There are a lot of hair products out there today. A lot, a lot. There are styling products that promise to make your hair thicker, smoother, blonder, curlier. But a lot of the time, none of this will work if you haven't got the essentials down. The haircare essentials that ensure your hair is healthy and happy are often the most simple part of a haircare routine.

If you're a bit overwhelmed and not really sure where to start with your haircare, here's a good place to begin:

1. A Good Shampoo

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Starting with the very basics of haircare essentials, a good shampoo. The perfect shampoo for you will enhance your best hair features and work to protect your hair against damage. Everyone's hair is different, it's important to get a shampoo that works for your specific hair type.

We can recommend staying away from shampoo containing silicones. Silicones will coat your hair strands and create a short term shine however it masks the real condition of your hair. The silicone builds up over time and prevents any real moisture from penetrating your hair.

In order to find your perfect shampoo, there are a number of factors to consider. Such as:

1. Your scalp type (oily or dry). The dryer your scalp, the more hydrating your shampoo needs to be. There are also specific shampoos to tackle dandruff.
2. Ingredients. This is particularly important if you have a sensitive scalp. Looking at the ingredients of a shampoo can be overwhelming, a few nasty ingredients to look out for include Parabens, Synthetic Fragrance, Silicones, Alcohol, Sodium Chloride.
3. Your hair texture. If your hair is thin, you may want to try a volumising shampoo. There are specific shampoos for curly hair to enhance your curls, moisturising shampoos for smoothing coarse hair. See what works best for your hair texture.
4. Coloured hair can be treated with a special colour shampoo. A lot of these ensure that your colour lasts longer, preventing fade with washing. Blondes will benefit with a special lilac shampoo to fight yellow tones.
5. Recommendations from your hair stylist. Ask your hair stylists which shampoo they would recommend for your hair type. We are always so happy to advise our clients on products.

A few of our personal favourite shampoos include KMS Moist Repair and  Goldwell's Just Smooth but it's important you find what works for your hair type.

The most important thing is that you find a shampoo that makes you feel good about your hair.

2. A Hydrating Conditioner

Where shampoo opens the hairs cuticle to gently clean, conditioner seals the cuticle, locking the good nutrients in and the bad stuff out.

Follow the same steps as above to find the perfect conditioner. Most haircare companies have a matching conditioner for every shampoo, so once you find your perfect shampoo, it's likely that a matching conditioner is available. However sometimes our hair likes the shampoo but not the conditioner, and that's ok! You can often mix and match shampoos and conditioners to find what is right for you.

Our most recommended conditioners include Olaplex #5 and Goldwell's Just Smooth

3. Leave in Conditioner/ Conditioning Treatments

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Applying a leave in conditioning treatment once a week isn't just fun for a gals night in, it can work wonders for your hair. All year round, our hair takes a battering. The cold winter months leave our hair starved of moisture and too much of the summer sun can dry out hair equally as quickly. A weekly conditioning treatment can give our hair a much needed lease of life. Similarly to a shampoo and conditioner, there are so many treatments available for all different hair types, once you find what shampoo and conditioner work for you, it is easy to find a matching treatment.

One tip for those with an oily scalp: you don't have to apply the treatment to your scalp and roots. If the ends of your hair are dry but your scalp tends to get greasy, simply apply the conditioning treatment to the ends and body of your hair and leave out your roots.

We will always recommend Olaplex to our clients with colour/bleach damaged hair, the bond rebuilder followed with conditioner is a life saving combo that we have seen work miracles for our clients.

4. Dry Shampoo

Finally on our list of haircare essentials, dry shampoo. Where would we be without dry shampoo. It's a life saver if you've skipped wash day and your hair needs a little pick me up. Dry shampoo will absorb oil in your roots, reducing the greasy hair look and increasing volume and body. It's so much easier than actually washing your hair, but you do want to use dry shampoo sparingly to prevent any excessive build up.

There are a number of dry shampoo products available in drugstores and online today including a special range for brunettes that prevents the white residue.

Our personal favourite is the Goldwell Extra Volume Dry Shampoo for thin hair that creates maximum volume with minimal colour fading.

You can find haircare essentials on our online shop here. We have products available for so many hair types, so check it out! See your hair change completely when you get the essentials right ❤️