ALL ABOUT HAIR

You wear your hair every day, so it is the most important part of your look to get right. No amount of designer clothing will make you look stylish if you have a poor haircut. Your hair needs to suit your face and body shape, your colouring, your personality and your lifestyle.

The first step is to find a good hairdresser. Remember that communication is key: mid-length can mean shoulder-length to one person and jaw-length to another. Freya Martin, owner of Saks Eastbourne, says, “I encourage clients to bring in pictures, as they often find it hard to explain the exact shape they are looking for. Magazines make it easy to visualize the many different styles we are able to create and are a great tool to ensure that the client and the stylist are talking the same language”.

FACE SHAPE

Oval
This shape can wear most styles, but avoid long hair or height at the crown if your face is longer.

Pear
Avoid fullness at the jawline and centre partings. Go for fullness at the fringe and temples.

Heart
Add width at the jawline and don’t pull hair off the forehead or wear a short fringe.

Square
Height at the crown will lengthen the face. Curly styles soften angles. Avoid chin-length cuts and fullness at the jawline.

Rectangle
Avoid centre partings. Add fullness at the sides to minimize height and avoid long hair, which will lengthen the face.

Round
Create the illusion of length with height at the crown. Avoid fuller hairstyles and very short hair.

Diamond
Avoid fullness at the cheekbones and centre partings. Go for short hair with fullness at the temples, swept behind the ears, or medium-length hair curving in at the jawline.

COLOURING

The simplest test to determine whether you have a cool or warm skin tone is to hold a piece of gold and a piece of silver jewellery to your face in natural light. If silver suits you, you have a cool colouring and you may be able to grey gracefully, especially if your hair is dark. If you do decide to add colour, use a block colour, highlights or lowlights in ash tones for dark hair. Ash blonde highlights are great for fair hair, but avoid block colour.

If gold jewellery suits you, you have a warm skin tone and grey hair will not look good until it is completely grey. If you are darker, add highlights and low lights in warm browns and reds. For fair hair, highlights in warm blonde and honey tones will be flattering.

PERSONALITY

Whatever your overall image, it should be reflected in your hairstyle. If you like to wear clothes that are very individual, go for a statement hairstyle. You may wish to have a versatile cut that allows you different looks for different outfits. If your style is very classic, the cut should be neat and symmetrical. For a feminine or romantic look, curls and feathered cuts are ideal; the style should be soft and less structured. If your look is natural or sporty – a no make-up look – you need a simple, wash and go style.

LIFESTYLE

At some stages in your life, you will have more money and time to spend on your hair than at others. Be realistic about the effort and expense you can manage and communicate this to your hairdresser. Freya Martin told me, “A full consultation is given prior to the haircut and during styling advice is given on how to maintain the style at home, using the correct products and tools. It is imperative that the tools clients use make their style work for them at home. They will style their own hair every day, not me!”.

Consider your hair type: if you want a smooth, straight style and you have naturally wavy hair, are you prepared to spend the necessary time and effort to keep it looking sleek?

Look at the different areas of your life: if your job requires you to keep your hair off your face, it will need to be either short, or long enough to tie back; if your hobbies take you out in all weathers, you need a hairstyle that won’t be ruined by wind and rain.

Having taken all of these factors into account, remember that fashion does play an important part and you should reconsider your hairstyle at least every couple of years to ensure that it is up to date.

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