Quick and Easy Blow-Dry Tips

The Blow-dry Technique:

1. Root Lift: Place the brush under a hair section near the roots. Lift the brush and hair upwards as you blow-dry from root to tip. This creates volume.
2. Curls for Bounce: As you reach the ends, rotate the brush inwards or outwards (depending on your desired curl direction) and continue blow-drying until the section is dry.
3. Setting the Bounce: Once a section is dry, hold the brush in place for a few seconds to “set” the shape. Then, release and move on to the next section.

Introducing our hair columnist: FOUNDER OF HAIR MADE EASI – NICOLA WOOD

Nicola Wood is a leading entrepreneur, hair professional, and founder of Hair Made Easi, the trailblazing brand synonymous with innovation of  high-quality hair tools and products. As a mum of two, Billy and Robbie, she understands the struggles of juggling home and work life as well as trying to make time for husband, Gary.

With over 35 years of hairdressing and teaching experience, Nicola Wood founded her empire in 2016 and captured the industry’s attention after a successful appearance on BBC Dragons’ Den in 2018 with her first-ever invention, the Easiweft. Fast forward to today, Hair Made Easi now boasts a vast global following and is a market leader within the hair industry.

Images Courtesy of BBC Dragon’s Den

Hair Made Easi has brought over 40 inventions to the UK salon market and following their resounding salon success, they launched their first consumer product in late 2023 with the XL Luxury Hair Wrap with a recent featured in Forbes Magazine – “This genius micro-fiber towel is perfect”. 

Nicola’s ambition and motivation to meet every hair need in the industry doesn’t stop there – she’s now in the process of designing a further 5 game-changing consumer products which will be launching this year too.

 ‘Juggling a business with family life was a whirlwind. Life becomes a desperate race against the clock, from work demands to family needs. Guilt also creeps in A LOT! – am I neglecting the kids, my husband, or the business? Merging your personal and professional lives can blur boundaries, making it hard to switch off and enjoy quality family time. However, with clear communication, strong support systems, and a lot of flexibility, there is always a way to make our dream’s a reality.

  Nicola’s BROOD Moment:

The morning began with the boys arguing and frantically looking for their PE kit for sports day, whilst I was chopping onions and browning beef for my famous chilli con carne. I popped the pot in the oven on low, feeling very organised that I already had tea done before 9 am!  School lunches were all packed, so I rushed the boys out the door and into the car. Work seemed to go incredibly fast and before I knew it, it was time for sports day so I parked the car and walked round the corner to the school.

As always, I was late and I had missed a couple of the races but it was nice to catch up with the other mums in the playground. About an hour later, a mass of smoke was coming from the direction of our house and as I am known for being a terrible cook, one of the mums asked “Have you been cooking again Nicola?” It couldn’t be me, surely not… but it was. I ran home, and as I got closer there was smoke bellowing out of the front door and a fire engine was at the top of my drive. Inside, the smoke was thick, the charred remains of the chili still in the oven. Low wasn’t quite low enough. How the house hadn’t gone up in flames remained a mystery. Chilli was definitely off the menu!

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It’s the same with products that promise to ‘increase cell turnover’, they forget to mention the part about the ‘new’ cells being older than the cells you just replaced and that old cells have diminished ability to produce collagen and elastin, the stuff that makes you look young. You are accidentally racing towards the appearance you were trying to avoid.

We’ve heard the wrong advice for so many decades that no-one questions where it came from, it is certainly not following the science of how cells age, because cell division = ageing.  It’s so important to educate yourself on how your skin ages biologically because the skin industry is getting ‘better and better’ at damaging skin to reveal ‘younger’ skin.  Machines will literally combust cells with laser-focused heat, send thousands of holes per second into your skin and remove the first few layers of your epidermis.  The generation before us had none of these ‘advanced’ treatments being thrust on them, sadly we are the guinea pig volunteers being led to believe that more is more.

I was contacted recently by an Australian actress who had seen one of my presentations and the penny had dropped for her.  She said ‘I’m 42 and my skin is crepey and unnaturally thin.  I’ve had over 30 laser treatments and now I understand it – my problem is absolutely that I’ve aged my skin faster’.  Marketing would have you think that after 30 laser treatments she would have the best skin of anyone, right?  Wrong.

If you are going out of your way and out of pocket to do treatments that cause inflammation and damage to your skin – stop them.  Your future self, your bank balance and your stress levels will thank you for it.

Every time your cells divide your telomeres, found on the tips of your DNA to protect it, shorten a bit.  When they get too short the cell cannot divide and it dies.  These telomeres are quite literally the clock of ageing on our cells and they tick down with every cell division – approximately 50 divisions is all they get.  It’s really not something you want to speed up!  Cells can die (and nicely dispose of themselves) or transition into Senescent/Zombie cells, wreaking havoc and encouraging healthy cells to transition faster, it explains why people can look a little aged then all of a sudden very, very old.  Again, not something you want to encourage.

The moral of the story is to aim to keep telomeres long for as long as possible.

We’ve covered how to stop accidentally speeding up ageing (brilliant, you’ve already saved time, money and face!) now how about we get back to the Ultimate Skin Care Routine?  

Cleansing.

Cleansing will remove makeup and also remove toxins and debris that may have accumulated during the day, so a nighttime cleanse is vital, it also means that your evening skincare regime is reaching your skin and not sitting on dirt.  Opt for a cleanser that does not strip the skin.  Be aware if your cleanser has acids (AHA’s, BHA’s, glycolic, salicylic etc) they can be ok, but if your other leave-on products also contain acids and retinol you are probably over-exfoliating your skin on a daily basis. 

Hydrating.

Your skin may need oil, water or both.  The difference is that dry skin needs oil, a dehydrated skin needs water.  If your skin is flaky and rough to the touch it is probably dry – use an oil-based moisturiser (generally thicker feeling).  If your skin feels tight after cleansing (no – it’s not a good thing!) And has very fine lines stretched across it, it is likely dehydrated, its not retaining water.  Opt for a water-based moisturiser, a spritz/mist product will also be great for you.

Dry skin and dehydrated skin can both lead to sensitive skin where tiny cracks form in the skin’s barrier and the skin gets irritated easily, so choose your moisturiser wisely. 

Don’t know where your skin sits?  Go for a hydrating moisturiser first and see how you feel, if it’s not enough for your skin to feel plump and juicy grab a nice face oil and layer it over at night.  This can be something super affordable like a bottle of jojoba, grapeseed or rosehip oil from your local health shop as its job is to sit on the surface of your skin for protection and to soften the outer layers of your skin.

Protecting.

Leaving the shelter of your home exposes you to UV radiation.  Yes, we need vitamin D and the sun is a great source but we also need to be aware that UV rays can cause the skin to mutate leading to wrinkles and skin degradation at best, cancer is the worst case scenario.  If you are working to have your skin look younger and you don’t use SPF you will never achieve your goal.  Period.  Over exposure to UV rays will age you, many suggest a zero exposure tolerance but I question missing out on vitamin D altogether as it is vital.

Want to do more for your skin? Great!  (No it’s not an expensive product or treatment that is going to cause damage…)

Reduce Stress

Stress has been shown to shorten telomeres faster and therefore will play a role in your skin looking older than you are.  Do something for yourself each day where you get to slow your heart rate and relax.  I know that harassed feeling of not being able to find time for that, so heck it might even just be your cleansing and moisturising routine!  If that is all the time you feel you can make for yourself then turn your cleanse into a 2-minute deep breathing massage.  Every deep breath counts.

Stop Smoking

Not only is smoking the fastest way to cleave off chunks of your telomeres and the number one cause of accelerated ageing of your skin cells from the inside, but on the outside the toxins in the smoke that your skin is exposed to cause free radicals, another contributor of accelerated ageing.  If you are a smoker there is no way around it, you’re going to age yourself and your appearance faster.  Please stop.

Feed Your Skin

There are supplements and nutrients that can extend telomere life and others that can make skin look younger. In terms of your skin, the longer the telomere the younger your skin (and all your cells actually).  A young skin produces collagen and elastin, has even balanced pigmentation and is strong, not sensitive.

Omegas, whether from your diet or in supplement form, have been shown to be linked with longer telomeres as has a diet rich in antioxidants.

Other supplements, like collagen and hyaluronic acid, can help fatten out what I call ‘the mattress’, of your skin – the structure under the surface.  The stronger and plumper this is the less likely skin will ‘fall’ in and become a wrinkle.  It also holds capillaries securely so they don’t weaken towards the surface of your skin causing a ruddy appearance.

The Gold Standard Ultimate Skin Care Routine

Is one where a telomerase activating product is used on the skin, this will release the enzyme telomerase that re-lengthens the skin’s telomeres – literally undoing the biological ageing process and making the cells young again.  In fact it is the only way to make a cell biologically younger again.

Your life is already busy! 

Step one of your New Ultimate Skin Routine: Ditch the stuff that is costing you precious time and money and that you now know is actually ageing you faster. (See, I promised you this advice was different and that you’d like this new routine, didn’t I?)  I’m serious, even if you’re half-way through – cancel that course of facial laser treatments!

Cleanse, hydrate appropriately and protect.

Relax a little, but not with a cigarette.

Feed your skin from the inside and if you want to add one ‘sophisticated’ step to your new Ultimate Routine, make it a telomere lengthening product, one that activates the enzyme telomerase and can actually make your skin younger. 

The science makes sense, use it to both minimalise and increase the effectiveness of your skincare routine.

Short-term you may not see a problem with this, however the times between your treatments will become shorter and shorter as you see your skin deteriorate faster due to the damage caused.

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