Five things to do while you wait for your hairdresser to open

Between the regrowth of pesky roots, surpassing the six weeks between mandatory trims and just missing the therapeutic experience of a morning at the hairdressers, we’re in this together.

See below for a compilation of the best ways to take control of your mane from the comfort of your own home.

1. Time to treat

Being at home (and with very few reasons to leave) means that you have the luxury of being able to slap a treatment on your hair while you take care of everything else. Seek out deep conditioners that list avocado, amla or argan oil as their main ingredients. Work the product through your hair generously, and leave it to do its magic while you spend the morning responding to emails.

2. Try something new

The scariest part of trying something new with your hair is the fear of what others will think. The lockdown has us all confined to our homes, so it’s a great time to experiment without dreading the commentary from your co-workers on your new look. Aim for a simple makeover through some good old box dye, a change in the way you style your hair or head over to YouTube to learn how to work with what you have.

3. Let it breathe

There is no better time than now to let your hair just do its thing. Many of us know the realities of heat damage, and this would be a perfect time to take a little break. Oil your scalp, avoid too much pulling and tugging, and give it some extra TLC by sleeping with a silk scarf or on a satin pillowcase. Who knows, you might end up ditching the curling tongs for good.

4. Skip a wash

Our day-to-day lives might have us cleansing our hair more than we should, and in turn stripping our hair of its natural oils. This results in dry strands and even breakage. If you were washing your hair every day before lockdown, try and do it every other day now that you’re at home. For curly girls and those who wear their hair in its natural state, opt for a co-wash instead (washing hair with conditioner instead of shampoo).

5. Find comfort online

The online community for any and everything has grown exponentially in the presence of the global pandemic, and this rings true for hair care too. This includes a visit to virtual salons like thehairstyler.com to try out that new color before committing to it in real life, or logging on to your favorite hairfluencers socials to pick up some inspiration for your next lockdown look.

And though we may not be able to achieve the perfect blowout at home, we can find joy in being good to, experimenting with and celebrating the hair that we do have.

This content has been created as part of our freelancer relief programme. We are supporting journalists and freelance writers impacted by the economic slowdown caused by #lockdownlife.

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