Bad Hair Days

Apart from the few times when I've had a disaster at the hands of inept hairdressers (a Kevin Keegan type perm springs to mind, plus a savage pudding-basin inflicted by my gran), my hair has always been low maintenance. I'm a wash and go type of girl: I can't be bothered with faffing about with products or heated rollers or straighteners. No, I wash it and leave it to dry naturally, pushing waves into shape with my hands.

I've been lucky that my hair has been inclined to wave, and a hairdresser I discovered a couple of years ago (Helen at Zekana, local salon) really understands this and cuts it to best effect and then dries it with a diffuser so it goes really curly.

But, here is the rub: for the last few months my wave has all but disappeared. Helen noticed the last time she cut my hair, and said it might be down to the hair colourant I use, or the shampoo and conditioner. I changed all of these - but the problem is still there.

Now I know how a bad hair day can affect your mood for the whole day. From never having to worry about my hair, I'm now gloomy and wondering if I should get it cut shorter (although short hair never did anything for me, and I have photos from throughout the 90s to prove it).

My next "solution" is to try a clarifying shampoo. I'm thinking perhaps years of using polymer type shampoos and conditioners have created build-up. It may indeed by many years of using colourants. My hair has always been quite strong and resilient, but who knows?

My main fear is that it is age related. Let me tell you, after the age of 45 the ageing process seems to accelerate. It's harder than ever to keep the weight off (even if you're the same weight as you were a few years ago, the fat distribution is somehow different!) and you start to wonder about Botox and Restylane. Now add "bad hair days" to the list. Ho hum!