5 chic reasons regular haircuts are the ULTIMATE self care ritual

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Anyone who has ever had a Bad Hair Day will know the transformative power of a haircut. And beyond simply looking good, a visit to Pankhurst & Deane can nourish the mind as well as the body. Here’s why.

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1. Confidence boost
There’s something undeniably empowering about a fresh haircut. A clean shape frames the face, enhances your features and delivers that a polished well put-together energy. It’s a small but undeniable shift that often translates into a BIG confidence boost.

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2. Mental health reset
Haircuts can act as a symbolic release—there’s a reason why we often go for a dramatic haircut after a break-up or big life change. The experience of being in the salon, relaxing and indulgent, allows you to take a rare pause in a busy world.

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3. Healthier hair growth
While trimming doesn’t directly speed up growth, it prevents breakage from travelling up the hair shaft. And by removing damaged ends, your hair will stay strong, allowing it to grow longer, thicker and healthier over time.

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4. Scalp care
A healthy scalp is the foundation of beautiful hair. Regular cuts are the best way to support optimal hair growth.

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5. Effortless styling
Well-maintained hair simply behaves better making styling simpler. Whether air-dried or heat-styled, your hair will fall into place with minimal effort.

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Consider your next haircut not as maintenance, but as a mindful investment—one that nurtures beauty from the inside out.

The secret to faster hair growth: simple habits for stronger, healthier hair

Healthy, beautiful hair doesn’t happen overnight—but with the right care and consistency, you can absolutely support faster, stronger growth.

At Pankhurst & Deane, we always remind our clients that hair growth starts at the scalp and it’s also influenced by your daily habits as well as the products you use. Here are our secret tricks for hair growth.

Look after your scalp

Maintaining a clean and well-nourished scalp is essential. Product build-up, excess oil and environmental pollutants can block hair follicles and slow down growth. Using a gentle, high-quality shampoo and conditioner suited to your hair type helps keep your scalp balanced and healthy—creating the ideal environment for hair to thrive.

Give yourself a head massage

Scalp massage is another simple but powerful habit to introduce into your routine. Taking a few minutes each day to gently massage your scalp can help stimulate blood flow to the hair follicles, encouraging healthier growth over time. It’s a small step that can make a noticeable difference when done consistently.

Get a trim

Regular trims are often misunderstood when it comes to growing your hair. While trimming doesn’t directly speed up growth from the root, it does prevent split ends from travelling up the hair shaft and causing breakage. Keeping your ends healthy means your hair can retain its length more effectively.

Cut back on heat styling

It’s also important to minimise damage. Frequent heat styling, tight hairstyles, and harsh chemical treatments can weaken the hair, leading to breakage and slower progress. Whenever possible, use heat protection, opt for looser styles, and give your hair regular breaks from intensive styling.

Eat well

Finally, don’t forget that healthy hair starts from within. A balanced diet, proper hydration, and key nutrients all play a role in supporting strong, resilient hair.

Hair growth is a journey, and patience is key—but by focusing on overall hair health, you’ll see stronger, longer results over time.

How to keep your hair strong and healthy

A little redness or a few broken hairs might not seem like a big deal at first, but these early warning signs mean your hair is under stress. The good news? Small changes to your routine can help prevent long-term damage.

Here are some easy ways to protect your hair:

• Loosen tight hairstyles and avoid constant tension

• Give your hairline regular “rest days”

• Choose gentler products and avoid heavy application every day

• Limit heat use and always use heat protectant

• Opt for silk or satin at night to reduce friction

Healthy hair starts with mindful habits—and we’re here to help. If you’re worried about thinning or want personalised advice, book a consultation with one of our stylists. We’ll help you find styles and routines that keep your hair looking gorgeous while protecting it for the long-run.

Five hair mistakes to avoid, says the man who created Jennifer Aniston's 'The Rachel' haircut

Even if you don’t recognise his name, you’ve definitely seen Chris McMillan’s work. He’s the celebrity hairstylist behind The Rachel—Jennifer Aniston’s iconic haircut from Friends—and he knows a thing or two about healthy hair.

In a recent TikTok, McMillan didn’t sugar-coat it, saying “winter is the worst for hair.” And honestly? He’s not wrong. Between freezing temperatures outside, dry heated air indoors, and styling hair more often, winter can be tough on both your hair and scalp.

At Pankhurst and Deane we wholeheartedly agree. The colder months put extra stress on hair, but the good news is you don’t need to completely change your routine—just make a few smart adjustments. Here are McMillian’s five common winter hair mistakes - and how to fix them.

1. Taking super hot showers

We get it—nothing feels better in winter than a steaming hot shower. But McMillan calls scalding hot water one of the biggest mistakes for hair health. Hot water strips away the natural oils your scalp needs, leaving hair dry, dull, and more prone to irritation.

Try this instead: Turn the temperature down slightly when washing your hair. Warm water is enough to cleanse without causing damage.

2. Not hydrating enough

Hydration is everything in winter. McMillan describes it as creating a barrier that protects hair from the elements—and that barrier really matters when hair is constantly moving between cold air outside and dry indoor heating.

A lightweight leave-in conditioner, serum or a small amount of oil can go a long way in keeping hair softer and less frizzy.

3. Wearing ‘protective’ styles that pull

Protective styles can help in winter—but only if they’re actually gentle. Tight ponytails, slicked-back buns, or braids that pull at the hairline can create ongoing tension, especially if worn regularly.

If a style feels uncomfortable, causes headaches, or pulls around the edges, it’s probably doing more harm than good.

4. Skipping treatment time

One of McMillan’s favourite tips is “multi-masking.” Basically, if you’re wearing a slicked-back style, turn it into a treatment moment. Apply a conditioning mask, nourishing oil, or deep conditioner, slick it back, and let it work while you go about your day.

It’s an easy way to add moisture without adding extra steps—perfect for winter when hair tends to feel drier than usual.

5. Heat styling without protection (or skipping conditioner altogether)

Heat styling plus dry winter air is a recipe for breakage if hair isn’t protected. McMillan stresses using heat protection every time and not skipping conditioner during the colder months.

Heat protectants help reduce damage and frizz, while regular conditioning keeps hair softer, smoother, and less prone to snapping.

Here’s the thing: Most winter hair damage is fixable. Simple changes—cooling down your showers, keeping hair hydrated, choosing styles that don’t pull, and always using heat protection—can make a noticeable difference.

Yes, you can get rid of split ends - here's how

Getting rid of split ends isn’t as hard as you think. This is our expert advice for what to do now.

But firstly, what are split ends and what causes them? Split ends are basically when the ends of your hair are brittle and dry, and they look like they are splitting.

What causes split ends? The most common causes are chemical treatments and styling including blow drying, heat styling, perming, bleaching and all types of hair colouring as well as infrequent hair trims. Environmental elements such as the weather can and often do result in split ends, too. But don’t worry as split ends are normal and it doesn’t mean they are your fault.

How to prevent split ends First up, regular trims removes the damaged ends and prevents them from traveling up the hair shaft. Aim for a haircut every 6-8 weeks to prevent split ends. Other things that can help is showering with cooler water than usual, and finishing your shower with a cold blast to seal your cuticle at the end.

When your hair is wet, it’s also at its most vulnerable - it can stretch up to 50% when it’s wet. So put any leave-in conditioners before combing your hair, and try to avoid sleeping with wet hair.

Using a microfibre towel, as opposed to a standard cotton one, straight out of the shower can also help protect hair. This is because microfibre causes less friction on hair especially when it’s fragile. Cutting back on heated styling can also reduce damage.

How to fix split ends When it comes to repairing split ends, treat your hair like you would your skin. So that means use products that add moisture and that are deeply hydrating like a leave-in conditioner or serum.

If I wanted to fix static hair I'd try one of these five products

We’ve all had those moments. You’ve just finished blow drying your hair and then those annoying bits that always stick up automatically ping sky-high as if to say: “we’re still here, guys!”

The good news is, you’re not alone. Everyone gets fuzzy hair, whether it’s from over-styling, excessive hairbrushing, too tight ponytails, menopausal hair thinning or even fragile post-baby hair.

The even better news is, you can fix it with these our favourite anti-frizz products.

Get more volume in your hair by doing these three things

Invest in a volumising shampoo and conditioner 

Volume starts in the shower (or bath) so find a volumising shampoo and conditioner for your hair type and make it part of your haircare routine.

Part-dry your hair upside down

Start off your drying journey with your head flipped upside down - this lifts hair at the root and will rough up your cuticles for maximum volume. When your hair is almost dry, flip back to upright and blow-dry the mid-ends to smooth and soften them.

Don’t put conditioner on roots

Tempting as it might be to slather conditioner all over our heads, this will actually make your hair look flatter! When you clean your hair with shampoo, your cuticles open up looking for nourishment and moisture, but when you whack loads of conditioner on the scalp (a natural oil source) it will make your roots appear heavy and greasy.

Three steps to grow out a bob according to the experts

When you're growing out your hair it can feel painstakingly slow, and there's nothing worse than that in between stage when you feel like you're neither one style nor another.

The thing is, there is no single product that will make your hair grow quicker (sorry, we wish there was!). But there are certain things you can do which will get your hair in great condition to help it grow.

Step one: Stop towel drying your hair

If you wrap your hair into a bath towel turban after washing, stop! This causes hair to break and towel rubbing it dry causes even more damage. Instead invest in a microfibre hair wrap like this, which is more gentle on the follicles and also helps to de-frizz at the same time.

Step two: Treat your hair with some TLC

Try and exfoliating shampoo to properly cleanse your hair and strengthen it against breakage. We like this one from L'Oreal Paris. A rich argan-oil based conditioner like this will also keep your locks in good condition.

Step three: Cut your hair every six to eight weeks

We know this sounds scary and counterproductive to someone growing their hair, but regular trims will give your follicles a boost and help with your game-term plan to have long, luscious locks. Book your next appointment by calling us on 01865 553725 or clicking here.

Get salon style hair at home by doing these three things

Want to get that salon look from home? Try these three tricks.

Use your straighteners as a curler

Learning how to curl your hair with your straighteners is great especially when you’re going away and don’t want to take loads of different styling tools with you.

First, grab a small section of hair. Then, hold your straighteners vertically with the open end pointed upward. As you clamp the hair, begin rotating it away from your face. Don’t slow down or stop - the key to getting consistent curls is to keep the movement fluid.

As you keep rotating the straighteners away from your face, allow your hair to slowly slide through the clamp until you reach the end. For looser waves, lower the heat on your straighteners and brush them out after you’ve finished curling.

Make your own sea salt spray

If you love the tousled beach look, and are already a fan of sea salt spray, did you know you can make it at home?

Simply mix together 500ml of sparkling water and a teaspoon of sea salt in a spray bottle. While your hair is damp, spritz the mixture onto the ends of your hair, and use your fingers to scrunch them up.

Level up your ponytail

This ponytail trick is the fastest way to make your updo look professional. After you’ve secured your ponytail, grab a small bit of hair from the pony and wrap it around the base of your ponytail to cover the hairband. Coat the very end of the section with hairspray, and smooth it against the base to seamlessly secure it.

Salon-approved favourites for hydrated hair

Dry and damaged hair? These are our favourite products for hydrating hair, below.