HELEN CHARLES

HAIR & BEAUTY IN STYLE AWARD-WINNING HAIR

WITH HELEN CHARLES

Helen Charles is originally from North London. She has enjoyed an international career in the hair industry and is a much respected figure in her field. Helen relocated to Cyprus in 2016 to enjoy semiretirement but due to her passion and love for hair, opened another luxury salon in Paphos. Initially, she did her hairdressing training at Vidal Sassoon, Knightsbridge and owned four salons in London, together with her husband Costas, who is also a hairdresser. They won the Wella ‘Prestige Colour Award’ in the year 1996 and a finalist place in the ‘Loreal Colour Trophy Awards’ in 2001. During this time, they were also honoured to receive the “Investors in People” award.

They moved to Weston, South Florida in 2004 and opened a salon with 29 staff. Soon the salon was starting to win awards, and it even won the award for being in the top 10 South Florida salons. She continues her career in hair education and stays at the forefront of fashion by visiting and attending courses regularly in London.

Here, Helen shares her top tips for fabulous hair and gives some insider secrets.

NEW SEASON, NEW INSPIRATION WITH TIPS FOR GOOD HAIR:

As the hotter season approaches, attention to hair care must be increased to avoid dull, lifeless and unruly hair. The following tips will help you to achieve the main trilogy of great hair - GOOD CONDITION, GOOD CUT, GOOD COLOUR!

1. DO NOT WASH YOUR HAIR EVERY DAY. This is not a myth! Although living in a hot country often means a lifestyle that requires taking showers more often, washing hair every day should be avoided. Removing natural oils can over some time result in oily roots, excessive shedding of hair and even hair loss. Switch to every other day for short hair and every 3rd day for long, ideally once a week. Using dry shampoo every day instead is a fabulous way to keep your tresses freshly styled.

2. ALWAYS BRUSH YOUR HAIR, EVERY MORNING AND NIGHT. I often hear clients claiming they cannot do much with their hair first thing in the morning and think their only option is to wash it. This could not be further from the truth. If the hair is washed and blow-dried into the usual style, the following morning the style can quickly be revived by rubbing the roots with a scalp serum for a few minutes and brushing back into style. This will give you the previous day’s look with no help from added water. A fabulous new product in the Genesis range by Kérastase is perfect for this purpose, as well as helping to strengthen the hair and eliminate hair thinning.

3. HAVE A DEEP SALON TREATMENT ONCE A MONTH. Although there are many home remedies one can do, it is beneficial to have an intensive professional treatment prescribed by a professional stylist once a month. A treatment, as the word suggests, needs to treat the main problems one has for the integrity of their hair. For example, if the hair is dry, is this dryness due to heat damage, chemical damage, hormone deficiency or over-washing? The cause needs to be determined before a product can be prescribed. Is the damage due to protein or lipid deficiency? Once this is analysed, buying incorrect products and having unsatisfactory results will be avoided.

4. DO NOT USE EXCESSIVE HEAT DURING STYLING YOUR HAIR. Overuse of straightening irons and old tools that overheat can cause tremendous damage to the hair. If the hair is curly and a straight result is required, a keratin treatment carried out by an expert will be the best solution. In some cases, the problem may be the frizz, which will only get worse by the usage of hot irons. Especially before a hot season when humidity is high, I firmly believe a keratin treatment, carried out by an expert, for easy styling and control of frizz is a

BONUS TIP! During the sunny and hot months, use heat protecting products when exposed to the sun, even for 5 minutes, as well as investing in a few hats or even trendy scarves for the coming season.

must. I would highly recommend the Discipline range of products by Kérastase as a “go-to” spray for this purpose.

5. HOW OFTEN SHOULD THE HAIR BE TRIMMED? To keep your existing style, every 6 weeks’ pay a visit to your stylist. After this period, you will have to blow dry with some change and be prepared to look different. If you are growing your hair, every 8-10 week intervals will be fine, providing no more than half a centimetre is removed. If a trim is not carried out within these periods, most people will experience breakage and difficulty in styling.

6. ARE EXTENSIONS BAD FOR YOU? If one would like to have long hair, but never managed to grow their hair longer than a certain length, this is because the length a person can grow their hair depends on their own anatomy. Each strand of hair will only grow to a certain length and start the shedding cycle. Although certain products will help to extend the length a little further, in some cases, the dream of long hair can only become a reality with extensions. However, attention to detail in the placement, method of fixing, quality and styling of extension is of utmost importance and requires expert help for perfect results.