Hair care: the simple steps

When my partner was ill and delirious sometimes, he slept on my hair. “I’ve never met anyone with hair wilder than yours,” he said. “When we are not sleeping together, I miss waking up with your hair in my face.” When my children were young, they loved my hair too, tangling the long strands in their sleep.

(1) Fact: I have not seen a hairdresser for six months because I have none where I live. The last time I saw a hairdresser was my usual guy, Joey at Richard Ward in Sloane Square. Then, it was for a sad reason: Joey had to cut my hair shorter because the cancer treatment was making it fall out.

(2) I dare not colour it because radiotherapy has made my skin sensitive. This colour is what I call ‘Phuket gold’ – I swim in the sea (never in the swimming pool because of the chlorine) and just let it dry naturally in the sun. I leave it like this until the evening. The combination of sea salt, sand and sun gives it the natural highlights.

(3) Sulphates in shampoo. That’s what makes hair brassy, dry and brittle!!! Use sulphate-free shampoo. I use stuff from Neals Yard (which is also paraben-free – so important!) but they are very expensive in Asia. So I have taken to just rinsing my hair out thoroughly every evening and conditioning the ends.

(4) Moisturising. I eat a lot of nuts. I believe moisturising from inside is far more effective – it is also for the skin, nails, etc. So yes, I spend a lot on nuts.

(5) Good habit #1. I brush it every night. My Ma used to brush 100 strokes of my hair every night. Now my partner does it, haha. He finds it therapeutic. It distributes naturally secreted oils from the scalp to the ends.

(6) Good habit #2. Massage your scalp to stimulate it. Fortunately for me, my partner is good at Indian head massage and loves playing with my hair.

(7) Good habit #3. Headstands! It brings more blood circulation to the scalp.

(8) Be happy. Your hair, skin, eyes, etc, reflect your mental state.

At the end of the day, it is down to Nature; it is down to our genes. We can’t alter nature, we can only look after what She gives us.

Here’s a photo my partner took. As he says, ‘Your hair is a symbol of your fertility. It’s a constant reminder to me to be vigilant!” 😛