Our Cut

Since the start of our brand in 2014, all of Eiki's clients have been non-Japanese people. And for some reasons, a large portion of them have happened to have finer hair even in the Western hair spectrum. Being supported by hundreds of fine hair customers is the hallmark of a fine-hair hair salon. Our knowledge, working-standard and expertise in fine hair are the world's top class. Eiki used to knock spots off others in London for fine haircuts. He was good at it from the beginning. His mentor was also dubbed as 'the queen of fine hair'. Most crucially, he loves fine textures and keeps working and honing his skills with obsession. Secret Garden is driven by the passion to reach the ultimate excellence in cutting and treating fine hair. No fine hair is the same as another to us. ls your hair fine and straight or fine and kinky? Is your hair fine because the hair diameter is small or the density is low? Is your hair fine evenly or partially? Does your fine hair tend to be greasy or dry? Is your hair just fine or super baby fine? Do you colour your fine hair and what is the relationship between the colour work and your hair? If your hair is fine and you look for an instant and complete answer for it, we have an array of solutions for your hair from the root to the tip by presenting a perfect cut and providing personally prescribed care and styling ideas that are hard to come by elsewhere. 

Fine hair has been a bee in Eiki's bonnet and this may have something to do with his personal experience. His hair was finer in the Japanese scope and he struggled at his teen ages. He wanted that Asian spiky short hair which he never got on his head, and instead he always had cuts with flopped flat hair whatever gell or spray he put. Even his hair had soft fluff in it. This was about the time he started to cut his own hair. Eiki learnt at his young age that there are different hair types and therefore styles don't always go in the same way as someone's if you had the same cut, but he wanted to do his best before coming to terms with it. Seemingly, this bittersweet experience seeded him his sense of affinity with fine hair. He was a whizzkid for fine hair and popular with fine hair customers even when he was a junior at the London salon. Since then his love and flair for fine hair have been extended to many fine-haired customers of all genders and ages over the decades.

In our haircut philosophy, a hairstyle comprises mainly three factors:

• Haircut

• Styling

• Maintenance

About the haircut part, we have already touched upon in the previous section The Three Controls:

• Shape

• Texture

• Depth

Our fine hair cuts are shape-retaining and bodyfying, thanks to our original Three Controls. These three components play decisive roles in fine haircuts as well. We up the ante of the cleanness of the shape with clear bottom outlines and outer structure of the cut. A haircut can practically make or break your style if you have fine hair and this is where our precision cut comes in. Precision cut is about perfection in creating your cut's shape and outlines with clean cutting. A precise haircut holds its shape longer and eliminates troublesome steps or awkward hair movements. This preciseness directly relates to the quality of haircut alongside its taste and design, and is important for all haircuts but particularly so for fine hair. Another prominent feature in our fine hair haircut is personalisation. Fine hair has different issues from its thicker counterparts. We clear the contentious points in your hair one by one. It can be a flick that always happens when the hair reaches a certain length, it can be a bulk on one side that constantly bother you. Or it can be the way your hair falls, which sometimes fine but other times not. We solve them. The result is a 360-degree nuisance-free hair.  Precision and personalisation are two towers of strengths of our fine cuts.

We have mentioned earlier that Eiki was trained by Antoinette at Aveda Covent Garden salon and at Vidal Sassoon academy in London. He wasn't just hanging around with the world's hair masterminds there but he was working hard fiercely to get the critical essences of cuts that weren't given freely for anyone. Obtaining these knowledge and principle is one effrot. Having been toiling away to perfect his precision cuts ever since is another professional endeavour. Eiki is grateful for the path that let him have this knowledge and expertise, and returning his gratitude back into the work for our clients. We keep our work no-nonsense and eliminate all ersatz and fads for our clients.

As to the styling and maintenance, the personalised styling and care ideas will be discussed during the consultation or after the haircut. We may come up with several styling ideas from your cut and we will try to talk about them in simple terms. The discussion is also extended beyond the styling. We will talk about how you can look after and protect your hair. Our haircuts for fine hair bring you the best experience and manageability when it comes to styling and maintaining it. Some of you might no longer need the styling. But basic guidance and small tips can still go long way in helping you and saving your time if you try to add volume, style in your favoured way, or make extra care for your hair from inside and outside. Eiki doesn't economise in dishing out his knowledge and we are certain that you will pick up very handy pieces of advice from him. We hope you don't miss them out. We believe that our understanding of fine hair and haircuts will become the game changer to you.

Lastly, this paragraph is like an additional episode, but we wanted you to know that everyone in Japan loves fine hair. The grass is always greener. Many of Eiki's clients have expressed that they adore Japanese hair. We (Japanese in general) do yours. Eiki loves fine hair and he thinks it's the God's will. Of course, he takes his work seriously, and we're not saying he's good at it just because he likes it. He works hard to be good. And our team work hard and share his cut ideas too. Nevertheless, it is fun for us to work for fine hair and we have the expertise. Our door is always open for you.

We sometimes use words such as 1A to 4C to describe your hair texture. 1A is the straightest and 4C is the tightest curl. Although the curly code is a useful way of describing the hair texture, it is never be perfectly accurate because one person's hair usually have several different patterns of texture in different parts of the hair. For example, you might have 3A hair in many parts but including some areas with 2B and the hairlines with 3B or C. We use the numbering system just to make a simplified reference to your hair texture, but when we look at your hair and plan the cut, we make detailed analyses and capture the small differences in textures and conditions from part to part and roots to the ends of the hair.

Our three-control principle - shape, texture, depth - is still applied to our curly hair cuts but the way the idea is utilised is significantly different from the way it is applied to straighter textures. Because of the nature of the curly hair, the length jumps from the stretched point of cutting to the level at which it falls naturally without tension, and it achieves the full contraction when it's dry. Since the shrinkage proportions to the curliness and the length of the hair, there's a greater shrinking portion as the length of the hair gets longer. And there are also other factors to be considered such as damage, for example. When the hair is weakened, it becomes wimpy and doesn't spring back as it did when it was healthy. Or some areas the hair has difficulty in growing its length from the beginning, and damaging caused by styling or chemical can make the hair to have an even more length discrepancy from other hairs because of breakage. Furthermore, the length and the shape of your haircut significantly affect the styling when you put the hair down or put it in a ponytail in relation to the shrinkage and volume of the hair. This is why we would first like to look at your hair and understand what styles you're looking for and how you like to wear your hair daily and occasionally. From there, considering the hair's texture, condition and its colour, we are able to propose the ideas for your cut that will fall into your desired style when the hair is dried naturally, or that are versatile when the hair is styled otherwise. 

Unlike cutting straighter hair, we generally like to conduct the haircut with less texturising cuts for curly textures, so that the cut can keep your hair look healthier and stay in a better shape for a longer time. This said, however, we want to avoid giving you one blunt ball of curly hair, too. There's an intricate balance between your hair texture - curliness, fineness, movements - and the execution of the cut regarding its texture. This is why we take appropriate time for crafting your haircut whether it's a wet cut or a dry cut, and by regular panels or by piece by piece. In respect of the weight of the cut, we may try to keep richer weight for your curly strands for the more styling options. But again, this depends on your hair texture and the vibe in the look you opt for. As to the weight, volume and density of the haircut, the hair's volume is highly influenced by the care and styling products you apply, and therefore conceiving the plan for the weight and shape of the hair, with not the haircut alone, but together with your styling repertory is important for us. There're always plenty of ways to incorporate nuances and make changes into your visual image especially for curly and wavy textures. We are passionate about discovering and livening your hair's fascinating curls and waves for head-turning, outstanding results.

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Dry Cuts, Wet Cuts​

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​We are visual workers who like to maximise your hair's healthy appearance and beauty. Strong basics such as creating a good shape and imparting the right texture in cuts are always important for us, but what we do not want is being too technical to lose the overall sight. Sometimes walking away from methodical thinking and opening the way for visualisation can yield a pleasant result when it comes to a human haircut. We look at the pattern of your curls and how your strands spring up. In a person's hair, not all curls bounce up at the same ratio, or grow out at the same speed. When the hair is dry, you see where the curls sit, how the strands fall naturally, and it's easy to see different curl patterns across your head and which ends need more tidying than the others. This is why a wet cut alone isn't always the best answer for curly hair. Our house signature curly cut goes two ways; dry and wet, often both are used in one appointment and conducted in curl by curl. 

Among all aspects of textured hair cuts, we keep in mind these three elements in particular when we cut your waves and curls: 

• Length

• Layers

• Front pieces or Fringe

The length is the length of your hair you see from the top of your head to the bottom of your hair. Establishing the bottom line decides your hair length and we carefully take the shrinkage into calculation for the finished length. Although we don't always cut textured hair dry, dry cuts can avoid springing surprises! The length also determines the extent of layers you can put in your hair. By having the right layers, your hair can restore volume and movements in your hair. By lifting internal pieces to the right portions, you hair will achieve an improved shape and have bouncy pieces with attractive movements, which can also look variedly when you part or push your hair in different ways. These pieces are special gifts given to your hair and the work of finding these pieces is what we put our heart and soul into. Face-framing pieces - connected or disconnected from the other pieces - they are always pretty strands and can have an important roll of complementing the features around your face. We try to look at the ambience and subtlety of those pieces, as well as the balance between the front pieces and the layers and the shape of the entire haircut. Working for these details is a fun part of the haircut and we never have enough of. 

​Curly Hair Styling​ 

Although we have accumulated experience in curly hair, we are certain that you have your experience in your own hair. Some of you may have a love and hate relationship with your locks and you may be confident in your knowledge about what makes your hair happy or grumpy. We have decided to marry your experience and our expertise to form something beautiful. Even for simple everyday styling, items and how to use them change radically from one person to another when it comes to the wavy and curly hair demographic. We would always love to hear how you get on with your hair and how our previous proposal worked for your tress. This will lead to better personalised solutions and refined styling ideas that we can put forward, and some of these pieces of knowledge can be taken into account in your following haircut as well. During our conversation for your hair care and styling, the focus is made on these step by step points: 

• How you prepare your hair with shampooing + conditioning

• Pre-shampoo, post-shampoo, detangling and blotting, etc

• Treatments for strength and hydration

• Product application

• Products - gels, creams, leave-ins, oils, mousses, etc

• Diffusing, natural-dry and styling

• Curl protection and management

There are many more aspects we can discuss and work together individually, but we find that above features are the core elements of curly hair's styling and maintenance routine. We believe that offering essential information as much as possible is our responsibility, so that you can guide yourself on the bright track of curly hair. And we hope that we step up the level of care and the quality of our service as we exchange more conversations and receive further feedbacks. We hope that our work will be your great comfort and we can build up happy curly dialogues every time you visit us.  

A. A Quality Cut is what has been my usual haircut appointment over the past ten years that all craftsmanship and perfection are put in to create the highest quality haircut, and the cut can take a full one hour perhaps with extra time added for extra perfection. Customised shampooing+conditioning and a desired blow-dry, set, diffuse or natural finish are all part of the quality cut appointment. This menu is only available with me for now.

An Essential Cut is a recently created, smaller version of a quality cut. It has a downsized time allocation for every part of the service compared with the quality cut. The service can use economised shampoos and treatments but they are still good products and we do not change styling products for  quality/essential cuts. The appointment will still have regular processes of consultation, washing, cutting and blow-drying/styling/finishing. If you're a person who wants small but frequent trims, an Essential Cut can be a sweet spot for you. And if you add a trim to your regular colour appointments just to take care of the ends, this cut is also a good deal as it comes with a blow-dry/styling. 

If you're not sure which cut you should take when you make your appointment, you can always decide on the consultation. You can switch the cut menu at different appointments as you wish.

A. Our 'Simple Cut' is the most pared-down mode of work of our quality cut. Upon your booking, please mention a 'Simple Cut' so we can reserve your cut with a 30-minute window in our appointment system accordingly. 

This item is the latest instalment in our service menu that allows a decent haircut with minimum investment. The appointment removes all eliminable components of a quality cut, such as washing and blow-drying, and consists of only a consultation and a haircut. You will be consulted in English and the cut is performed with our expert knowledge in international hair by Eiki or one of our stylists who takes care of international hair constantly. The service length is 30 minutes and the pricing is unisex. The cut can be conducted dry or wet, and for a wet cut, we use a water spray to wet your hair. For those with a short length, the cut hair remaining in the hair after the cut can be cleared using a hairdryer. A quick dry-off is also provided after water spray if it's necessary, although sometimes the hair may not be fully dried, depending on your hair volume/length. 

A Simple Cut does not mean a 'simple style' but it refers to a simple/minimum work procedure. If you look for a simple or basic style with good quality such as clean outlines, finely made pieces, careful assessment for balance/weights and so on, I recommend a Quality Cut.

A Simple Cut can be made an appointment as itself alone, or can be added to your regular colour appointment as a small trim when you do not need a blow-dry or diffuse-dry. 

A. Cuts for Textured Hair Curl by Curl are  often, but not exclusively, carried out for type C curls. The cut is worked visually from strands to strands with advanced cutting and distribution techniques. The cut follows the person's natural curl patterns, curl-falling positions and the way the hair is usually pushed or parted in a dry state, so that the hairstyle stays in its natural or usual composition during its cutting/assessing process rather than being combed out uniformly and its distribution patterns are evened out for a precise cut shape.

The cut is often first conducted on dry hair for the natural patterns and followed by a check-cut on wet hair for small cleaning-up of the ends before the styling. A Curl-by-curl cut can bring advantages for the hair that has a great shrink length when it's dry.

A Cut and Finish for Tight Curls(natural) is for Afro/Caribbean hair types or tighter curls above 3C, that are also unprocessed with straightening/smoothing treatments such as relaxer and Brazilian blowout. This cut goes either of two paths: a straight cut or a natural cut. With a straight cut, a wash-and-blowdry is conducted first then followed by cut and re-style. With a natural cut, a cut is first conducted then wash and re-style, in the way that's similar to a curl-by-curl cut. For either cutting path, a check cut and a finish styling complete the Cut and Finish for Tight Curls (natural). 

A. You can decide one or the other in the consultation. It's not that a curly hair person will automatically be given a curl-by-curl cut.

A regular wet cut works very well on most types of curls. I do regular cuts for many of my curly hair clients. Both CBC cuts and regular cuts have strengths and weaknesses, so how your hair is cut really depends on your preference and priorities. In general, curl-by-curl cuts are more movement specific and texture enhancing while regular cuts can have a cleaner and healthier finish. 

You don't have to decide whether CBC or regular cut at the point of booking if you're not sure. I will be able to advise the way that suits you most as we discuss your style and idea. CBC or regular is one of many other topics within the conversation of how to achieve your style. I might spend more time on talking about length and layers and parts you want to make changes than its cutting method. The CBC cut can take longer time than the regular way because of extra processes. 

A. I do drycuts all the time. The difference between them are that 

A wetcut: 

• Makes a cleaner cutting surfaces (for most of textures).

• Puts the hair under better control for the haircutter in terms of combing, distribution and general handling (as long as the hair is tangle-free). This allows the stylist to work better for controlling the shape of the haircut.

A drycut:

• There are largely 2 drycuts - a straightened drycut and a natural drycut.

• Creates more textures on the cutting surfaces.

• Allows the stylist to work faster once wash + blow-dry is done.

• (A natural drycut) You can see how+where your hair falls easily when the hair is dry, so you can work visually and make practical evaluation.

• (A straightened drycut with tight curls) Allows a cleaner cut and better control for the handling hair throughout the cut.

• (A straightened drycut with straight~wavy hair) You have to wash + blow-dry hair first before cutting. Brings a clean and textured finish.

These are the main differences between the wet and the dry. If you're used to have a drycut and you're comfortable with it, I can do that way. Some clients only have drycuts. But also with many wetcuts, I do a wetcut first and dry the hair, then check the cut with a drycut. I like the feeling when both the client and I can see how the hair is changing as hair is cut dry. It's like we are making something together. 

A. No, the price doesn't change. Some of my clients have their preferred shampoo/products at home and they wash hair only at home with their products. They usually wash their hair night before the salon, so I simply wet their hair before starting the cut (if it needs wetting). And sometimes clients also bring in their shampoo for washing in the salon if they cannot use other shampoos.

And blow-dry and styling, too. I generally like to do a professional, salon finish for a haircut, but some clients do not want to have a full styling or brushes. For those cases, I can do minimise work after the cut. For this too, the price of the cut doesn't change since I work fully for the cutting part.

If you prefer no shampoo/blow-dry and a faster, streamlined appointment, we have a Simple Cut in our menu. But I understand that it's not what you're asking with this question, and our stylists and I will work fully for a meticulous finish with our Quality Cuts and Essential Cuts with or without a shampoo/blow-dry.

A. Of course I can use your products without a problem. I welcome any hair care and styling items and tools you agree with and unavailable at us, as far as it's not hazardous. If you're not sure, just let me know. I'll be happy to check for you and try to help as much as I can.

A. Of course you can. We're a hair salon. You can come for a firnge cut as many times as you like without doing any other things. I personally love cutting fringes but will try not to be too scissor happy and make it too short. We're all grateful to your visit.

A. This answer differs depending on what state your hair is in and the objective of your haircut- maintaining the current style or trying to grow your hair. If keeping the style is your priority, maintenance cuts on a regular schedule work well. If length is the goal, then small trims at less rates should be employed. 

• Maintaining

Hair grows out and naturally tapers at the ends due to weathering and the difference of growth speed of every individual hair on our head. A maintenance cut evens up the outlines of your hair and keeps your hairstyle fresh and fuller. This haircut trims hair that has grown faster than other strands of hair around it and not necessarily to remove damages. If you want to keep a good shape to your look, you may need a haircut once in 5 to 7 weeks for a short length and in every 7~15 weeks for a length below shoulder. The rates of the haircut should vary according to your hair's texture, growth speed and condition. The straighter and the finer your hair is, the sooner you need a cut. If your hair length is at the level where combatting against wispy or brittle ends, and you're not taking it shorter, you may need small trims regularly. For this case, for example, if you have a length below the shoulder around the collar bones and if this is the point where the ends of your hair always start to show signs of wearing, you may need a clean trim every 5 or 6 weeks. 

Other than the factors originate from your hair, the type and the quality of haircut you get from a hairstylist always affect the longevity of each cut. A cleanly made haircut lasts longer and holds a good shape for a longer time. If you're given a messy or shape-lacking cut, the haircut won't serve the purpose from the start and you might want to have another cut as soon as in a few weeks' time.

• Growing

If you are trying to grow your hair longer, you are probably wanting to reduce the frequency of haircuts and minimise the amount of cutting it. As I've said in the other FAQ article 'How can I grow my hair fast', there's no need for you to have a haircut in an arbitrary schedule. On the other hand, however, an opposite extreme tactic such as 'no-trim-at-all' can only work with those who already have greatly healthy hair. In the end, I think all of us need to compare the risk of not cutting hair and the potential opportunity loss of unnecessary cutting. 

First let's give a close look at what happens on our growing hair. Our hair has 3 stages in its growth cycle - growing, resting and shedding. The length of this cycle varies person to person from something like 3 years to 10 years depending on age and genes. During a growing stage, at the beginning the hair grows faster and the later it slows down before reaching the resting stage. Every hair on our head is on its own stage. This makes each of our hair have individually different growth speed from all others on our head. We have thisbioligical system for a good reason. Imagine, if all the hair on our head are on the same stage, one day we lose all our hair and wouldn't have one until move on to the next phase. Mother nature doesn't let that happen, thankfully.  As a result of this, the ends of our hair will have uneven growth which becomes wispy ends. Furthermore, uneven length causes more friction between neighbouring fibres. The increased friction invites all sorts of splitting and knotting. This propensity is more prominent on longer hair than on short hair. You can think of a thread or code to understand it - longer ones tangle more easily than shorter ones if the same threads. Anyway, uneven growth speed is one cause of the weak tips of hair. Another cause is accumulated fatigue (=damage) from heat, sun exposure, physical manipulation, chemicals and all those things leading to rough, frayed cuticles that morph into split ends, breakage and snags, you name it. When hair is damaged, these broken spots on our hair shafts can exist everywhere in the hair, but are especially concentrated towards the perimeter and the outer surface. 

So now you have a better purchase on the mechanism of vulnerability of the ends of our hair. In the early stage where split ends have started to exist, your hair moves less, shows dullness and thinness on the hemline, gets caught up more often and stops corresponding well to styling or holding its style. The bad news is that when those split ends and knots are left untreated, they eventually peel away or break off to expose the cortex (= the main inside part under the cuticle) of the hair shaft. The result is thin, tenuous strands of hair that can further split again and tangle itself often involving healthy hair next to them. Split ends cannot be fixed. Once they appear, you will need to cut them off with clean cuts possible. Not addressing them in an appropriate and timely manner will lead to a snowball effect of unnecessary breakage on larger areas on your hair ends. In consequence, you might have to have a much bigger cut than what you planned. This cyclical experience can not just leave you a bad impact on your hair health itself, but affect your hair maintenance and other things you do in your life adversely. It is best avoided by taking action (i.e. a small trim) before leaving it too long for a big fix.

At the end of the day, how and when you cut your hair are personal choices you must make. In order to grow healthy hair, individual factors such as hair condition, texture, with/without chemicals, length should all be considered. Monitoring your hair daily is one key. Seeking a professional opinion is the other. If a haircut is strategically planned and removes the length less than the hair grows in, it results in growing length of hair. Once your hair reaches a healthy status, it's pleasing to look at and there is more resistance against breakage. The hair is now easier to look after and corresponds better with styling which leads to less styling and handling efforts. The good news is that this can be achieved by anybody as long as you have access to a good stylist!

A. I think hair growth speed is individually different from all reasons like age, environment and genetical characters. And officially, there is no scientifically substantiated way to promote hair growth other than keeping it away from disruption or inhibition by having healthy diet and lifestyle with good sleep nights.

Having said this, however, I still have some suggestions that may help healthy hair growth and achieving a longer length in a comparatively shorter period of time. So these are nuggets of wisdom that I garnered from my past researches and experience:

• A healthy lifestyle - do moderate exercise, have daily outdoor activities whether work or leisure, have enough sleep, keep up well with the circadian rhythm.

• A healthy diet - have a healthy diet and enough water-drinking, avoid over-eating and alcohol consumption. General low calorie intake seems help hair growth.

• Try not to have a haircut too often. Dictums like 'regular trims promote hair growth' is a myth. At the same time, if your hair suffers from split-ends, you need to clean them. There should be a good balance there.

• Stay away from heat styling.

• Avoid strong lightening colouring and chemical processing. Not all colours are the same. Glosses, semi-permanents,  and simple root coverings with medium/dark shades are harmless. But light ones are condition-eating. The lighter you make your hair, and the more amounts of hair you do so, the less your hair gains grown length on its ends.

• Regular deep conditioning. Because you are trying to limit cutting hair in both times and length, you do need to seek alternative measures to keep the health of your hair. Technically, a great hair treatment cannot substitute a haircut of a great quality, because they serve different roles. But intensive conditioning treatments make a HUGE difference in a certain time period comparing with not doing them at all.

• Try not to wash your hair too often. This reduces excess stress to your scalp. Try to manage unwashed days by putting the hair into a pony-tail or up. 

• Avoid over-manipulation of your hair including excess combing/brushing, styling and touching. For general handling, be gentle and avoid snagging/tugging, and use your fingers instead of a comb if you can. 

• Use high quality tools for the right purposes - a wet brush for wet-brushing and a bristle brush for dry-brushing, for example.

• Learn how to style and manage your hair in an efficient and skilful way. Use your stylist as an ally and get most out of them. 

• Avoid friction during your sleep. Choose an appropriate fabric for your bed sheets and pillowcase.

• Protect your hair when you exercise and go swimming. Likewise when you're going on holidays or festivals. If you don't want to be too finicky or difficult when you're out and about with your friend/family, you should do your homework by building up good protection of intensive treatments before + after those events. 

• If you wear extensions or weaves, do them as protective as possible. And try not to leave them too long, say more than 3 months. Give a good break between ones.

It'll be great if you live in an ideal world and you can follow all of these acts of regimen. But in reality, as we juggle our everyday tasks, I know that there aren't many people who can strictly follow all these commitments. In the end, my point is that these are the recommendations I can make, and try them if you are interested, or try to see if some of them work with you. I hope there are some that you can take up well and continue. 

A. It's very common that people have different textures on the front and the back, or on the top and the bottom of the head. Sometimes you notice it, or sometimes you don't if the difference is small. I've seen so many people who have this kind of texture difference.

I would probably try to incorporate the front part and work as a whole than to isolate and treat it differently. But my approach might change from person to person. I can normally tell as I see the person's hair.

For styling, the same approach might work - treat your hair as a whole and blend the concerned part with other parts of hair whether you sweep to either side or hang it naturally. You can adjust the amount/kind of styling product you use for the part.

For what it's worth, the hair texture can change as you age. Especially for children, as we all know, the curl patterns, colour, coarseness, everything changes as they grow. This is not unique to only young people, however. Adults as well, our hair changes in many ways in a long time period. You get old and the diameter of hair shafts becomes smaller or the hair loses its elasticity are normal, not to mention grey hair and hair loss. But your kind of curl texture difference can change a lot too. One feature prominent at the age of 25 can disappear at 40. I saw and heard about them from my clients and hairdressers. I think there should always be ways that you can cope with them without spending too much effort or time and I think we can help most of cases.

A. Yes, it can happen, although it might not so significantly. For example, think if you always straighten or stretch your curls by thermal styling. Even without chemical straightening, because you repeat heat styling, your curls will become less bouncy. This is a form of damage with actually changing the internal structure of your hair by heat. Same as the way you part your hair. If you always keep the same direction to part your hair, it can affect the direction of the grain of follicles on your scalp and make the hair tend to lie the same direction. And I think the result is more obvious if your hair is coarser or longer.

Besides physical styling, I heard that both child birth and birth control affect your curl pattern. Apparently, hormones play a big part of hair growth and I have met some clients told that their hair texture changed significantly after giving a birth to their child(ren). Sometimes taking birth control pills can temporally make your hair straighter. Similarly, I've seen articles reporting that some types of contraceptive medication can stimulate hair growth while another types raise androgen levels or reduce oestrogen production and led to slow growth, increased hair shedding/loss and more curly textures. Like many other things, these reactions seem to happen to many people with various degrees but not to everyone.

A. A million dollar question. It's a super broad topic. In a sense, frizz is normal. Everyone has frizz unless your hair is very strait and you're in a pleasantly dry atmosphere. If you go up close, you see frizz is normal. If you look at your hair from a 10 metre distance, then you see a lot of frizz, you might want to try some tricks to calm it down. Let me run through some causes and solutions. 

The cause of frizz:

1. Lack of moisture

2. The weather - humid, dry, hot, cold

3. Damage/Breakage - from heat, over-styling, colour/chemical damages, natural porosity

4. Over-manipulation - too much touching hair, unintentional rubbing/friction

5. Protein/Moisture balance

6. Product build-up

7. Poor styling 

8. Bad haircut

These are all contributors to frizzy hair. On the whole, moisturising is the key in order to combat them. Let's take a look at them one by one from 1~8 to check how you can prevent getting frizz. 

1. Moisture 

• Moisturising shampoo + conditioner

• Deep conditioning 

• Hydrating products - Leave-in conditioner, Cream, Gell, Oil

A lack of moisture is a sure-fire way to send your hair into a mass of frizzy texture. You've got to moisture your hair, nourish and hydrate it. Start to use a moisturising shampoo and a conditioner that contain emollients. Deep treatments or mask at home are almost must. To make the conditioner and mask work best, the choice and use of shampoo is very important. You can deep-condition your hair by either pre-poo or post-poo, depending on what way works for your hair, you better know and you're used to. Try to use a mask once a week to see how your hair gets on with the product. If you're noticing that you have less frizz in your hair, then you can continue or even reduce doing it less than once a week as you think the condition is improving. You can leave the deep conditioner on for anything from 15 mins to an hour, up to how dry your hair feels. If you want, you can towel-dry your hair before applying the conditioner/mask, and use a squishing way to let your hair absorb the ingredients, wrap your hair in a plastic cap and then wrap a heated towel you pre-warmed over it. The suitable products and application widely vary according to your hair and you need to discuss with your stylist.

After washing and conditioning hair, you need to seal the moisture in your hair by using styling items. The right products vary up to your hair texture and its condition. You need to learn how best to apply them by learning from someone and finding out yourself.  Application order matters if you're using more than one product. In general, avoid something too heavy. Leave-in conditioners are good for both fine hair and thick hair. They often work as a starter if you're layering creams and gels. Many oils can go later as a moisture sealer. For those with very fine hair, gels and oils may not work well, but again, this relates to the type of your hair. If your hair is wavier/curlier, use products that help define your texture like defining gels and activator creams in order to tackle the frizz rather than trying to diminish your hair texture. There are many ways to combine products. To make them work best for your style, you need to speak with your stylist.

The products and the frizz issue with non-Japanese hair, there's always difficulty in Japan due to Japanese oriented product development and regulation. I have spent countless hours to figure out what ones work for what hairs, and I still keep looking out. I think I can make good recommendations for most of non-Japanese hair types. And for yourself, it is important for you to work out what items work best for your hair. And the best way for it is use the products and do the styling. Upon doing it, knowing the principle of product types, their roles and applications will make you an efficient consumer. This is where you can use your stylist to get the most out of them.

2. Weather

Summer: 

When the weather is as humid as during Japan's summer, it's natural your hair becomes frizzy. All my clients share their concern about the change of their hair and its fuzziness during Japan's summer months. And my response is not to be bothered about it. Even many Japanese with relatively smoother hair ramp up the amount of gels and oils they use to flatten down moving fly-aways and signs of undulation of their hair. Whether your hair is Asian, European, African, Arabic or any kind, it will increase its movement in a muggy weather. And these are my proposals for your summer hair:

• Going slightly shorter than your usual length - A small change in the length will make everything easier and quicker, from washing, drying to all kinds of handling.  It cuts down the amounts of shampoo, conditioner, products and the time spent for them.

• Keep the hair length as usual and keep it away from your face and neck - This is the opposite to my former suggestion and the idea is keep your hair on your head, not letting it come in anywhere letting alone on your back or collar. This helps your body heat emitted and by result, it cools your body temperature down. Even for those with shorter side like a bob style, hair coming in your face and tucked/pinned away will make a big difference. For those with tight curls, keep braids and twists on than letting outs. This will hide the ends from the sun rays and help keep you cool.

• Protect your hair from the heat and UV rays by wearing a hat or sport cap. I found straw hats are incredible - they let off warm air out and shade the beating rays off on our shoulder. No wonder why this hat was traditionally worn by farmers everywhere in the world. If your hair has a certain length, you can put it into a soft chignon or one or two loose three-strand plaits before gently folding/laying it under your hat for preventing ruffling/raking.

• Drink enough water to hydrate your body - many experts also say this will hydrate your hair. Maybe it does for the future hair. What I'm certain is this will keep your body functioning well and it does good for your hair down the line. 

• Regular deep conditioning - Whether you're in the city or on holiday, it will fortify the hair by adding strength and weight and prevent from breakage. For those with hair on the finer side, add a tad more protein to your treatments. 

• Try not to over-cleanse your hair - As the temperatures rise outside, you might be tempted to wash your hair more often or to use more cleansing washing ingredients than you normally do because of increased amount of sweat. The opposite is recommended - be extra gentle with your hair and scalp. The scalp producing more sweat doesn't mean it's dirtier. And sweat is easily rinsed off by luke-warm water, or even with water. So keep shampooing to a minimum and continue with moisturising shampoo and products for dry hair. 

• If your hair is curlier, try to spritz water more often on your hair - This stops your hair becoming dry for a long time and prevent your hair ends from getting breakage. You can include a light leave-in conditioner or conditioner-mixed water sometimes going by how you feel about the hair's weight and dryness. 

Winter:

Many of my clients say they enjoy Japan's winter. I think Japan's sunny winter days are pleasant and not aggressors to our hair. But even so, there are adverse environments every now and then and it's wise to keep protection on our hair.

• Wear a hat or beanie when you step outside - Some winter days in Japan can be very cold especially in northern areas and the dry cold air is harsh for fine or curly textures. Hide your hair under a hat will stop your hair from being blown around in the wind and getting all knotty and snagged. But try to avoid cotton or rough wooly hats as they cause friction to your hair. Cottony ones can really suck the moisture out of your hair. Not all wools are the same, softer ones are better and less ruffling than coarser ones. There are silk or satin linings you can buy online that are worn under your beanie or hat to separate your hair from the rubbing material of the hat. A silk scarf can do the job as well. If your hair is curly or textured, you don't want to tug all your hair strands by casually putting a hat on and off. Try put your hair up and use small clips or a crunchy to secure the hair on your head. Then gently cover your hair with the silk/satin lining/bonnet before pulling your beanie on it. When you take the hat off, your hair shouldn't be as frizzy and sucked out moisture as much.

• Friction from a coat - Likewise a hat, some of them are made of a rough material that can catch hair ends and cause friction and pulling of hair. For protection from being rubbed on those materials, wear or insert a silk scarf around your neck between your hair and the coat. If you notice that your coats and jackets catch the short, fine hairs on your nape, it's usually always the same hair that gets this rough treatment. Prime the hair in this particular part with an extra conditioner during the winter months as well as applying some kind of sleeky styling product to minimise the friction. 

• Moisturising treatments - Some winter heating in buildings are particularly drying to our hair, skin and eyes. When your hair is dry and brittle from the beginning, it's much more prone to breakage and further frizz, so it is important that you add moisture back into your hair. It's a good idea to apply a deep treatment at least once in 2 to 3 weeks. If your hair is very dry, you may find that you need to deep-condition even twice a week in the winter. You can increase the use of richer products like creams and oils to your hair for extra moisture depending on your hair's dryness, brittleness, your daily activities and the hair's exposure to the elements.

3. Hair damage

Damage and breakage make hair strands and cuticles weak, consequently trigger frizzy texture whether the hair is fine or thick. Reducing damages and improving your hair condition will directly help minimise frizziness in your hair. We have already looked at how we can condition and moisturise the hair in '1. Moisture' section, so let's look at the causes & prevention of damage in order to stop frizzy hair.

• Heat/ Over-styling

Anything you do necessarily or unnecessarily will have a damaging or drying consequence when it comes to heat styling. This includes straightening irons, curling irons, hot curlers, dryers and diffusers. It's better to save your hair condition by cutting down the use of styling and do it only when you really need. 

(1) Learn how to style and manage your hair without using heat styling. Keep your time and effort minimum by putting your hair up or twisted. It's always good to have a few, nice and practical up-styles in your repertoire of everyday styling. 

(2) Learn how to style your hair with the least amount of heat when you use a dryer or thermal tool. You might be able to lower the heat temperatures or the time duration you use the apparatus if you try to find ways. 

(3)Try to prolong your non-washing days and cut down the frequency of hair wash. This will make the use of hairdryer and heat less often. You can use dry shampoos to manage your scalp conditions. You can also cut down oily food consumptions. I personally found that oily dishes and saturated animal fats directly lead to the increase of sebum on our scalp. As you extend your non-washed period, the hair will continue to shed, so it is important for you to manage your shed hair by removing them regularly. There are various approaches you can take and you might need to discuss with your stylist for help.

• Colour/ Chemical treatment

It's not that all hair colours damage hair and they are bad. A hair colour can dry hair out and make it weak. And yet the same colour can make the same hair very pretty by introducing brilliant shades and tones. Once the foundation is created in most parts of your hair, cycles of re-applying gentle colours on the strands can refresh the colour and you can enjoy the brilliance and tones over the years until the strand reaches the end and is cut off. These effects cannot be achieved without colouring. The important point is, you (and your colourist) know what kind of colour can be put on your hair without causing damaging and know how to treat your hair after the colouring. Theoretically, there's always trade off between hair condition and a great style, and you are required to weigh them up how much you're going to give for the style and how much you leave for the hair's condition. This is true, however, in practice, there are many ways that you achieve a good style without sacrificing your hair condition very much by avoiding risks all around. In addition to this, you can re-apply and restore nutrients for the hair. With this kind of two pillar strategy - safe chemical treatment and good hair care, you can navigate your hair within a good-condition zone and sustain it that way almost forever. 

• Hair porosity

Some hair textures, especially smaller curls, are naturally high in porosity, and although the natural porosity itself isn't damage, the porous nature of the hair makes it susceptible to all sorts of damaging elements from simple sun exposure and cold air to heat and chemical processes to even everyday brushing and handling. If your hair is naturally porous, you need to take extra measures to keep your hair away from harm, use conditioning treatments with higher quantity or quality and have a stylist who knows how to treat your hair. Although unless with some stylings, tight-curl hair is never free from frizz, there are healthy frizz and unhealthy one. Moreover, tight curl hair might not reflect light and be shiny as much as straight hairs, it will have good sheen and burnished appearance with it when it's healthy. Because of this, it's very important to manage frizz and keep good condition if you have high porosity hair. 

4. Over-manipulation

When your hair has a natural texture like waves and curls, touching and brushing it will make more separation between strands and it leads to increased frizz in the hair. In order to avoid frizz from touching,

• Try not to touch your hair once the hair is dry and set after styling.

• (As mentioned in the above Winter hair - beanie/coat wearing) Be mindful of friction and pulling of hair when you wear your clothing also when you wear your hair down.

• Protect your hair while you sleep - Hair is rubbed against your pillowcase and bed sheets a lot, receiving rumpling and twisting movements during your sleep. It's only natural your hair will have more frizz by the time you wake up. 

(1) A cotton fabric rubs hair and absorbs moisture from hair.  Swap your pillowcase and bed sheets for silk/satin fabrics which allow your hair to glide rubbing-free if you use a cotton type.

(2) If your hair is long enough, put it into a loose pineapple shape with a crunchy while you sleep. This protects the hair in all angles on the pillow.

5. Protein/Moisture balance

One of causes of frizzy hair is the imbalance of hair condition. This means you can tackle the situation by addressing the balance of protein (strength) and moisture (softness) in your hair.

Protein: Your hair wants more protein when it

• lacks bounce and resilience and consequently getting fluffy (also know as soft frizz or wet frizz)

• stretches but doesn't return when it's pulled

• doesn't hold the styling much

• feels mushy or wimp

• lacks shine and substance

• is broken and has split ends

You can tackle these conditions by topping-up protein using a treatment at a salon as well as using protein containing shampoos, conditioners and masks at home. Protein containing products show protein ingredients in higher positions in the order of product ingredients on the bottle. Key protein ingredients you can look out for are

• Amino acids (small)

• Peptides or Polypeptides (small)

• Collagen (small~medium)

• Keratin (small~medium)

• Casein (medium)

• Oat, Wheat, Soy, Quinoa, Rice (medium~large)

Also you often see trade terms put before above key ingredients such as

• Cocodimonium Hydroxypropyl Hydrolyzed

• Cocoyl Hydrolyzed

• Hydrolyzed

• TEA-Cocoyl Hydrolyzed

• Cystine Bis-PG-Propyl Silanetriol

• PG-Propyl Silanetriol

These trade terms explain the state of protein is made water-soluble, quaternised, silicone modified, keratin-derivative etc, and are simply more precise names of ingredient in hair products. There is also an aspect of the size of proteins suitable for each hair condition such as smaller proteins suited to small cracks on the hair shaft and bigger proteins suited to big cracks and high porosity hair. But you don't have to be too bogged down about this because most of commercial products are made to work for most of damage types. 

Moisture: Your hair needs more moisture when it

• is frizzy because it's dry + brittle (dry frizz)

• is knotty and gets tangled easily, difficult to brush/comb through

• doesn't stretch but breaks easily when it's pulled

• feels thirsty and difficult to manage its movements

You can address these issues by filling your hair with moisture from a treatment at a salon as well as using shampoos, conditioners and masks at home. You can also spritz water time to time during a day when the air is dry. Major key ingredients for moisture consist of two categories as 

Humectants - Attracts moisture to your hair:

• Glycerin

• Propylene Glycol

• Butylene Glycol

• Hexylene Glycol

• 1, 2, 6 Hexanetriol

• Dipropylene/Triethylene Glycol

• (Polyglyceryl) Sorbitol

• Betaine

• Sugar (= Glucose, Lactose, Fructose, Polydextrose)

• Sodium Lactate

• Alpha Hydroxy Acids (= lactic acids)

• (Hydrogenated) Honey

• Aloe vera

• Panthenol

• Hyaluronic Acids

• Urea

• Phytantriol

• Sodium PCA

• Inositol

• Hydrolyzed Elastin

• Erythritol

• Isoceteth - (3-10, 20, 30)

• Isolaureth - (3-10, 20, 30)

• Trideceth - (5-50)

Emollients - Seal the moisture in the hair:

• Plant butters (Shea/ Cocoa/ Mango etc)

• Waxes (Bees waxes/ Carnauba waxes etc)

• Hexanediol/Hexanetriol Beeswax

• Plant oils (Coconut/ Castor/ Olive/ Sunflower etc)

• Laureth - (5-50)/(1-30)

• Steareth - (4-20)

• C12 - C15 Alkyl Benzoate

• Cetyl Lactate

• Cetyl Palmitate

• Cetyl Alcohol

• Celearyl Alcohol

• Squalene

• Lanolin (=animal sourced oil)

Protein/moisture balance is a core part of hair condition management and it's important for me to understand it thoroughly. But it's also helpful for you if you can see hair condition from this angle, so that you can understand what's happening on your hair and what it's needing better. I have created expert treatments at our salon, so you can try ours if you'd like me to have a look at your hair. As to home hair care products, I know that many products sold in Japan write their ingredients in Japanese, understandably, which is sometimes annoying. Also as you might have guessed, there will be new ingredients with different names coming in all the time. Furthermore, an ingredient with different number can have a totally different role. For example, Laureth is one of the most popular molecules used in cosmetics with numerous derivatives with different numbers, being most of them as either detergent or emulsifier. This makes us feel there's less point going after every ingredient. My advice is not to worry about ingredients too much. If you use a product and when it works, it's good. The most important principle you need to remember is 'protein = strengthening, hydration/humectant = moisturising'. 

6. Product bild-up in hair

When your hair has product build-up, it looks like it has condition malaise where no product works really well and you don't see particular reason why it is so. Product build-up can cause wet-frizz and manageability difficulty. 

The symptoms are: 

• Your hair lacks vigour or it doesn't behave as well as it used to do.

• Waves/curls look stringy and stretched out.

• Hair strands look mashy and lacklustre even after protein treatments.

• Hair feels constantly heavy and lacks a light, bouncy feel.

The causes can be:

• Not washing properly - Not drenching hair enough before shampoos, not washing thoroughly, not spending enough time, water is too cold, etc.

• Product over-load - More amounts of styling products went in than the intensity of washing the hair was given, and this cycle was repeated

• Using too much oil treatments or pre-poo treatments before shampooing

• Over-protection - Too much moisturising treatments with too little cleansing with moisturising shampoos or sulphate-free shampoos

• Too much co-washing and not doing cleansing shampoos

How to fix:

• Try to give your hair decent wash - If you don't wash your hair as often as daily or every other day but you wash once in 4 days to a week, do 2 shampoos on your washing day. You can use different shampoos for the first shampoo and the second one, like a cleansing one for the 1st and a moisturising one for the 2nd. You can even make 3 shampoos if your hair is heavy with oil and products - 2 cleansing and 1 moisturising.

• Don't be afraid of sulphate shampoos - I've started talking about cleansing shampoo, and many cleansing shampoos have sulphate or similar defivatives. Sulphates are a kind of salt of H2SO4 group which there are heavy types industrially used, but for cosmetics, sulphate means Sodium Laureth Sulfate or Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate (SLES) or something similar spells such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and of such ilk. Sulphate foams, emulsifies and breaks oils so well, and this is why brands like to use sulphates otherwise consumers complain like 'this shampoo doesn't sud up!' Many health monitoring agencies recognise sulphate as an irritant for eye+skin but determine that it does not react with human DNA - which means safe. The caveat is that 1,4-Dioxane, an alcohol-like liquid that is a by-product of SLES production, is classed as a Group B carcinogen by the major international cancer monitoring agency like IARC, and there is an argument that any SLES can be contaminated with 1,4-Dioxane. Many governments' agencies like FDA encourage manufacturers removal of 1,4-Dioxane but not legalise it. However, more consumer groups and consequently brands monitor the level of it in cosmetic products today. Therefore in conclusion, I think it's okay to use products with sulphates. It makes our washing fast. It's good to wash properly when you want to wash. There are many other hazardous substance in our life from PFAS to micro plastics to P2.5. I don't think we should hang up on sulphate too much. But I should remind everyone that being efficient, use less products in general and to facilitate it, avoid unnecessary damage to your hair. 

• If you wash your hair every day, use a light conditioner/styling items with lesser amount and keep light washing or using moisturising shampoo

• Cut down the concentration of styling products/ moisturising items/ oil treatments and keep the same cleansing

• Keep the same concentration of styling products/ moisturising items/ oil treatments and reset your hair with a proper cleansing ritual with a good cleansing shampoo, 2 shampoos, thorough washing+rinsing

7. Poor styling

When you don't give your hair good styling, and if your hair is fine or has  natural movement, your hair can look somewhat messy or lacks definition, which then can be transformed into frizzy or frayed strands later in the day. It' always good to invest your time to learn how to style your hair. Once you get to grips with how to create a style on your hair, you can phone it in from there. Your stylist should be able to demonstrate how to do for you.

At the same time, I'm not against natural dry or air dry. You don't always have to style your hair properly if that way works. It saves your time and hair condition. For air drying as well, there should be a few better ways for every person to manage and keep frizz away from the hair. I'm always happy to assist clients for this natural styling category.

• You need to know how to do with your tools and products

• You need to have the right tools and products - you should avoid poorly-made tools, they're not just failing to work well, sometimes damaging your hair.

• Don't touch and disrupt your waves/clumps if you're diffusing - you need to make them nicely first

• For fine + textured hair, use lighter products and make good casts quickly

• When you use thermal heating tools, adjust temperatures near 180C accordingly to your hair's condition. But if you set too low like below 150C degree, they can't do the job that they're supposed to do. 

8. Bad haircut

Last but not least, the quality of your haircut. Sometimes you get a haircut that easily makes more frizz in your hair. We choose and adjust the cut going by the hair's texture and length. On one hand, it is understandable that it's sometimes difficult for Japanese stylists to apply their knowledge of cuts to your hair because they are trained and specialised in Japanese hair. But on the other hand it is always difficult to find a stylist who executes the right cut every time you see them irrespective of the city you live. You can be down on your luck for some time till you find a right stylist. To counter this, you need to

• Try more stylists, ideally someone with experience

• Try to explain how your frizz happens and how you style + manage your hair, so they can understand better your hair, your struggles, your knowledge level and preferred way. Then in turn, you can see the stylist's response to assess how much the person grips your points and porvides clear answers for you. 

• If you get a haircut with too many short pieces internally in the cut, the created work can turn in one with perpetual fuzz in your hair. You might always have aspired images and bring them in a salon, and stylists hand-make them for you. It's down to the stylist's skill and taste how to cook your idea, but it's good for you to remember as a rule of thumb that short pieces invites frizz. 

A. This is one of the most commonly discussed topics at my chair. I used to be baffled when I came to Aveda's Omotesando salon after London, when there were so many clients requesting their stylists to take down the volume of their hair by thinning it. Now I understand why those Japanese clients wanted that way and I'm no longer flabbergasted or against it. But I still adore fullness of hair and thick, lush abundance of it, and I am, after many years doing it, made or programmed to create or maximise volume of people's hair.

As to your question, there are so many things you can do, but they are different from a person to another. Let me outline a few core points. There are largely three components that make the volume of hair:

• Cut - you need to have the right cut and a relatively appropriate length to keep the volume of your hair.

• Styling - with or without styling it, you need to understand the basic principles for your good hair days. You need to know what things kill the volume and what things increase it with and without products.

• Home maintenance - choose the right products, do the suitable regimen for your hair and your lifestyle, and try not to do unnecessary fads. Have quick solutions for giving volume to your hair and a long-term strategy for maintaining the density and health of your hair + scalp. 

You need to have a good conversation with your stylist. In my case, I usually pick up multiple things that a client can do to boost the volume of hair. There are many tips and ideas which are all basic and inexpensive, and can be easily included in your lifestyle. 

A. Of course we can. You can choose from the three menus: Quality cut, Essential cut or Simple cut depending on what style you want for your new style. We'll prepare your hair with a few ties at the lengths you can cut depending on how long you want to keep your hair. You need to bring a clean empty plastic bag with you to put your cut hair in after the cut. We can put your cut hair in the bag in a few ponytails without messing them.

Please make sure that your hair is washed day/night before and lightly conditioned and  rinsed well. Some charities may ask no conditioner used for donating hair, so check this with your charity. Use no hair products on the washed hair and completely dried at latest by the morning of cutting. Protect your hair from the elements when you travel to the salon on the cutting day.