So since I started this blog, the question people ask me most often is how I do my hair. And as I sat down to work out how I would do the tutorial (Which btw, looks like I have to make a video so that will be my big film debut!) I couldn’t help but feel like I wasn’t giving the whole picture. Sure I have a certain way that I style my hair but honestly it goes much deeper than that.
My hair style really begins with my hair care routine. Consider this part one of the “How I Style My Hair” Post.
Now let’s get right down to it shall we?
DON’T use really cheap shampoo. I know beauty products are expensive and it is tempting to cut corners sometimes, but this is not the place to do that. Please, please, please do not go to the drug store and buy a bottle of 79¢ shampoo. If you look at the ingredients on the really cheap bottles, they are shockingly similar to dish soap….please let that marinate in your mind for a moment….DISH SOAP. I won’t even wash my hands with that stuff never mind my hair! I’m not saying you have to buy all of your shampoo and conditioner at the salon or at Sephora for 20 bucks a pop. But don’t totally cheap out on your hair either. If you are on a budget, look for the better drug store brands like Schwarzkopf or John Frieda or L’Oreal when they go on sale. There is always a deal on something decent.
DO Try sulfate free shampoo. Some people hate it because it doesn’t lather as well, and it is debated whether sulfates are bad for your health or not, but I think it is pretty universally accepted that they are harsh on your hair. I personally like the L’oreal “Everstrong” line.
DON’T Rough your hair up with a towel to help dry it when you get out of the shower. You hair is your friend, it’s always there for you in good times and in bad, so don’t be a jerkapotomus to it! When you rough it up with a towel you knot it all up, and then what? You have to rip through it with a brush to get the knots out and you break it and you damage it. Hello? Abuse. Terrible. Do not do it. Just don’t. Stop it.
DO Squeeze the water gently and nicely out of your hair with a towel, without rouging it up like a rabid gorilla. Getting the water out is a good thing, because that means less blowdrying, which means less heat damage. Just be gentle.
DON’T Brush your hair by starting at the roots. You are only compounding all the knots together by doing this. Think of it like a rope. If a rope has a bunch of knots in it and you try to get them out by pushing the knots down from the top, what do you get? A giant super knot at the bottom that you have to like hack off with a knife or something.
DO Brush gently starting at the ends. Take you hair in your hand an start brushing at the end, in gentle downward strokes, then move your hand up a few inches and do the same there, until you get to the top. It is also helpful to apply any leave in conditioners or shine serums before brushing, because they lubricate the strands and help the knots come out more easily.
DON’T Wash your hair every day. The oils that your body produces are like, the greatest conditioner ever. Let them get in there a little. Wear a ponytail or a bun or a hat. This will also force you to get used to wearing different looks, which is way better than looking the same every day, BONUS. If you insist on just wearing your hair down every day, you can use a dry shampoo, but dry shampoo absorbs some oil, so you won’t get as much of a benefit from your luxurious scalp oils (it’s not as gross as it sounds).
DO Use some sort of hair mask maybe once a week or so. You can use expensive store bought ones, some of them are fabulous. I especially love PHYTO Phytodensium Mask
. But for a less expensive, DIY version you can make a mask at home… and I just so happen to have a tutorial on how to do my favorite one right here!
DON’T Use your flat iron or curling iron on your hair while it is still damp. I know there is often a time crunch, life doesn’t always give us time to style our hair. I know it happens but just let your hair be more natural that day. The problem is when you use direct heat on your damp hair, it basically boils the tiny amount of water which is in your hair’s cuticle, which does all kinds of things to screw it up. If you will refer to the graphic at the top of the page, it will make it look like the first one, basically. No good.
DO use a heat protection spray. There are a endless numbers of them on the market, and who knows how much they really protect your hair, but it is worth it, even if they only help a little. Heat damage is a HUGE cause of hair breakage, and breakage means more haircuts and more haircuts mean it doesn’t grow longer which brings me to my next point. . .
DON’T get your haircut too often. I know people always say you have to get your hair cut to keep it healthy and grow it which is true….KINDA. Hair grows pretty damn slow, so if you get an inch taken off every six weeks or so, you are pretty much negating ANY growth you may have seen since the last trim. Which makes your hair healthy, but not LONG and healthy. All these do’s and don’t are geared toward trying to keep your hair as healthy as you can without cutting off the ugly ends. That being said….
DO get your haircut when your ends are looking a little….Hay-like. If your ends are dry and breaking, the breakage will make it get shorter, which will not help it grow long and healthy (DUH) and will only lead to further damage. Use your judgement and get haircuts when you actually NEED them.
So that sums it up! Take care of your hair, so when I finally teach you how to style it, it will look GLORIOUS!
<3
UPDATE:
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28 Comments
I absolutely love your blog and I am super excited about you doing tutorials on YouTube. Keep up the great work.
Thank you so much Mimi! That’s so sweet of you, it means a lot to me! If you ever have any requests let me know and I will do my best to write about them <3<3
You rock!
I am a hair stylist and I’ve got to say that most everything you said is all great advice except for when to get hair cuts, you should get hair cuts every 6-8 weeks but it dosent have to be an inch that you get cut off… tell your stylist half an inch or just to dust the ends… that way your not getting to much off and hair cuts do promote growth!! Happy Hair Growing!
Thanks Amanda! If only I could get my stylist to listen to that, I would be on the right track lol!
I absolutely love your blog! You have some really great advice on here and I will definitely become a frequent visitor for all my hair care needs!
That’s so sweet, thank you! I’m glad you like it, and let me know if you have any questions or requests!
I’m trying all of these good tips!
Yay! I hope they help! <3
Bless You, thanks for sharing the info,as for HAIR MASK what do you think of GOOSE BERRY(AMLA)& BRAHMI POWDER ( I GOT THIS FROM INDIAN GROCERY STORE)I am using the paste of these powders as hair mask.
I’m actually not familiar with those, but I would love to hear how it works for you!
I absolutely adore this! <3 I have really long hair but it's not as healthy as it could be. I've been working on making it healthier and the tips that I don't already follow are going to go on my list to try! Thank you!
That’s awesome! So glad you like it, hope it helps! <3
I’m a hair stylist a and you r absolutly not supposed to BRUSH YOUR HAIR WET AND THE ONLY TIME YOU DO BRUSH IS DURING STYLING. YOU SHOULD DO BETTER RESEARCH.
I don’t recall ever mentioning WHEN you should brush you hair, rather just not to brush it from the root. Good tip though 🙂
I got baby fine hair and its hard to make it grow I try everything. All the things u said I have done and I still have short hair. Do u have any other advice for ppl with fine hair.
Hmmm…If you have tried everything and have no luck maybe what you need to do is REALLY baby your hair. Like stop heat styling it, be super SUPER careful when brushing and styling it, etc. There are a ton of heatless styling tutorials if you search on youtube that will help you resist the urge to blow dry and reach for the straightener/curling iron. I’m assuming if it stops getting longer then it’s a breakage issue so being as gentle as possible might help over time.
Also, do keep in mind that baby fine hair often looks better at a medium length because when it’s longer it tends to be weighed down and look flat, so don’t try to go TOO long.
If you consult your hair dresser they may be able to advise you on a cut that will give the illusion of a little more length (I think I’ve heard stylists say that long layers make it look longer if I’m not mistaken, but ask your stylist obviously) and it may also help with volume, which makes you look like you have more hair too.
I know those tips aren’t really a definite answer but I hope they help a little.
Good luck!
Biotin is amazing for the ladies who has a thinning problem. I went through two surgeries within three months. After the second surgery I found my hair falling out by the handfuls, which broke my heart to say the least. I started taking fourteen thousand mlgs of biotin daily and now I am beginning to regain my thick hair again.
That’s wonderful! I take 10000 mcg of biotin for my nails, but I was never sure if it makes a difference for hair since mine is super thick and grows fast anyway. Good to know that it’s worth a try for hair too!
heyy
i have very frizzy hair..they are very curly but too dry at the ends ..and after a day of headwash the scalp gets oily..i live in india..please suggest me some tricks…i want beautiful curly locks and not the coconut fibre…as for now im using herbal essences hello hydration shampoo and totally twisted conditioner and im happy with that ..i have used schwarzkopf smooth and shine but i wasnt happy with at all..
Hi Ishmita! I think what you need is a good dry shampoo and a light hair oil for the ends. Using a dry shampoo between washing will make it less oily at the roots so you can wash it less often, and a hair oil will keep the ends soft and shiny. Just be sure to keep the oil only on the ends of the hair.
I’m not sure what products are available in India, but any dry shampoo and a quality hair oil should work just fine!
thankyou..
xoxo.. <3
I’m a stylist and agree totally with Amanda. You must maintain regular trims to have the healthiest grow out. You may have a slightly slower grow out but a much healthier one. You only need cut off about 1/4″ to 1/2″ every 4 to 6 weeks. Depending on how quickly your hair grows. And also keep in mind if your waiting until you see real deal damage you’re gonna have to have much more taken off, so the method you suggest may actually do more to hinder any actual change in length than promote it, healthy or not.
Hi Christine! It’s so interesting to hear from other people on this matter. The way I actually started waiting longer between cuts was actually by the suggestion of my stylist a long time ago when I was trying to grow out a haircut (that I HATED lol) she told me that hair only grows at a rate of about 1/4 inch per month, and upon further reading it appears she was correct although in some cases it can be up to 1/2 inch, so if you are getting 1/4 to 1/2 inch cut every 4-6 weeks things move veeeeeeery slowly. That was her theory anyway.
I have heard from some folks who disagree, like you and Amanda, but it did seem to work for me, so I just speak from my own experiences. Perhaps this could also be due to the fact that I am very VERY gentle with my hair, and I was really cutting back on heat styling and I completely stopped color treating it while I was trying to grow it out.
Either way, I love getting input from professionals and you have a very good point about letting it get too damaged and then losing some length! (That would be quite frustrating) If you have any other tips on how to grow out long healthy hair, please let us all know!
thank you for this nice sort of information about beauty ,i used to have severe hair problems like dandruff and hair fall but i found some simple home made tips for how to have long hair and the steps to follow in order to maintain good hair condition at how to have long hair
I red in a sietific Magazine that cutting your hair does no make your hair grow faster, the only thing it does is to prevent your hair from breaking.Good ofc but got nothing to Do with the roots.
Leslie, you should really learn how to spell and read, your making yourself look bad. And Quinn is the sweetest person and your just bashing her for no reason try doing something more productive with your life, like feeding the hungry.
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