All my life people have melted over my hair asking me “what are your haircare secrets?” I mean it’s been absolutely ridiculous, I’ve had random women in Walmart just come up and grab it because they couldn’t help but touch it.
It’s long, straight and naturally very blonde (in the summer) and no one ever believed me when I say I don’t have a special haircare routine.
But then one day I realized I do in fact maintain it in a very specific manner. By saying “I don’t do anything to it” I meant I don’t dye it or use heat of any kind on it. I don’t straighten, curl or blow dry it.
So this B.S. answer I’ve been giving everyone for years of “I don’t do anything” simply means I don’t try to alter it in any way.
embrace YOUR natural hair
I know leaving your hair in it’s natural state does not work for everyone, whether it’s because of color, texture or frizz but try to embrace those tight curls and those grays a little more!
If you can’t bring yourself to, just try to keep the heat to a minumin and don’t damage it too much. Heat is one of the worst things for your hair’s health.
Everything I do add to my hair keeps it undamaged, moisturized and healthy. From treatments to the way I dry and brush it, I’m constantly thinking about how my next move will effect its health.
Hair Treatments
oil treatments
I do regular oil treatments as part of my haircare routine, sometimes hot sometimes not. I used to be way better about it and do them about once a week but now, with a toddler, I don’t have quite as much time.
At this point I get to it maybe 1 or 2 times a month if that. My hair isn’t as happy as it once was but it’s still pretty dang happy.
For these treatments I use a combination of castor oil and sweet almond oil. If you’ve never used castor oil before, be aware that it is super thick. My method is pretty simple:
- Start with DRY hair. I throughly brush and part it down the middle. I take my squeeze bottle of oil and run a line along the part and massage it in.Then I part it about 1/2 inch over along the same line and repeat. I do this all the way down one side of my head before returning to my original part and going the other way
- The back is a little tricky, if you can recruit help do so, but if not this is how I’ve always done it. Spread a little bit into your hands and run your fingers up through your hair to massage your scalp. Repeat until the whole back is completely oiled. At this point your entire scalp should be coated in oil.
- Then I run my oiled hands down the length of my hair until that’s fully coated to. Afterwards, give yourself a little 5 minute head massage to help stimulate blood flow to your scalp and promote hair growth
- Once my hair is fully oiled up, I wrap it up in a bun and sleep with it. If you’re worried about staining your pillow case you can throw a towel down on top of it. I’ve never had this problem but that doesn’t mean you won’t. If you don’t want to sleep with it in, you can leave it in for an hour or two before washing.
- Wash and style as usual. I usually have to shampoo 2x to get the oils out of my hair completely so don’t be shocked if you do to.
If you’d rather buy a treatment, I recommend this hot oil treatment from VO5. It always leaves my hair soft and shiny. Not to mention it’s super easy to use! All you have to do is fill up a cup with hot water and drop the tube in for a couple minutes. This is the only product from this brand I use in my haircare, but I love it!
These oil treatments are probably the most beneficial part of my haircare routine.
hair masks
I don’t use hair masks as often as I do oil treatments. Some of them can get pretty messy and hard to wash out if you don’t mix them properly.
They do make store bought masks but I prefer to use DIY ones. By making my own, I know exactly what’s in them… plus they’re waay cheaper.
Some of the commonly used ingredients in masks are: avocado, eggs, olive oil, castor oil, lemon, honey, essential oils and even mayonnaise.
I know gross, right? Mayo isn’t my top choice for smell alone, but boy does it make your hair soft and shiny. I’ll leave a couple of my favorite DIY recipes below:
Honey Egg Mask
2 Eggs
1 TBS Honey
2 tsp Olive or Coconut Oil, melted
Whisk all ingredients together and apply to scalp and length of hair. Let sit for 30 – 45 minutes. Wash and style as usual
Mayo Mask
2-3 TBS Mayo
2 TBS Olive Oil
10 Drops Rosemary Essential Oil
Whisk all ingredients together and apply to scalp and length of hair for 30 minutes. Wash and style as normal.
(I’ve had my hair hold some of the mayo smell, adding an essential oil isn’t required but I’ve found it helps reduce the smell) You might also want to shampoo 2x after this one.
Avocado Hair Mask
1 Ripe Avocado
2 TBS Argan Oil
1 TBS Sweet Almond Oil
Mash avocado until there are NO lumps (if you leave it lumpy it is close to impossible to wash out, ask me how I know) and mix with olive and almond oils. Apply to scalp and length of hair. Let sit for 45 – 60 minutes. Wash thoroughly.
store bought hair treatments
It’s rare that I buy a premade hair treatment instead of making my own but occasionally I do. I really like one called henna ‘n’ placenta. I was able to stretch to 2 applications even with my long, thick hair. No, it doesn’t have human placenta in it but it does have proteins that have been extracted from animal placenta. I’m not sure what kind of animal but my hair is always happy after this treatment, so I don’t really care. Plus, it smells amazing!
I also used to buy a hair stripper (I think they call it a keliator?) but I haven’t been able to find it in years.
It was made by Abba and it stripped ALL the excess buildup from your hair. I used it whenever my hair felt heavy and full. This gave me a fresh slate to start with
If you have a good recommendation please, please leave it in the comments below. I would love to find another one to use. My hair could use a strip to reduce the weight a little bit.
My Favorite Shampoos and Conditioners
I’m always switching back and forth between shampoos and conditioners. It’s obvious that both my hair and I are bored with products after a short time.
There are a few that I’m very loyal to and others I grab when I’m completely out and can not find a go to.
Then there are the rare buys that I absolutely love but can’t afford to use on a regular basis… especially when there’s a man in my shower everyday using them all willy nilly like. He has no idea that’s at least a $40 shampoo.
I’ve gone the homemade haircare route as well but never seem to stick with those for some reason. I do like them and at some point I’ll share a couple of those recipes with you.
Anytime I want an all natural shampoo and/or conditioner I make my own or find one on LUSH.com. If you haven’t tried their products you absolutely have to!
Their coolest product is probably their shampoo bars, I love these because of the lack of plastic packaging and how my hair feels afterwards. It’s always light and squeaky clean. I’ve used a number of these bars and they never disappoint!
If you’re looking to add some natural, handmade products to your haircare routine, I’d definitely check out this company.
I am not affiliated with LUSH, I just LOVE their products. Also their bathbombs are hands down the best. I refuse to use any other ones unless I make them myself.
go-to brands
My go to brands that I switch between are: Infusium 23, Redkin, Shea Moisture Men, and Nexxus. These are my usual ones for everyday use. They do the job well and have a pretty good price point.
My scalp is naturally oily and every one of these products clean it well. I’ve used other brands in the past and even after shampooing 3x, my hair is still greasy. I mean it LOOKS greasy immediately after my hair drys from the shower
I’d say my favorite right now is the Shea Moisturizer Men. It’s formulated for men of color and my hair absolutely loves it! No matter how greasy and oily I am ONE shampooing gets it all, while leaving my hair moisturized. The first time I used this one I thought maybe I hadn’t rinsed my hair fully. I kept rinsing and rinsing but to no avail it still felt soapy. Nope! It was just silky smooth… before I even conditioned it.
My absolute favorite rare buy shampoo and conditioner isĀ Biolage. It is amazing! My haircare isn’t the same when I’m using other products.
Oh so long ago Kmart used to carry this brand (along with many other great ones) and then one day it was different and the next it was gone completely. I know the formula wasn’t changed because I’ve bought it from salons afterwards and it was exactly the same as it had been before. Personally, I think they started getting counterfeit ones and once they realized they quit buying it from their distributor.
Everyday Maintenance
My everyday maintenance is pretty simple and straightforward. I don’t wash my hair daily to avoid completely stripping it of natural oils. This will lead to dry scalp and in turn dandruff.
Did you know it’s not just a dry scalp that causes dandruff but also an over accumulation of oil?
There’s a fine line between being too dry and too oily. There are times that I scratch my head and see some dry skin flake off. This is usually after 1 too many days without a wash.
You’ll have to find your sweet spot, mine is around 3 days max without a wash before trouble starts. By this time my hair is GREASY and starting to aquire some dandruff. But that’s nothing a good washing won’t take care of.
Like I said earlier, blow drying isn’t part of my haircare routine… I don’t even think I own one at this point.
First I towel dry and then add some leave in conditioner (usually Infusium 23 or biosilk) before giving it a nice combing. After that I let it air dry.
When you towel dry it, DO NOT rub your hair in between your hands, this will cause breakage and excessive tangles. Always crunch it and scrunch it.
When I dry brush my hair I seperate it into small sections and start detangling from the bottom, working my way up. I use a paddle brush and really try to work each knot from the bottom. Don’t just rip the brush through your hair. Doing so will cause breakage and unnecessary damage.
I never used to wear my hair up and I mean NEVER. But at this point in my life I find myself putting it up more than not.
I suppose that makes sense when you spend almost all of your day cleaning up after a hair pulling 2 year old.
My go to style is a bun, it’s the easiest and most efficient way to keep it out of my face. No matter how I put it back, be it a bun, braid or pony tail, I make sure not to do it too tightly.
This can cause excessive stress on that part of the strand and lead to damage over time. That’s another reason I like the bun, I use bobby pins and not an elastic so I don’t have to worry about it being too tight on my hair.
This is how my hair comes out after an overnight braid (the top wasn’t as damp as the bottom so it didn’t hold as well)
If I want to lighten my natural hair color, usually come spring after all winter of no sun, I use Sun In. I like this one because it’s way less harmful to your haircare routine than bleaching it.
It’s main lightening ingredients are lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide. This product is heat activated from either the sun or a blow dryer. I prefer the sun of course.
This is one you apply to damp hair and let dry in it. I definitely can tell a difference once this product is in my hair, but after a good wash it feels the same as it did before.
That about sums it up as far as my haircare routine is concerned. I hope I could give you some good tips that will work on your hair type. If you have any recommendations or questions for me please don’t be shy. Leave them in the comments below!