You’ll be surprised at the extent to which the state of your hair depends on the weather. Celebrity hairstylist Sapna Bhavnani, who runs her own salon in Mumbai, believes that if you get the basics right, you can never go wrong, regardless of the time of the year. “First things first. When it comes to your hair you need a cut that suits you the best,” she explains.
Another piece of advice from her is not to play around too much with your natural hair texture. A lot of women get their hair straightened or permed just for the fun of it. This can actually do a lot of damage to your hair, so avoid getting that chemical treatment done unless your hair is in terrible shape.
On the subject of hair care for different seasons, Sapna swears by the time-honoured basics of a good shampoo and conditioner. “If you have those in place, then you are set. But remember to change them according to the season, for example, during summer use a mild, daily-use shampoo and follow up with a leave-in serum as you might have to wash your hair daily. During the monsoon, use a stronger shampoo that will restore the shine in your hair, while in winter you could switch to a moisturising shampoo because that helps to keep static at bay,” she recommends.
One of the biggest problems women face is frizzy hair. To tackle this, she advises, “Before you shampoo your hair, check the temperature of the water you will be using, it shouldn’t be more than mildly lukewarm. Hot water can make your hair more frizzy, so always wash your hair with cold water and dry your hair with a cool blast on the hair dryer.”
Not everybody has the luxury of time to style their hair on a daily basis.
“I believe that people who spend more than five minutes doing their hair are either self-obsessed or they have nothing else to do,” she quips candidly. “That’s why it’s so important that you have a good haircut — it solves a major part of the problem. Also, stick to simple styles like a ponytail, a loose chignon, or a French braid, which look neat and you can accessorise them depending on the time of the day,” she adds.