar too (file and polish, £15), very pandemic-friendly to get everything done under one roof! I’ve been twice since the salons reopened and it was honestly soul lifting! It felt like such a treat and I was more grateful than ever to be there – if you are comfortable doing so, get out of the lockdown funk and remind yourself what it feels like to be glam again!
It’s a 10: www.itsa10haircare.co.uk
Azure: www.boots.com
Reduit: www.currentbody.com (skincare also on www.lookfantastic.com)
Duck & Dry: www.duckanddry.com