Bad Hair Days

Bad Hair Days

Tame the Tress Mess

You know the feeling: Up until yesterday, your hair looked fine. Well-behaved, no big surprises. Today, your formerly poufed hair is flat. Or boinking out in new directions. Or so staticky that you're afraid you'll electrocute yourself if you touch it.

You're having a classic bad hair day, and your knee-jerk reaction is to dunk your head in a bucket of water and start over. What happened?

WHEN GOOD HAIR GOES BAD

Your environment--internal and external--can affect the way your hair looks. So can using too many hair-styling products.

Whatever the cause, here are some instant ways to fix various causes of bad hair, recommended by hair-care experts from Los Angeles to New York.

Soak your head. Dunking your head in the sink might not be a bad idea, says Yohini Appa, Ph.D., director of product efficacy at the Neutrogena Corporation in Los Angeles.

"More often than not, bad hair is caused by residue left by various products," explains Dr. Appa. Leave-in conditioners, styling gels and hair sunscreens all leave a residue on hair that builds up and eventually causes it to do something other than what you intend. Use a clarifying shampoo--a mild cleansing shampoo with no conditioners--to strip all the gunk from your hair. Lather and rinse thoroughly.

Condition it. Follow shampooing with a lightweight conditioner that's intended to detangle hair, says Dr. Appa. Look for one that's labeled "detangling conditioner" and follow the label directions. This type of conditioner is designed to keep hair smooth and shiny without leaving a heavy residue.

Go for the gel. If your hair is limp and flat, a small dab of gel can give it a lift, says Elizabeth Hartley, the West Coast creative director for Vidal Sassoon in San Francisco. When your hair is still damp, smear a dime-size dollop of gel into your hand, rub your hands together, then lean over from your waist and flip your hair forward. Smudge the gel through your roots. Stand up, flip your hair back, shake your hair and forget it. You should have all the volume you need.

Moisten ends only. If your hair tends to be a little dry on the ends, squeeze a half-teaspoon of a leave-in moisturizer on your hands, Hartley adds. Then smudge it through your hair from mid-shaft to the ends of each strand. Shake or comb your hair into place and be on your way.

Fix frizzies. If humidity gives short or medium hair a bad case of the frizzies, tame it with styling gel and protective moisturizer, such as a spray-on, leave-in conditioner, says Liz Cunnane, a consultant trichologist (a hair-care specialist) at Philip Kingsley Trichological Centre in New York City. Shampoo and condition first, towel dry, then put a teaspoon of gel in your palm, rub your hands together and work the gel through your hair. Apply the moisturizer, style as usual and go.

Snip and trim. When frizzies are caused by a perm gone bad, the only remedy is a trim, says Rebecca Caserio, M.D., clinical associate professor of dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Spray, roll, then blow-dry. To tame staticky, flyaway hair, spray a thermal styling conditioner such as HeatSafe on your hair after shampooing and conditioning with your regular daily products, says Dr. Appa. HeatSafe has four different moisturizers that penetrate the surface of each hair, allowing you to style, condition and protect your hair as you dry it. You can find HeatSafe in most drugstores.

Then pop a few Velcro rollers into your hair and use your dryer on its lowest setting to set the curl. Or simply blow-dry, without rollers. To prevent damaging your hair, hold the dryer at least 6 to 12 inches away from your head, says Dr. Appa. Let your hair cool, then style as necessary.

Curl with steam. If your normally wavy or curly hair has lost its bounce, a curling iron can help, says Dr. Caserio. Before curling, cool the iron by curling it around a wet towel. The result is a cooler treatment less likely to cause split ends.

Plug in your hot rollers. You can bring almost any hair under control by applying a thermal styling conditioner and using a set of electrically heated hair rollers, says Wendy Resin, hair-care manager at Neutrogena. Wash and condition as usual, spray in the thermal styling conditioner, then roll your hair. Wait ten minutes, remove the rollers, let your hair cool, then style as usual.

Get it shaped. For preventing bad hair days, nothing beats a great haircut, says Hartley. The cut is the foundation of every style. A professional stylist can structure your hair into a shape that will emphasize your hair's strengths--texture, line, color and shine, for instance--to prevent many of the problems that trigger bad hair days.