Healthy Hair Interview

Tips and Tricks to Make Your Hair Look Healthy after Colouring

Sarah Pelham is the Beauty & Wellness Expert for Bookwell.com.au, an online platform for instant bookings for hair, nails, beauty & massage appointments. For nearly four years Sarah has worked closely with hundreds of salon owners within the beauty and wellness industries. She has her finger on the pulse of new trends in this growing market.

Matthew Dyer is the General Manager and Co-founder of bookwell.com.au.

Question: Can you share your top tips for making our hair look healthy, especially after colouring?

Sarah Pelham: Never underestimate the importance of quality dyes and bleach to prevent damage. Pick a 30 or 20 volume developer if you're lifting colour and you have light hair to begin with. If it's darker, you can use a higher volume, like 40.

Don't use clarifiers soon after having your hair coloured. They contain strong and harsh detergents that will dry out your hair and strip the colour away.


Question: How important are products to coloured hair?

Sarah Pelham: It's important to invest in quality products because coloured hair is quite vulnerable. Colour-protecting conditioners and shampoos create a protective layer over the shaft, preventing fading. If you've chosen a cooler shade, use protecting shampoo without sulphates because it will neither destroy natural oils nor change your colour by leaving deposits.


Question: How often should we treat our hair?

Sarah Pelham: I don't recommend treating hair more often than once a month. Ideally, wait a month and a half after colouring. If you colour too often, your hair will become brittle and dry.

If you have a bright colour, like purple or red, or want to cover grey hair, you might need to treat your hair more frequently. Even so, when treating, the focus needs to be on the roots. Spend the last few minutes of the colouring session on the ends to refresh them.

Question: Are regular haircuts important?

Sarah Pelham: They're the only way to truly get rid of split ends. Ideally, have your hair trimmed once a month even if you're trying to grow it out.


Question: When having our hair dyed, how should we present at the hairdressers? Is freshly washed a no-no?

Sarah Pelham: Although oil build-up will protect your scalp from chemical irritation, clean hair absorbs hair colour best. It's best to wash your hair one day before the appointment.

Bring a picture of the colour you want – ideally on someone with a similar skin tone to yours. By all means, tell the stylist if you've had procedures like chemical straightening so they don't use strong bleach.

The dye might splatter, so don't wear your best clothes. It doesn't make sense to wear too much makeup to your appointment either.


Question: What is Bookwell?

Matthew Dyer: Bookwell is a one place shop for beauty and wellness salons where you can compare venues, services, reviews, prices and availability. After finding a service you are happy with you can book and pay online.


Question: What inspired the creation of Bookwell?

Matthew Dyer: The beauty and wellness industry has been slower to adapt to technology than other industries and it makes it harder for customers to book services. No one would think of ringing an airline to book a flight and we think the same for beauty and wellness services in a few years time. After trying to book a massage for the same day and venues not offering online booking or answering their phone I gave up. This cemented the inspiration for Bookwell. One place where customers can simply book beauty and wellness appointments at any time of the day or night.

Question: What's next for Bookwell?

Matthew Dyer: There are over 20000 salons in Australia and Bookwell wants to list the majority of them on our platform. We want to make it as easy as possible for Australians to book their beauty and wellness appointments online wherever they are in the country.


Interview by Brooke Hunter
Photo by Matthew Hamilton on Unsplash