It’s often said that a bad workman blames his tools however when styling your hair whether you are a professional or simply styling at home, life becomes a whole lot easier if you have the correct equipment. In this article I give you some simple guidelines to follow to take the stress out of styling at home.

1. Hair Dryers – I already gave you a taster of how to choose a hairdryer in a previous blog but let me recap on this subject. The hairdryer should be powerful, 1800 watts up to as much as 3600, this will assist in reducing drying time. A long flex to ensure that whether you’re home or away you’ll be able to plug in to these awkward sockets that are often hidden away especially in hotel rooms.  Two or three levels of heat control are essential and a cold shot button to fix the shape that you’ve created. Attachments are useful especially a nozzle to help refine and smooth the hair whilst drying form root to points. Most dryers these days have a filter on the back and this is very important because it will ensure that the motor is protected and doesn’t get clogged up but do remember to clean it regularly. And finally although not mandatory its handy if the dryer is light to hold.

2. Brushes – Pure bristle or Boar bristle brushes are more expensive; you could pay up to £40, but they would always be my first choice, why? Because they don’t hold the heat, meaning that the hair cools down more quickly and therefore ‘fixes’ the hair into shape for a longer lasting result with less chance of fly-a-ways . The size and shape of brush is also important. Does your style require a flat or round brush? Flat brushes would be the brush of choice when you want a relaxed or straighter look, a bend rather than a curl. These would be a Denman brush which has plastic bristles and a slight curve in the head of the brush, this will still enable you to style with a degree of tension. Alternatively you may favour a ‘vent brush’ which has spaces in the head of the brush facilitating faster drying time, this brush is first choice when less tension is required and will produce a finish which is more relaxed and similar to drying with the fingers. Then of course a round brush when root lift and volume are favoured, the size of the brush head will determine the degree of curl achieved. You will find these available in pure bristle as previously described or in the form of ‘ceramic’ brushes which tend to have metal barrels and shorter nylon bristles. These are light and tend to be cheaper than the bristle brush but they hold more heat therefore you must ensure that the hair is cooled down before brushing into shape. We ensure that all our trainees are equipped with wooden bristle as opposed to plastic ceramic.

3. Detangling tools- Never use a comb to remove tangles from dry hair nor use a brush to detangle wet hair instead use a brush to detangle dry unwashed hair and a wide toothed comb to detangle wet hair. This has always been my rule for detangling until the ‘Tangle Teezer ‘was invented. I would urge everyone, especially those with longer hair to INVEST in a ‘Tangle Teezer’ they make detangling so much easier. They are available in a variety of colours and sizes in our retail shop.