MAKE BAD HAIR DAYS A THING OF THE PAST

How many of us can honestly say that they wake up every day with perfect hair? My guess is not many. Most days most of us wake up with hair that isn’t perfect but just needs a little loving care. Alas, the tumble from not perfect hair to bad hair is not far flung. You wake up, you’re a little bit drowsy, looking forward to the day ahead. Everything seems to be going well until you look in the mirror….

That moment could be the start of a bad hair day.

Now, for most regular folks, those of us who aren’t models or celebrities, and don’t need our good looks and perfect hair to make a living, waking up with bad hair shouldn’t be such a big deal. You’d think so, right? But you’d be wrong.

For some people having a bad hair day is nothing short of a catastrophe, while others might look in the mirror, see their “hairy situation”, and calmly get to work on fixing it.

In fact, having bad hair can change some people’s entire perception of how their day is going to go. And, of course, once they’ve decided that they are having a bad hair day the rest of their day goes south too. They’ll start the day off running late (after spending hours trying to fix their hair) and that will probably progress to them spending the rest of the day clumsily dropping things and making silly mistakes. Why does that happen? Is it pure vanity or something else that makes people who are usually rational and collected react this way to bad hair?

There actually is a scientific explanation to the whole bad hair day thing. Sensitive people who think that their hair looks bad tend to believe that everything else will go badly too. Their fight-or-flight response takes over, causing anxiety which in turn causes them to make small mistakes, adding fuel to the fire. So, the scientific solution to bad hair days is to make a change to one’s mind-set. If you look in the mirror and see you have horrific hair just tell yourself that everything is fine and if can be sorted out quickly before you have to leave.

This, of course, will only work if you really do have a solution, because your mind knows you’re trying to trick it and it won’t believe you if you don’t have one. The way to get around this is to prepare a few solutions for bad hair mornings that you can use whenever you wake up with unruly hair. This way you’ll know that you can deal with your bad hair problem quickly and thoroughly.

If you know what causes your hair to misbehave you can, for the most part, prevent bad hair days. For example, if you know that your hair is unmanageable in the morning after you sleep with wet hair, don’t wash your hair before you go to bed (and if you absolutely have to wash it make sure to dry it before falling asleep). If you know that the humid weather causes your hair to frizz make sure you have frizz-fighting products ready so you can combat the frizz as soon as you wake up.

Also, a good haircut is key for preventing bad hair days. Ideally, hair should be trimmed every six to eight weeks, and if you make sure to visit your hairdresser on time you’ll have less and less bad hair days. Short hair styles are also a good idea if you don’t have the time to deal with your hair, but don’t forget that they also need regular maintenance.

If you can’t fix it – hide it! This may not be the best thing to do for your hair but if you’re in a hurry and you really can’t be seen with your hair looking like that then hiding the mess is a great temporary solution, at least until you get home and can deal with your hair thoroughly. You should have a repertoire of a few hairstyles that you can do, quickly and by yourself. I’m talking about putting your unruly curly hair up in a messy topknot or bun or braiding your greasy hair. A warning: some of these styles may take a little practice to get used to, so don’t wait till you’re having a bad hair day, start practicing today.

If your hair situation is so bad that you can’t hide it in a smart hairstyle, or you don’t have the time, go for the classic bad hair day solution – cover it! Make sure you have a collection of hats and scarves for these hairy situations. Match your hair covering to your attire – a floppy hat, basketball hat, knit hat in the winter, or a chicly tied kerchief. Quick, easy stylish and nobody will guess that you’re having a bad hair day.

Healthy hair starts on your plate. You may have tons of all the best hair products in the bathroom but the place to start is in the kitchen. Eating healthy food will give you strong, shiny hair.

Some of the best foods to add to your diet if you want strong, shiny locks are:

• Salmon
• Spinach
• LentilsSweet Potatoes
• Oysters
• Eggs
• Mackerel
• Walnuts
• Carrots
• Poultry

We should call them “bad hair mornings” because that’s really what they are. There’s no need to allow bad hair to ruin your whole day. Use these tricks for a quick bad hair fix in the morning together with a change in your mind-set and you’ll never have another bad hair day again.