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Written By: Shannon Lawlor

UNTIL THE BIG DAY

Even if you’re not sure what exact style you want to go for, now is the time to at least make your mind up on the cut and colour you want to have for your big day. I knew that I wanted to be much blonder for my wedding day, so I sat down with my colourist as soon as I got engaged to make a plan of action. If you’re looking to make a colour change, you need to start the journey as early as possible in order to mitigate any bleach or chemical damage.

It turns out, I still hadn’t really left enough time, and ended up having two colour appointments in the space of six weeks—which, in hindsight, was probably too much for my fine hair to handle. It meant I ended up chopping more off the length than I ideally would have liked in order to have things looking smooth and sleek on the day. 

UNTIL THE BIG DAY

By this stage, you should really know what sort of style you’re going to opt for on the day—whether you’re wearing it in loose waves, sleek and straight, half-up-half-down, embracing your natural texture, or going for a full up-do. Over the next few weeks, I would really recommend booking in your hair trial (or doing a runthrough if you’re doing your hair yourself).It is at this point any glaring issues you might want to address get highlighted. For example, during my hair trial I realised that if I wanted my hair to look really sleek, I needed to get on top of my breakage issue, so I started being extra vigilant with protection during my heat styling routine.

UNTIL THE BIG DAY

If you have coloured hair, I’d recommend seeing your colourist just before your big day. I booked in for a colour refresh the day before. I was adamant I didn’t want any more bleach to touch my hair, as I didn’t want to risk any further breakage and certainly didn’t want any mishaps with no time to fix it. My colour was toned and my roots smudged out to ensure things were looking tip-top for the day itself.

My piece of advice here is an important one: do not incorporate any new products into your routine the week before your wedding. Keep things simple and pared-back. I stuck with the same shampoo and conditioner duo I used before my hair trial so that we didn’t face any surprises. For example, if you wash your hair with a super-softening conditioner or mask the morning of your wedding, it can be much harder to style. Instead, keep things consistent and wash your hair no sooner than the evening before if you’re not planning on a blow dry as a part of the styling process. 

If you’re anything like me, damage isn’t at the top of the worry list on your wedding day—you just want your hair to look its best, by any means necessary. Because my chosen look was centre-parted, slicked-down and with some lift at the back, I had heaps of grips and bands in there to keep things super-tight. My top tip? Release any clips and bands the minute you can. I ended up with a tension headache by the end of the night, and the tight clips and bands did cause some breakage. The minute I got back to my room, I jumped straight in the shower to wash all of the product out and prevent any scalp irritation.

With the bleaching that took place beforehand and the intense backcombing, use of extreme-hold products and heat styling that took place on the day itself, it’s almost needless to say my hair needed some TLC post-wedding. In a bid to get my hair back to its strongest, healthiest self before it sees any more bleach, I have been taking some serious action. For starters, I’m leaning heavily on bond-repair products, like Olaplex No.3 Hair Pefector, to mend and restore broken bonds. Nourishing hair masks have also been a key part of my routine. Once a week, I give my hair a deep-condition with a hydrating treatment, like the Kérastase Blond Absolu one below, in a bid to restore some shine and bounce.

When it comes to styling, I have massively stripped back my routine in hopes that less processing and fewer products will fend off any further damage. For example, when it comes to heat styling, I have continued with the religious heat protector application that I adopted just before the wedding. Because, although it might sound odd, I have continued with the heat styling. Why? Well, because for fine hair like mine, I have learned from both experts and lived experience that leaving it to air dry can often lead to more breakage. You see, the longer your hair remains wet, the more compromised a strand’s protective outer cortex becomes, paving the way for brittleness, dryness and breakage. It also means I don’t need to reach for the straighteners every single day—instead just utilising the more hair-friendly KEEO Genius whenever I want a poker-straight or curled look on the odd day I feel that way inclined.

In further attempt to prevent more breakage, I have made a conscious effort to be kinder to my hair while brushing. My super-long hair is prone to knotting and I have little to no patience with it. In fact, I’m somewhat infamous among my friends for tugging at my hair in fury with a brush. But since the wedding, I have taken much more care with my brushing, using my favourite Kent Paddle Brush to carry out gentle strokes from the ends up.

All of this, combined with following my colourist’s advice on swapping out my abrasive linen pillowcases for silk ones to reduce friction-related snapping overnight, has slowly but surely made a big difference. (I know I should have boarded the silk pillowcase train much earlier, but I have long detested their somewhat ugly appearance. Recently, I bit the bullet and bought a more aesthetically-pleasing one from Slip—although I still put it away in a cupboard during the day so that my linen bed set remains matching during waking hours.)