In my everlasting mission to have hair that could rival Jennifer Anistons, I often find myself buying hair treatments from the hairdressers - in hope of maintaining that salon-perfect condition at home. I do find however, that sometimes no matter how much money has been spent on the treatments, they just don't seem to make that much of a difference to my hair's health. Could this be to do with the fact I base my decision on which treatment has the most gorgeous scent? Or perhaps that I often pick the one that is packaged in the nicest colour?

I decided to take the advice of a professional and choose the perfect treatment for the needs of my hair and not what best complements the interior of my bathroom! Here is what I learned……………

If you find your hair breaks easily and ends up on your clothes and you basically leave a trail behind you wherever you go then you probably have an imbalance between your protein and moisture levels. Moisture is what provides the hair with elasticity and the ability to stretch while protein provides the hair structure and strength to fight breakage. For those of you who colour your hair particularly lightening it you will find that your hair lacks protein, if you use a lot of heated styling appliances then you will find your hair is dry and lacks moisture. Below is a test you can do at home to determine whether you should purchase a protein based treatment or a moisture based treatment;

Take one of your dry strands which has fallen loose today (from your hairbrush, etc.) and gently pull both ends to stretch it. If it breaks easily, you have enough, or too much, protein, but not enough moisture in your hair. In this case use a product that is moisture based and contains a high volume of water and don’t use products that contain protein in them until your next strand test shows that your hair is maintaining a good balance of water in it.

Soak a naturally fallen strand in water, then pull both ends to stretch it. If it’s stretchy (or if you’ve noticed that your hair stretches when you wet comb it), you have enough water in your strands, but lacking protein to support the hairs structure. In this case you should use a protein treatment but best to use just once a week as can be hard to tell the right amount of protein needed for each individual’s hair, so experiment slowly and determine how much your hair needs.

Do this test at home and on your next visit to the hairdresser they can help you choose the correct treatment to give you those dream locks!