Hair Styling

When thinking about your hair style, the first thing to be aware of is realism. If you have super fine hair then some hair styles are going to be very difficult for you to carry off. For my own part, I'm largely bald, so hardly any of this advice applies to me!

Nonetheless, there are some hints and tips you might find useful in this hub regarding colouring, styling and maintaining your hair.

You can colour your hair with various degrees of permanence. Before you get around to the technicalities, consider how the various colour options will match your skin and eye colour, for example.

Green eyes often go really well with reddish colourations like auburn or firey Celtic reds, whereas brown eyes typically sit best with brown colours and tints. Perhaps most iconically, blonde hair and blue eyes are a great match, but increasingly popular for blue eyes at the moment is very dark - even black - colouration.

Thanks to modern techniques, you can now get literally any colour, and it is commonplace to see dramatic streaks of colour or mixtures which set purple against yellow. These are much more difficult styles to carry off, and often work best if you dress to match.

You can get many home hair colouring sets for just a few pounds from high street chemists and the like, or pay good money to have the colouring done at a salon. Home dyes are perfectly fine, but you must read the instructions for use very carefully to avoid dying your skin at the same time. Typically, home dyes also have a shorted lifespan than those you would get in a salon.

Right now, thanks to the 80s revival in fashion, curly styles are very much in. If your hair isn't naturally curly, then you can get a perm at a high dresser or use use curling tongs at home. Like anything else, going to a salon commands a premium but generally results in a longer lasting effect than doing it yourself at home.

Conversely, ramrod straight hair - popularised by the likes of Beyonce Knowles - is also a great look this year. The effect is perhaps easier to carry off than a perm and more manageable. If you have naturally straight hair, then keeping it clean and brushing it regularly should be enough to maintain the look. If your hair is naturally curly or wavy, then using straighteners is a must.

Hair straighteners work by applying heat to the hair along a flat surface - exactly the same principle you use to iron your clothes. There are many competing straighteners on the market, but most people would point to GHD straighteners as being the 'state of the art'. These use ceramic hotplates which can attain a far higher heat than other products. This makes them both easier to use and long lasting in their effect.

Assuming you haven't permed your hair (see above) perhaps the easiest styling decision to make is to wear it up or down.

Pinning your hair up in bunches or a ponytail has several appealing factors. Firstly, it can keep long hair off your neck and out of your eyes, which can be very useful if you're doing anything sweaty. It also creates a natural style for your hair. Putting your hair back in a ponytail and pulling out a fringe is an instant way to look both casual and smart, for example.

Putting your hair up also allows you to accessorise. You can wear colourful scrunchies or bright clips to make yourself look more 'girly' or if you're after something more professional, simple hair pins or plain wood clips can look much more formal. If you belong to the increasing number of men who follow the example of the likes of David Beckham and Ronnie O'Sullivan, you can wear an alice band to keep long locks out of your eyes while you're playing that crucial shot!

Wearing your hair down is often more glamourous - particularly if you have rich, glossy hair. Whilst often less practicaly, hair wore down can be used to stunning effect in conjunction with a particular outfit, and it is no surprise that long manes of loose hair are frequently seen on the red carpet.