To have healthy hair, you need a healthy body and that means moving it more. Campaigns like #thisgirlcan and #parkrun have gotten millions of us sweating it out and reaping the benefits.
We caught up with yoga instructor Heather Leary (a woman in constant motion whether it’s striking a yoga pose, training for a triathlon, or hiking to high points across the globe for a bird’s eye view) for a chat about managing your mane when you live life at a sporty full speed.
Have you always been a mover and shaker/sporty?
Can you share with us what makes yoga so special and its benefits?
Heather Leary: The power of yoga is absolutely incredible. People normally come to yoga for the physical benefits; they often want to stretch more, improve their flexibility and have some time out to relax in a class that’s a bit more chilled out. What is then uncovered is that yoga is about so much more than the physical poses (asanas). It’s about finding stability and peace. It’s about cultivating good, positive energy and channelling it. It’s about practising resilience – learning how to get comfortable with the typically uncomfortable. Exploring sensations and feelings without judgement. The benefits are endless; a calmer, clearer and more stable mind. A constant sense of ease. Increased focus and concentration. To name but a few… Don’t take my word for it – just give it a go yourself.
How many times do you exercise in an average week?
Heather Leary: A good week for me is when my FitBit tells me I’ve hit 5 workouts. At the moment I’m doing a mixture of HIIT style training like circuits and tabata alongside gym workouts and yoga to feel healthy and energetic.
Noughty: Wow – working up a sweat that often must make mane management a challenge. How would you describe your hair, the challenges it faces and how you manage them?
Heather Leary: I’ve actually noticed a real difference in my hair since I stepped up my gym game again. Before now, I could go for longer without washing it as it wasn’t getting as greasy as quickly. Now I’m back to washing it every day and I’ve found that it looks and feels limp really fast if it’s down. Using a good shampoo and conditioner is the secret to keeping it looking good for longer. I’m very quick to just sling it up and out of the way on a bad hair day so it takes some really good products to see me through an entire day with my locks left alone…
As everyday athletes like Heather have found, sweat from your scalp can affect your locks in the same way build-up can. While it’s designed to cool the body down, on hair sweat moves down the hair shaft, taking oil and dirt with it. The result? Weighed down hair that can look greasy and limp. With all that exercising comes more frequent hair washing, and a gentle, effective shampoo paired with the right conditioner becomes even more important to maintaining healthy-looking locks. Whether you’ve got fine hair-like Heather’s and are looking for the volume and hydration you get from Noughty’s Pumped Up or have dry locks, a curly mane, blonde strands…there’s the perfect Noughty duo for you. Unless you prefer a co-wash like 1 Hit Wonder, of course.
