No doubt you've tried so many products on your hair but to no avail. It's time to accept that there are some styling practices that will never be very good for your hair. For example, straightening curly or wavy hair with BOTTLED RELAXANTS and straightness is one of the worst things you can do. Most of the products on the market use a combination of caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) and emulsifiers to break the chemical bonds in CURLY HAIR and then reshape them so that they straighten out.   READ MORE

However, if you leave the solution on for too long, your hair could fall out and you could burn your scalp, so be careful not to!

There's no substitution for working with good materials – and in this case, it's your hair, so here's our guide to loving your locks the way you should.

1. HAIR HEALTH CHECK: To test whether your hair is damaged, drop a strand into a cup of water and tap the cup to break the water's surface tension. If the hair sinks, it's damaged – INJURED HAIR is usually dry and porous. Revitalize it with a conditioner. If it floats, carry on with your normal hair regime.

2. De-tangle: To get rid of those pesky little knots and tangles, comb some conditioner through it with a wide-toothed comb. Leave it in for three minutes and then rinse.

3. Brush & comb moderately: Brushing and combing can strip away the protective coating on your hair. So don't brush and comb too often and, ideally, use a wide-tooth comb or brush?

4. Use a CONDITIONER regularly: Conditioners, which are silicone-based, act as lubricants – they prevent hairs rubbing together and wearing away the cuticles around each hair. If you have color-treated hair, which tends to be quite dry, stick to a bespoke shampoo designed for this type of hair as you'll need the extra moisturizers that these products provide. Watch out though, sometimes, prolonged use of conditioners can make your hair feel heavy and lank, as silicone builds up. When this happens, use a CLARIFYING SHAMPOO.

5. Go easy when drying your hair: Pat your hair dry with a towel or wrap it in a towel for about five minutes. Try not to rub it, as rubbing the hairs together will erode the all-important surrounding cuticle.

6. If you must straighten your hair, use irons: Ceramic tongs are preferable to metal ones as the heat is less intense. The key to success is to comb with one hand and iron with the other so that the tongs follow the comb down the hair shaft.

7. Pump up the volume: For a big, blousy high-volume style, flip your hair upside down, apply your MOUSSE, GEL, or HAIRSPRAY and BLOW-DRY downwards, flicking your hair back up to complete the style you want.

8. Keep out of the sun: The sun's ultra-violet light breaks down the protein (KERATIN) IN HAIR, making it dry and brittle. To guard against these risks, avoid spending too long in the sun and if it's particularly strong, use a SUN-PROTECTION SHAMPOO and a good conditioner.

9. Eat a nutritionally balanced diet: What you eat can have a major impact on the condition of your hair, as well as your skin and other parts of your physical appearance.

10. If it's too late...: If your hair is already damaged, apply an intensive conditioner once a week, covering your hair with a warm towel to keep the moisture in and leave the conditioner on for between 15–20 minutes before rinsing it off.