To maintain lustrous, healthy hair, Townsend has a few golden rules, developed over his many years of working with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Both wanted to grow their hair as long as possible, but had completely different approaches. Ashley allowed him to cut off the split ends, but Mary-Kate wanted to avoid the scissors altogether, he says.
“It sounds illogical, but if you don’t cut the ends, your hair won’t grow because the split ends eat their way up,” he explains. As a result, Mary-Kate ended up having to cut more than just split ends off before starting again. Townsend pulled together some rules for encouraging healthy hair growth as a result.
Switch to silk
John Lewis
Organic Mulberry Silk Standard Pillowcase
“Cotton draws moisture out of the hair and is far too rough,” Townsend says. “Even the most expensive cotton pillowcase in the world creates friction when you move around on it at night.” A silk pillowcase can help protect against breakage and friction that occurs as you sleep.
Brush your hair before washing
Mason Pearson
Popular Brush
Tedious but important: Townsend recommends brushing your hair before you get in the shower or bath. “Always detangle your hair before washing,” he says. “Don’t just place the brush at the crown of the head and pull downwards, as the knots will get tighter and tighter along the shaft of the hair and won’t be able to be loosened. Brushing this way makes breakage inevitable. Instead, start at the ends of the hair and slowly work your way up.”
He prefers a brush with natural bristles – preferably boar – as they tend to be the most gentle on delicate hair. “Long hair is a luxury, so you should treat it like something precious,” he concludes.
Oil the ends and only apply shampoo to the scalp
Olaplex
No. 7 Bonding Frizz Reduction and Heat Protection Hair Oil
“As soon as my clients’ hair reaches their shoulder blades, I tell them to rub coconut oil into the ends before washing their hair. Applying shampoo there would dry out the hair, so I like to keep it to the scalp. When rinsing, the cleansing effect of the shampoo-water is enough to remove the protective oil film while not stressing the hair out. Apply conditioner as normal.”
