I have used permanent colour for years - light ash brown - and have had occasional salon highlights. I have started to grow my hair out now; it’s a dark blonde with some grey. The previously coloured hair looks a bit brassy now as the colour fades. Could I use a home semi- permanent colour to tone and even it out as it grows? I have a lightly layered shoulder length bob. I try to take good care of my hair, but at 60 it has been through the mill! I chose you as my ’expert’ because I always wanted to tell you how good and reasonably priced your products are. They do what they say on the bottle and smell divine! Thank you for making such luxury affordable.

Thanks Chris, I really enjoyed your email - I love getting feedback about my hair care range, really pleased to hear you like it! It sounds to me like you want to go back to your natural colour, which is why I would try and stay away from even adding a semi-permanent colour to your roots. As you have high lights and quite ashy blonde hair I would recommend using my Poker Straight Dry Shampoo. This product is a light-coloured powder spray that can help to knock out the appearance of re-growth temporarily. This season’s trend of head/alice bands are another great way of covering the dreaded root area. Head bands are a fantastic way to get full on sophistication and glamour with very little effort. It’s a super feminine look that requires full locks and a lot of lift at the root. A variation of the 1860’s Bardot look, head bands can be used to create big hair and big sex appeal! The band acts to create the illusion of fullness at the roots pushing hair back away from the face, making the hair kick out from underneath. Headbands will automatically transform your look from plain Jane to va va voom volume!

Chris, I’ve come up with a great tip for creating a frizz free voluminous, high glamour look, which will draw attention away from any root regrowth. First off, put your locks in big velcro rollers when it is dry. Blast your hair all over with a hot hair dryer and leave in for twenty mins. Give your hair a fine mist of hairspray all over; try Hold Tight. When that has dried remove the curlers and brush it out using a product like Messed Up Spray Wax which stops your hair from frizzing and gives it a slightly messy look. You can also use Poker Straight Dehumidifier to stop fuzzy waves. To control flyaway hair, spray a comb with hairspray and run it through your hair or simply spray some Shine Head Shine Spray over your hair for the ultimate glass like effect. Then simply push the headband from the front of your hair to the back ensuring that it is set quite far back to open up your face and so it is less severe. Pull some strands out at the front to soften the look and to get that sex kitten flirtatious feel.

I am getting married next May and don’t know what to do with my very fine hair I was thinking of getting extensions but had them before and as my hair is so fine you could see the glue through my hair, and to put my hair up I don’t have enough hair to get a fab up do can you help please as I have no idea what to do, I also have a veil and small tiara.

Congrats on getting married. Ok, a few ideas...

If you are fair haired you could go a bit darker to give the illusion your hair is thicker. Getting some movement and texture in the hair is helpful. Be careful that your veil and tiara aren’t too heavy.

Have a few trials to make sure you feel confident with your hairdresser and take pictures. If it is loosely put up then the hair piece can be introduced into the top and blended in.

Good luck!

I have had lice and nits and now the lice have gone but there maybe a few (not a lot since I have got a lot out) nits left and I have a hair appointment soon. Will the stylist notice them or mistake them for dandruff? And I study NVQ hairdressing but which is better BTEC or NVQ? And what qualifications do you need to open a hairdressing salon and how many courses do you have to take and how many years?

Where do I start?

The salon will NOT probably do you hair if you have any live creatures around. I would mention this so they can do a consultation on you first, so you are upfront (this stops any uncomfortable situation for both you and the salon).

Regarding your hairdressing education. Either of the two qualifications you mentioned are fine. BUT. The whole emphasis is on you. As a hairdresser and a professional we only get out of this profession what we put in. LOTS OF HARD work passion and enthusiasm.

My advice to ANYONE wanting to build a career in our fantastic industry is:

Find a placement either while at college studying or as an apprentice at the best salon you can find in your locality.

The best salon does not mean the biggest. I mean the one that has the best reputation and the most respected stylist or owner. What you learn from these people AFTER leaving college in invaluable.

I would work in a Professional Salon for at least 3-5 years building up clients and your skill base. No only in hairdressing skills but: personal skills, client communication, consultation, professionalism, image, confidence, and of course business skills that you will learn, sales, sales techniques, promotions all these things provide knowledge and understanding that is essential when you GO IT ALONE.

This may seem like a long haul, yet as I said at the beginning. IF YOU PUT THE HARD WORK PASSION AND ENTHUSIASM in from the start the fantastic opportunities that this industry have to offer open themselves up to you.

Good Luck. and a great question

I was wondering if you could help me.

I went from black to medium blonde about 2 months ago (not leaving long between each bleach/dye)

The last time I put blonde dye on my hair (lightest Ash Blonde) was a month ago, but when I did it my hair was falling and stretching like elastic and I only had the hair colour on for 5 mins! I washed it off as soon as I noticed

For the past month I have been conditioning my hair with

Lee Stafford 2 min oil
Aussie Miracle Moist shampoo
Aussie 3 min Miracle
Wash hair 3 – 4 times a week

And I have been straightening my hair on 150c

Now I want my blonde to be a lighter blonde (at the moment it is just medium blonde)

Would it be safe to use a box dye again (lightest Blonde)? If so which brand will you recommend? I am having my hair cut short at the end of the month.

Keep it on your head girl and not in a bag!!!!!!!!!!

First things first. If you are thinking about having your hair cut short then I would do this first.

This will make colouring your hair far easier and your result should be more even.

That being said if your hair became like elastic, stay away at the moment.

Once you have had your hair cut, it is simple to assess what will happen with your hair.

Cut a small piece of hair from your style and test the colour on the strand (known as a strand test in our industry). If the colour and condition on this test come out fine then you know YOU and YOU HAIR will be in good condition to.

I have had lice and nits and Now the lice have gone but there maybe a few (not a lot since I have got a lot out) nits left and I have a hair appointment soon. Will the stylist notice them or mistake them for dandruff? And I study NVQ hairdressing but which is better BTEC or NVQ? And what qualifications do you need to open a hairdressing salon and how many courses do you have to take and how many years?

Where do I start?

The salon will NOT probably do you hair if you have any live creatures around. I would mention this so they can do a consultation on you first, so you are upfront (this stops any uncomfortable situation for both you and the salon).

Regarding your hairdressing education. Either of the two qualifications you mentioned are fine. BUT. The whole emphasis is on you. As a hairdresser and a professional we only get out of this profession what we put in. LOTS OF HARD work passion and enthusiasm.

My advice to ANYONE wanting to build a career in our fantastic industry is:

Find a placement either while at college studying or as an apprentice at the best salon you can find in your locality.

The best salon does not mean the biggest. I mean the one that has the best reputation and the most respected stylist or owner. What you learn from these people AFTER leaving college in invaluable.

I would work in a Professional Salon for at least 3-5 years building up clients and your skill base. No only in hairdressing skills but: personal skills, client communication, consultation, professionalism, image, confidence and of course business skills that you will learn, sales, sales techniques, promotions all these things provide knowledge and understanding that is essential when you GO IT ALONE.

This may seem like a long haul, yet as I said at the beginning. IF YOU PUT THE HARD WORK PASSION AND ENTHUSIASM in from the start the fantastic opportunities that this industry have to offer open themselves up to you.

Good Luck. and a great question

I am in my late thirties and would love to have long hair. I have a long thin face, and my hair is very fine and flyaway. I have a smallish forehead, but have a long nose. I always have my hair layered and cut just below my jaw line. Is there a style that I could have that is suitable for my face shape and age that, gives volume, but is longer? I would love to have flowing locks, but it tends to just hang and cling to my face as it grows, making my face look long and tired. Any suggestions would be most welcome. My hair has a slight wave in it.

Longer hair does not usually work well with a long face shape as it tends to make the face shape longer. Again with your hair being fine the longer and heavier it gets the more it will cling to your face.

My advice would be to keep it slightly shorter in length and keep the layers so that you can achieve volume and body.

If you do want to try it longer then definitely keep some layers in but perhaps consider trying a very light body perm to give you body and width.

I am white British, but my hair resembles an afro, but blonde. I would like it to be curly, but it is straight/marginally wavy, with some curls at the back, and instead of lying flat, it sticks up in a spherical ’gravity-defying’ shape, even though it is nearly five inches long. It isn’t frizzy, but I can’t make it lie flat and it gets incredibly dry very easily. I would like it to be more curly, and less unruly, and want to stop it from sticking up in all directions but don’t quite know how to go about it (it can become very tangled and difficult to keep knot-free). How would I best go about making it curlier, and solving the problem of it standing on end?

Curly hair has a tendency to be dry and brittle, and as you know, very hard to control. Curly hair needs moisture so make sure you use products that lock in the moisture, but are light enough to keep curls bouncy. Try using a moisture shampoo and conditioner like my Lee Stafford Climate Control Shampoo and Conditioner, which are light but help to lock in the moisture and create and an ‘umbrella’ to shield hair from humidity and dry weather conditions.

Before blow drying hair smooth my Climate Control Serum from the root to the tip, massaging it into the hair ends. This super hero serum melts into the hair, nourishing from root to tip and will keep hair in check, beautiful, silky and smooth. Repeat when hair is dry in case you need more of a moisture boost.

Always use a cool or medium heat on your hairdryer as well as a diffuser pointed downwards to keep curls look defined. Otherwise if you use a thin nozzle and a high heat hair will look dry and frazzled! Also, never brush curly hair while you are drying it as this will break up the definition of the curl and cause major frizz and zero shine. A quick and easy tip – wind hair around fingers to keep it in a spiral, and you can repeat this throughout the day.

It is also worth doing a deep conditioning treatment 2/3 times a week to get your hair feeling supple and soft again. Try my Lee Stafford Hot Shots which are self warming treatment shots with pro repair formula to strengthen, replenish and restore hairs moisture balance and will keep your hair tangle free.

When you have time, using tongs is the fool proof way of getting fabulous curls. Try using my Poker Straight and Kinda Curly Styling Iron. It has curved plate edges so will create smooth, silky curls in a flash.

I have Remington Wet 2 Dry straighteners - they have impregnated and ionic plates - is this as good as the FHI ones and if not what’s better about the FHI ones? Can’t afford to buy another set of straighteners that claim to be fab but don’t do much better than my GHDs! Interested to read that using serum boils the keratin out of the hair? I wash 3 times a week, use keratin shampoo and conditioner with regular deep keratin conditioner too. Once every 6 weeks I use Brazilian keratin ’straightening’ (non chemical) product. I thought this would make my hair less porous and thus less dry/individual hairs look bent and don’t lie together. I straighten full head of hair 2 - 3 times a week and quickly once over in between just on any hairs that are out of shape from sleep. I just do NOT know what to do with my hair - I have an asymmetrical (from back to front) bob and getting finer all the time hair (I’m 43). I have spent FORTUNES on conditioners and salon shampoos etc and nothing will work. My hair when wet from washing is soft, sleek, smooth, all keeping together but as it dries the ends wisp up and look bent and have no movement. I just do not know what else to do. I either have salon Wella colours or at home colours and don’t mess my hair up with colour. What do you suggest? I fear if I go into a salon and say oh my ends are dry I’ll just get given more conditioners and be told ’this is the one that will solve your woes’ - but I’ve been told that so many times before...

I think all your problems come from heat damage!

You NEED a hair straightener that has a temp control on it. If you notice steam coming off your hair when you straighten it that is moisture being taken out of your hair.

What I ALWAYS do when using any iron is:

Adjust the temp so that no steam or very little come off the hair and slowly glide the iron down the section. This ensures you keep as much of the moisture content as possible and you hair WILL stay in better condition.

Keep using all the conditioning products you are using at the moment and try an iron with a variable temp setting. You will notice a massive difference.

Take a look at the Revlon colour crème it’s fantastic to use in-between colours

I have dark blonde fine hair and an oval/long face. What style would best suit? I seem to spend my life asking the hairdressers who just suggests the same thing. Long bob with bits cut around my face. I have had that since I was 11! I have a high forehead and my hair looks a bit thin at the scalp.

Just would love a style that looks chunky and fun!

It’s always hard to advice without seeing someone face to face but by the sounds of what you have described you could try having the back graduated and then sloping down at the sides. Then also have some long layers cut throughout to create a little body. This basically is a graduated layered bob, and I would also suggest keeping some form of fringe also.

I’ve had blonde hi lites in my hair for a year full head tint 2 years previous to that. My problem is, after returning from Cancun in September my hair was completely white, which was fine except that my roots looked terrible, like black and white hair and because it had been hi lites was really dark underneath at the back as well. I asked my stylist if tint would be a better option and less damage and maintenance than constantly having to cover up what looked like black roots (I was a natural blonde but have got a lot darker over the years and probably very dark blonde or light brown now). The procedure was a disaster, the tint went orange and she put a toner on it but then this made the hi lites ash/grey. After 3 hours I had to leave as it was 8pm at night. Came home and my hair was yellow/orange on top and silvery/grey the rest. Went back to see her after the weekend and she said she would put a toner on the hi lites which should take the ash tone away and all she could do was put a brown tint on the top to mask the yellow/orange. I am totally distraught, look like an old woman and only 30. My hair has gone mousey brown but the hi lites still look grey. It has been 3 weeks and has faded a lot,(been shampooing with a tone correct and reconstructor conditioner. The hi lites look caramel at the top which is ok but the rest is this horrible brown/grey shade and breaking when I dry it. I will go to a professional salon but worried about anyone touching it but cannot bear to look like this anymore. In your professional opinion, can I go blonde at this stage without anymore bleach in my hair. My boyfriend is ready for dumping me as he says I look like my mother! Help!

OMG!!! you have been put through the ringer girl!!!

First things first, THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED if you went to a professional but we are where we are. Or should I say you are.

Without actually seeing your hair first hand I cannot say with any clarity, yet what I can state is that you should have a strand test taken. This way a sample of your hair is taken and coloured from roots to end. When developed you see the result that you would be paying for.

To stop your boyfriend dumping you and running off with your mum, only kidding, visit a good experienced salon and have a consultation, get good advice, ask about a strand test so you could see the colour result prior to going ahead. This way you will keep in on your head and not on the floor as it beaks off from over processing.