Published: Wednesday, 12th May, 2010 4:30pm

Transform your tresses with a little colour and some TLC

Marie puts the finishing touches to Karen's hair. Photo: Ann Hennessy.

Like many women my hair is often neglected. It is the poor relation when it comes to my beauty regime, I simply do not invest the same time in it as I would with, say, my skincare. I don't strictly adhere to the recommendations of getting it trimmed every six weeks to make sure to keep it in a healthy state and I'm quite liberal with the use of my hair straightener. I guess you could say I'm in the school of thought 'It's only hair, it'll grow back'.

That said I like nothing better than to have my hair looking glossy and to have the appearance, at least, of healthy hair. And that's exactly what I got after a recent visit to hairdresser Marie Sheridan, who has recently taken up residence at Head Shoulders Knees and Toes in Moate.

She was somewhat surprised when I gave her complete reign over my hair, but with 12 years experience she certainly is the expert. We decided on a semi-permanent colour, a trim and a bouncy blowdry. Marie showed me colour guides and recommended a few colours that she thought would suit, with a particular recommendation for one colour, which I was happy to go with.

As she applied the colour to my hair, Marie told me my hair was a little dry, not hugely surprising as I use my straightener at least three days a week. She chatted away, explaining how I could better condition my hair. Marie, who previously worked in Custom Cuts in Athlone, advised that when washing your hair you should use a professional shampoo and also that you shampoo your hair twice, explaining that the shampoo will really only penetrate the hair the second time so this is vital to ensure your hair is really clean. Marie then advised that before you condition your hair you should dry it a little, but never to vigorously dry your hair with a towel, simply pat it dry or even wring the hair out before applying the conditioner. You should then comb the conditioner through your hair to ensure the ends of your hair are fully conditioned before thoroughly rinsing.

Marie was full of practical advice on how to care for your hair at home and didn't lecture me too much when I admitted that I wash my hair every day, something that never goes down well with hairdressers. While her advice was that I should try to sometimes leave it for two days before washing as it was better for my hair she didn't make me feel as though I had agree to sacrifice my first-born.

When the colour was fully applied, it was upstairs to Yvonne Keenan to have a shape and polish on my finger nails as the colour took to my hair. After first choosing a colour, a lovely purple, Yvonne set to work on my nails, which weren't exactly in the best of shape as I had recently had gel nails and while they look beautiful we all know they can be quite harsh on your own nails. After shaping and buffing my nails Yvonne first applied a base coat before applying the deep purple to my talons. In the process I picked up another handy hint, this time how to take better care of your nail polishes. Instead of shaking the bottle, as most of us do, you should simply roll it between your two hands. Yvonne explained this ensures that the polish mixes properly inside the bottle without doing any damage to brush.

Once the nails were complete it was back downstairs to Marie for a short wait while the colour worked its magic in my hair. Once it was rinsed thoroughly from my hair, Marie sat me in front of the mirror and trimmed my hair. She said it just needed a slight trim off the ends and some of the layers, to get rid of any split ends to ensure my hair remained as healthy as possible. Marie explained that she was going to let some of the layers around my face grow out a little longer so that they would shape my face better and I was happy to go with her advice.

As she began to dry my hair I started to get a better indication of the colour and I loved what I saw. In recent years I had returned to my natural brown colour and while I was mostly happy with it, it could sometimes look a little dull and boring. But this time Marie had chosen a lovely reddish, brown colour. It wasn't too red, but gave my hair a real lift, leaving it looking extremely glossy and healthy. She completed the look with a bouncy blowdry and I was so happy with the outcome I made a repeat appointment straight away for an upcoming event.

In fact my hair looked so good I vowed to start treating it better and have taken Marie's tips for haircare on board, making sure I shampoo twice, comb the conditioner through my hair and use a comb, rather than a brush, on wet hair.

For more information or appointments with Marie you can contact Head Shoulders Knees and Toes Moate on 090 6481565.

Some handy tips

- Use a professional shampoo and remember a little goes a long way

- Shampoo your hair twice to make sure you get it really clean

- Gently dry your hair a little before conditioning

- Comb the conditioner trough your hair and rinse thoroughly

- Never use a brush on wet hair, only a comb