Favorite Hair Care Products

I’ve had quite a few questions about my hair, so I thought I would dedicate a post to the most frequently asked questions combined with my favorite products.

Q: Is your hair color natural, or do you dye it? 
A: It’s natural, BUT if you want a great at home DIY coloring for red hair, go check out my blogging buddy Alex over at Beautyosaurus Lex and her tutorial here. Her hair is GORGEOUS and she rocks her red like she was born with it. How cute is she??

Q. What the heck is with dry shampoos? I’m skeptical. Tips? 
A. Funny you should ask! I wrote an entire post dedicated to my favorites here. I know people sometimes have a bad experience, so let me help. Dry shampoo can do two things: soak up oil or add texture/body. Some do both, some only do one well. My review breaks them down. Hate the white residue? There’s even ones that are colored for your hair type! 🙂 Also, Sephora has a collection of their favorites in mini sizes!!!

Q. How do I grow my hair out?
A. Prenatal vitamins. Haha, not kidding. Or a hair/nails supplement. Try to wash less (use dry shampoo) and style with heat fewer times a week (damage = split ends and more haircuts), and get a trim every 12-16 weeks depending on how quickly your hair gets damaged at the ends. I can honestly go six months without a cut, but I also don’t heat style every day, so my split ends are few and far between. If you wait too long the damaged ends can split up the hair shaft and then the stylist has to cut more off. 🙁

Q. My hair is long/thick and it always gets really tangled in the shower, how do I stop from losing big chunks afterwards?
A. Step One: Pre-Brush. Brush out your hair before you shower and remove any tangles. Step Two: if it gets tangled in the shower, rinse well, but don’t tackle those tangles in the shower. (Trust me.) Step Three: Spray “It’s A 10” leave in conditioner, focusing on mid-shaft down. This stuff is the BEST leave in/de-frizzer/shine enhancer/blah blah EVER. It’s not super cheap, but it’s TOTALLY WORTH IT. Step Four: Using a Wet Brush (not kidding, it needs to be this kind) start brushing from the ends. Brush the bottom two inches, move up an inch, smooth that, move up another inch, etc- until you have completely smooth hair.

Q. Volume. I need more of it. How do you get more volume? 
A. Use a fantastic foam volumizer. I swear but Aquage Uplifting foam. Spray directly on your scalp and work through. Blow dry you hair 40% dry UPSIDE DOWN. If you need more, use a dry shampoo with texture (see above linked post) and spray around the top of your head AND on the sides (at the roots) and work in with your fingers. If all else fails, you can backcomb.

Q. Favorite hairspray?
A. Kenra Volume Spray 25. This sucker is the BEST. I’ve used allllllllllll drugstore and salon brands and this baby locks your hair in place. (You can get a trial size if you want to try it out without spending the money on a big can.) If you want a touchable spray use Garnier Fructis flexible hairspray.

Q. Is there a way to get my hair to blow dry faster?
A. Yes. My hair is thick and long, so at the solon they use three people (not even exaggerating) to blow dry my hair at once so it doesn’t take forever. Two things help me at home. One: a great blow dryer. The key is speed of air movement, not just heat. Heat frizzes hair out and damages it, while faster moving air combined with reasonable heat gets quicker and less damaging results. The best dryer is the Rusk Speed Freak.
I would also invest in a blow dry accelerator spray. The Matrix Turbo Dryer spray cuts my blow drying time in half, even when I use a normal blow dryer. It’s marvelous.

Q. How do you curl your hair?
A. Three ways.

For natural curls, I use the Aquage uplifting foam at the roots and scrunch in TIGI’s Curls Rock from my ends up and blow dry with a diffuser. (I also use a t-shirt to towel dry my hair, not a towel.)

For these curls, I use hot rollers. I adore this travel size kit. They work better than anything else I own. Leave in until they are COMPLETELY cool. I’m talking- 20-30 min. You can speed the process up with a blow dryer set to cool on the lowest setting. The curls need to set.

For long curls or beachy waves I use this 8-in-1 curling wand that is AMAZING. Gets super stinking hot really fast and actually makes my crazy thick hair hold a wave for longer than 5 minutes. Full disclosure, it was a gift from the company but I use it ALL. THE. TIME. If it sucked, I would tell you. 😉

I am obviously not a professional, but growing up with thick/naturally curly hair:

I learned how to style it really quickly so it didn’t look like a hot mess. Years of having a fabulous stylist cutting my hair (Eric Fisher, check him out, he’s the best) and teaching me the latest tips and tricks didn’t hurt either. I also pay close attention at photo shoots when stylists are doing my hair. This is what works for me, so it may not work for everyone, but I hope these tips/products prove useful in your life too!

-Adriele