Hair Tips and Tricks
Many of you have asked for some hair tips, so here it goes…
First, I want to start off by saying I DO NOT wash my hair every day. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Especially when you have thick long hair like me! Honestly, I like my hair better on day two or three than I do on hair washing day anyways. I am a two times per week hair washer, unless I get extra sweaty or I’m in the pool a lot in the summer. On my non-wash days, I spray a little dry shampoo in and refresh whatever style I’m going for. (Or, lets be real, put it in a ponytail or bun because this busy momma doesn’t always have time to get myself completely ready every single day.) I wanted to show the two main ways I fix my hair, list and link all of my products, and put it all on one post for convenience and future reference. Check out everything below and you can thank me later!
PRODUCTS
Shampoo/ Conditioner- I switch it up between Olaplex No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo and Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner, and Pureology | Hydrate Moisturizing Shampoo and Pureology | Hydrate Conditioner
Leave in Condition Pureology Colour Fanatic Leave in Treatment - detangles, smells great and I even use this on my kids. (they call it fairy spray because its magic)
Heat Protectant and anti-frizz Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil -This is a newer product to me, but I’m loving it so far.
Smoothing Spray Color WOW Dream Coat - Found this advertised on Instagram and decided to give it a try… Totally worth it!
Finishing oil Redken All Soft Argan Oil - smooths all the fly-aways after styling with heat tools.
Hair spray Pureology Style + Protect Soft Finishing Spray - this is a light weight flexible hold spray.
Volume Blast Living Proof Volume Blast - because in the south, we like big hair! The bigger the hair, the smaller the body appears, Ha!
Hair Dryer Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer & Volumizer Hot Air Brush - This thing is AMAZING! It works wonders on long and short air with minimal effort! I highly recommend it.
Curling Iron Hot Tools Signature Series Gold Curling Iron/Wand, 1.5 Inch - This brand seems to work well for me and is pretty reasonably priced. I use a wand every now and then, but I’m faster with a traditional curling iron.
BLOW OUT
First up, is the blow out! I like to start with high quality products, all which I have linked above. I wash and condition (linked above), spray on my leave in conditioner (Pureology Coulor Fanantic Leave in Treatment) , then add in the heat protectant and anti-frizz/smoothing products ( Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil and Color WOW Dream Coat). If time permits, I let my hair air dry a bit while I do other things (makeup, get kids ready, chores etc.). If I don’t have time to air dry, I will use a conventional hair dryer to rough dry my hair until it is just damp throughout. Then, I use my favorite tool: Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer & Volumizer Hot Air Brush. This little baby gives a salon style blowout with ONE hand!
To style, I separate my hair in three sections, twist a small portion of my hair around the brush, and pull down slowly, pausing at the end to create a nice finish. When I get to the last section on top of my head, I will also pause the dryer at the root to give a little extra volume. To finish, I run a little Redken All Soft Argan Oil through the ends to make them extra smooth and spray some of my light weight hairspray (Pureology Style + Protect Soft Finishing Spray) to tame the fly-aways. It is a bit time consuming (hence the reason for not washing often) but sets you up for several days. The next day it’s easy to spray a little dry shampoo at the root and quickly run the Revlon dryer through to smooth and tame your hair for another great hair day, you can also add in some playful curls to change it up a bit. Check out my video (Blowout Tutorial) on IGTV for a more detailed tutorial.
LIVED IN CURLS
Next, I’ll take you through my curl routine. I rarely wash and curl my hair on the same day, and if I do, it is because there is something very special going! Since my hair is not normally freshly washed, I start with a little of my Living Proof Dry Shampoo . Then, I start to curl in small sections with my Hot Tools 1.5 Inch Curling Iron. Before I start on each section, I spray a little hairspray on the top and bottom of the hair and proceed from there. I ALWAYS curl the hair bordering my face away from my face, but then try to switch directions of the curling iron back and forth in a pattern. This creates movement and that lived in look, and prevents all of your curls from melting together.
For my curl technique, I take a small section of hair, pause the curling iron at the root to create a little extra volume, pause midway down and then again at the end leaving the last couple of inches completely out. Leaving a couple inches out of the curling iron gives that rougher more modern curl. Taking it all the way through to the ends of your hair gives a more finished look, but I like the “messier style.” After all the curls are done, I spray my hairspray all over and wait a few minutes for the curls to cool before running my fingers through them. Letting your hair cool first allows the curls to “set in” and help them stay longer. To finish, I spray my Living Proof Volume Blast and shake it all out. To see me curling in action, watch my tutorial on IGVT(lCurl Tutorial).
I hope all of this information was helpful!! Tag me on social media or comment below of you decide to try out one or both of these styles!