Wash and Wear for Every Hair

Leading hairdresser & Master Stylist Sarah Ekberg shares her expert knowledge on how to achieve that effortless, low maintenance, 'French Girl' style - even if your hair is thick, curly or frizzy.

SOME HUMANS ARE JUST BLESSED

Then there's the rest of us.

Those with curls, thick and course hair, or humidity-sensitive strands aren't quite that low maintenance. It can take an army of heat styling and taming products to look effortless.

Paloma Rose Garcia is passionate about working with the natural texture of her clients' hair to create lived in styles, and educate them in how to achieve hair that they can 'wash and wear'.

The secret? Approach your hair care like you do your skincare regime. It takes care and consistency, Sarah says.

Here, Sarah shares her wisdom on downing the tools and embracing your natural hair.

"I’ve been hairdressing for nearly 20 years now and I’ve found myself more and more attracted to seeing my guests with their hair in its natural form.

Many of my guests, particularly females, get stuck in this really awful vicious cycle of over styling their hair because they feel it doesn’t sit well naturally.

Personally, my eye gravitates towards women with natural looking hair. I think it’s so beautiful, ageless and timeless. A true test of an incredible haircut is the ability to wash and wear your hair.

There is a journey I take my clients on to achieve this.

They need to work at it. It’s like working on your skin with regular maintenance in order to get to a stage of wearing no make up. Hair is no different. For some with certain hair types, it comes more naturally to them, they’ve always been able to wash and wear.

Others have to work harder at it and invest in it. But it is achievable.

THE CUT

The three main factors to determine the suitability of a haircut are lifestyle, face structure and hair type.

If the hair is really fine, you don't want to have it really long because it will just look stringy. Instead, sit it above the shoulders.

If your hair strands are thick and course, you can wear it longer. It needs to be longer and heavier to have weight in it so it doesn’t sit out, like a bush. So you are working with gravity and weight.

Also key is weight distribution. If some areas of the hair are really thick and you can remove some of the weight in order for it to sit well - we try to work in rectangular shapes. At the same time, I always work to accentuate my guest’s favourite facial features through the shape.

IN SALON

I have a lot of guests come in with really thick textured hair and leave silky - it’s like a different head of hair.

It removes the frizz, while keeping the movement, curls and body. Keratin is a game changer, it transforms hair into low maintenance, easy hair.

The treatment is in salon only and takes about three hours. It costs between $430 to $600 depending on the length and thickness of your hair, and the treatment lasts three to four months. 

After cleansing, there are two opportunities to add styling products into the hair, and the rule is: wet products on wet hair, and dry on dry.

When you get out of the shower with freshly washed hair, you can add in extra hydration with leave-in conditioners, porosity equalisers, or curl enhancing products - your wet products.

STYLE

Once you’re out of the shower and put through your conditioning or styling products, wrap it up in a towel for 10 minutes. 

Then let it out and blow dry the front pieces, to get those smooth around your face so you feel polished. You leave the rest to completely dry on its own until it’s bone dry.

If you have curlier hair, take 1cm sections and twist them tightly all the way through to the ends, in the direction it’s already going, and let that dry completely. Once it is bone dry, you can break it up a bit with your fingers. 

Curls and waves work in mysterious ways, but generally speaking the back of the head has the tightest curls and around the face is a bit haphazard and inconsistent. So you can also blow dry their fringe around the face and leave the rest to dry naturally.

We aim to reduce the use of heat styling at home as much as possible.

TREAT

Use a deeply hydrating and conditioning mask once a week. Every week without fail, I’ll use a refreshing treatment while I’m doing my washing on a Monday night.

Lastly, using a silk pillowcase, and laying with your hair up and above your head is helpful.

Getting your hair to a point where you can wash and wear is possible for all hair types, even for hair that is thicker, frizzier or curlier naturally.

But you have to treat your hair care like you would your skincare routine.

Invest in it, ensure the products you are using are suitable for your hair type and addressing its needs. "Healthy hair is the secret to wash and wear."