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    The downsides of healthy, virgin hair

    13 Aug 2015 4:00 PM | Posted by
    Astrid Taemets's picture
    Astrid Taemets
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    Confession: naturally healthy, colour-free hair is not all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, it’s shiny and glossy. It air-dries nicely and elicits compliments from everyone - but it doesn’t do anything.

    This used to be the story of my life. I’d have my tresses teased and styled to absolute perfection, and by the time I’d paid and left the salon, it’d have fallen lifeless at the roots.

    That all changed when I went to visit Barney Martin at his salon in Surry Hills. We exchanged hellos and how-are-yous, and as I started to tell him about my healthy hair woes, without missing a beat, he said, “you should colour your hair - give it some texture and grit”. Turns out, he was onto something...

    Is healthy, virgin hair overrated?

    If your hair is colour-treated, even just a little bit, you can still achieve shiny blow-dries, but you can also get that lived-in, bedhead texture that silky, virgin hair just can’t. Basically, if your locks are all gloss and no grit, many products and the heat from styling tools have nothing to hold onto. Plus, non-coloured hair has no dryness to counteract sebum production, so you probably need to wash it more often. Barney says this usually happens with fine and medium hair: “As hair is healthy, the cuticle is closed, meaning the hair is at its smoothest, sleekest and flattest. If the cuticle is swollen or open, the hair tends to hold texture more. Natural, shiny hair is great for long, sleek styles but not so good for volumised or textured looks.”

    So, what to do?

    Dye your hair, but leave it to the pros. They’ll be able to give you the right amount of colour, without stripping too much of your natural hue. Tell them your goal is to keep the same shade, but add some texture, body and, well, life. Ask for a full head of thin highlights - a bit of what Barney calls “detailing” - and then put a rinse over the highlights to end up with an overall colour that’s closer to your natural hue. That way, instead of just brown (for example), your locks will have a multidimensional effect they didn’t before.

    Barney’s at-home tip? Start using dry shampoos, and not just in between washes to tide you over for another day. Get in the habit of using them on a daily basis because they not only “absorb unwanted oil, but also provide texture, which gives flat hair an added boost”.

    Let’s add that to the long list of reasons why dry shampoo is the best beauty invention ever!

    bh recommends: Pantene Pro-V Volume Booster Dry Shampoo, TONI&GUY Casual Matt Texture Dry Shampoo, Batiste Dry Shampoo Mamba, Cedel Dry Shampoo, Sebastian Professional Texture Maker

    Have you got virgin hair? Do you find you have difficulties styling it? 

    Have you tried any of the products mentioned above?

    Review them now to earn points that you can swap for free beauty products in RewardsRoom.

    Pantene Pro-V Volume Booster Dry Shampoo
    Write a Review
    TONI&GUY Hair Care Casual Matt Texture Dry Shampoo
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    63 Member Comments

    Cheap and Petite 23 Jul 2017 12:45 AM

    I had been dying my hair from age 11 until age 23. I was able to curl and style my hair easily when dyed, but I wanted natural hair again and to finally see my adult natural hair colour. 3 years later, and I haven't been able to hold a single curl. Natural hair has its pros and cons..

    Yohanna 22 Oct 2016 4:17 PM

    Yes, I do have trouble styling my hair...it is long and I do not use styling products...maybe that is why. I did start highlighting the hair in 20s...and since then did it on average 2 times per year. I find it fun...never going to hairdressers, as been couple of times, and every time their stronger stuff took shine out of the hair, so it took time to bring it back

    Pixie96 24 Aug 2016 8:37 PM

    I have dyed my hair before but I didn't like how it took the shine and healthiness out of my hair. I think I'll just stick to the hair colour I have now.

    Mashpa 13 Jul 2016 7:49 AM

    Delicate highlights make all the difference to my fine, flat hair. The highlights boost the colour and the texture and most importantly, boost my self- esteem.

    thelifeoflaura 13 Jul 2016 3:40 AM

    Maybe that is why my hair is so oily!!! Because I've never coloured it.... immediately runs and colours hair

    talk-a-lot 30 Jan 2016 7:49 PM

    No virgin hair for me, I have been colouring it myself for quite a few years. I don't have any trouble styling my hair.

    Yohanna 18 Oct 2015 2:42 PM

    My friend had gorgeous blonde "virgin" hair...not any more, she went to hairdresser, highlights...terror. After that never the same, lost it's shine as well. That gold

    Shop A Everyday 10 Sep 2015 2:23 PM

    I need a new dry shampoo

    Shop A Everyday 27 Aug 2015 6:58 PM

    As long as you treat it well and keep it very well conditioned, then I love putting colour in my hair

    Jessica712 24 Aug 2015 1:02 PM

    I wish I didn't have to dye my hair to cover the greys.

    Jessica712 24 Aug 2015 1:02 PM

    I wish I didn't have to dye my hair to cover the greys.

    Petal 20 Aug 2015 5:54 PM

    I used to dye my hair, but due to having many health issues, I gave up hair colours due to the chemicals.

    kamillyon 17 Aug 2015 2:55 PM

    I used to colour, straighten and blow dry my hair regularly for about 7 years before I decided I wanted to grow it out and have natural hair again. It was costing me too much money and time trying to maintain my ultra violet reddy purple hair and I just didn't want to keep damaging it.

    It's been nearly 3 years now and pretty much all of the old colour has grown out and my hair is back to normal. I have noticed that my hair feels much thinner and gets oily quicker, but it's a little easier to control and tame. My hair was much wavier and boofy when it was coloured which made me want to straighten it all the time and add to the damage.

    Since stopping the heat styling and colouring, my hair has grown so long and I find I have saved myself so much money and time by doing so as well! I might have 'boringer' hair, but I am glad I made my decision :)

    Hayley_22 17 Aug 2015 12:39 PM

    i have virgin hair and proud! i hope to never need to dye it until well into old age

    Rainbownerds 15 Aug 2015 10:43 PM

    I havent had virgin hair in awhile

    survivor2012 15 Aug 2015 5:04 PM

    I have virgin at at the age of 46. I've once had foiled done in my early 20's. My hair is very fine and thin but has beautiful curl and body. Too scared to do any colouring, don't want the damage and stress if it being my hair is so fine. Even at my age, I don't have many grays hehe

    Beckky 15 Aug 2015 3:36 PM

    I've never heard of 'virgin' hair before. But I've coloured my hair for a couple of years now and I have to say it's in a lot better condition than before I dyed it. I get a lot of comments on how soft and shiny my hair is. I do shampoo and condition my hair every-day but I use a natural shampoo and conditioner.

    lilynotlouise 15 Aug 2015 9:18 AM

    i shampoo once every 2-3 days, i dyed my hair once and don't think i'll do it again for a while!

    Hayley644 15 Aug 2015 8:02 AM

    I've had coloured hair for years.

    Elunia 14 Aug 2015 8:28 PM

    I'm past my mid 20's and my hair has never seen any hair dye and I plan to keep it that way until I go grey. At the moment it is quite long and smooth, yes it is annoying how oily it gets but I could not be bothered maintaining dyed hair. I also understand the bit about virgin hair being hard to style, if my hair wants to be curly, it will be curly, if it wants to be straight it will be straight no matter what I do to achieve the other look :) but that goes with the territory. The other thing which kind of annoys me is that so many random people just come up and touch my hair because it looks like it would be nice to touch - or so they say.

    Stensen 14 Aug 2015 7:25 PM

    I'd rather healthy hair any day. Naturally, my hair is coarse and quite dry anyway without damage from colouring. If you can achieve the textured look from using hair products, why is there the need to deliberately damage your hair?

    Makeup Maven 14 Aug 2015 3:44 PM

    My hair is far from virgin, but until I started highlighting it and then eventually colouring and perming it (it was the 80s) in my 20s, it was virgin. It was long and healthy, and looked lovely, but it wouldn't hold curl unless I put an ocean of product in or started with wet hair and let it dry naturally in rollers, which took more than 24 hours (yes walking the street with rollers and a headscarf was interesting, and I wasn't alone).

    Bijoux 14 Aug 2015 3:28 PM

    I'm happy with my hair. I'm not going to colour it until i have heaps of grey .

    I am way too lazy to go to the hairdresser's regularly.

    Gilded 14 Aug 2015 2:31 PM

    IDK I would rather have virgin hair than the damaged textured hair I have right now. It sheds so much I just want to go back to how it was.

    Astrid Taemets 14 Aug 2015 3:31 PM

    You might be right GildedButterflies, but I have found putting a couple of soft highlights through my hair hasn't done much damage at all, and I'm finding it's starting to come around to the idea of holding a style for longer than 30 seconds!

    There is, of course, the adverse effect of too much peroxide, dye or colouring to the hair, but a little bit can make all the difference, especially to someone like me who has very thin, naturally very oily, stubborn hair. Everyone is different x

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