A bad hair day is a girl’s worst nightmare, but before you hit the panic button, try out these solutions.
by Deepa Mistry
A bad hair day rarely happens when we decide to stay home, but will mostly occur on that ‘very important’ day, like the first interview or a first date or a special day in college when you want to look your best but your hair decided not to. Bad hair days are like bad moods, they come and they go. Even men do have bad hair days, but luckily enough for them, their short hair saves them from the distress that women face.
But don’t let your traunting hair get you down. Try these tips:
Oily hair: The worst of all problems. You were supposed to wake up early and wash your hair and style it, but the alarm didn’t go off, leaving you with barely a few minutes to get your mane ready. Don’t worry, get a tin of baby powder.
Back flip your hair and just dust it lightly with some powder. The powder absorbs the oil and makes your hair look fresh. If you don’t have powder, you’ll be glad to know that oily, 
unwashed hair makes a perfect base for one of the most popular runway looks – crimped ponytail (see pic on right). The style is most suitable if you have long and thick hair. Though crimping is little time-consuming, if you can spare a few minutes it is worth the try.
Hair colour gone wrong: Raise your hand if you think you spent a bomb on your hair colour this month at a salon or decided to go low-budget and ended up with a terrible hair colour. There’s a solution for this, too: wrap and fold a scarf on the top part of your head and let the bottom section show just like JLo did in one of her music videos. Another option would be braid your hair or use a simple black hair band or clips.
Split ends: Some girls have trouble saying goodbye to those long locks and so they avoid even trimming them off, leaving them with split ends. Unfortunately, by the time you realise the damage is severe, it’s quite late and you’re headed to an event, split ends in place. The answer is pretty simple – opt for a chic, perfectly polished bun, a hairstyle that looks best with the ends tucked in! But since the trouble continues and split ends make hair weaker, an advisable move is to trim hair every six months.
Flat and lifeless hair: If you have flat and lifeless hair, the only solution is to change your shampoo. A lot of times we opt for certain brands because they’re the most popular, or are suggested by a friend or the advertisement for the product has a favourite actor. Don’t fall prey to such branding. Choose a shampoo that suits your hair best, and which is light and can be used on regular basis. Humid weather makes hair sweaty and frizzy all the time. Shampoo your hair on alternate days and try to mix one drop of tea tree oil and wash your hair with this mix. Tea tree oil will help absorb excess oil, sweat and dust and thus, make your hair look healthier.
Tangled troubles: If your hair tangles more than normal try this: after washing your hair, apply a hair mask or conditioner and instead of five minutes, let it sit on your hair for 15 to 30 minutes, then rinse. You will notice a tremendous difference in the way your hair looks and shines. Of course, you will experience less tangles, too.
Dry and rough hair: Due to cold conditions, hair tends to lose moisture making it look dry and lifeless. Don’t let the season ruin your
hair. Styling products also leave your hair looking frizzy and dry. Warm a little coconut oil and gently massage from the roots of your hair and leave it on for just one hour and wash with a gentle shampoo. Many people believe you should oil hair before going to bed and wash them the next morning, but the truth is, an hour is just enough for oil to work on your hair. You could use any other oil also as per your choice.
Shapeless and breaking easily: You’ve perfectly set and styled your hair, but by the time you reach your workplace, it’s gone haywire. Don’t panic; take a pea-sized drop of hair serum and rub it over your hair. With a thick padded brush, just brush them through and you’re set for the day. Blow drying on high heat for too long causes breakage. When hair is sopping wet, don’t blow dry it – wait for a while, lightly pat dry with a towel and then blow dry without keeping the dryer too long on one section.
Unruly curls: If you’ve gone to bed with a gorgeous hairstyle, it doesn’t mean you are going to wake up with the same the next morning. Yes that’s right, curls invite frizz and tangles and a whole world of other hair troubles. Comb the frizzy, poorly-defined parts to remove tangles, then run wet hands through them a few times to get them to be damp but not dripping wet. Apply a curl enhancing serum or leave-in conditioner for around 15 to 20 minutes and let your curls dry while you dress up and you’re ready to go!
Hope you find these tips useful and with that, give the bad hair days an off!
(Pictures courtesy sheknows.com, inhabitat.com, makeup.com, www.stylecraze.com)