The hair routine and tips, I swear by
Hair care is very important to me; over the years, I have tried and done a lot. I have long and thick hair, now I cut it in a long bob, but it is thick and a lot to handle. I started dying my hair when I was 17 years old and had so many different hair colors in a short amount of time.
Don’t do this.
I am a natural blonde, over time dark blonde, I bleached it white blonde, then brown, back to blonde, back to brown, back to blonde, and then fire red, back to brown, and then black.
When I was at that age, I dyed my hair almost every three months, going from one the other and back. It was horrible for my hair, and when I was twenty, I stayed with black. But everyone who has or had black dyed hair knows the hassle of how much you have to color it for it to be black. It is out so fast!
My hair was done.
But…
Now, since I was 23 years old, two years ago, I have a split dye. A black hair on top of a blonde. Something many people also call: Narcissa Malfoy's hair. Now, since July, it’s black and red, although more like a washed-up version of red, since I want my blonde back, which will come soon.
Every time you dye your hair blonde, you are dealing with damaged hair. But I found the way to heal my hair, or more like, have it healthy. For this, I invest a lot.
Time.
Money.
But this is something important for me. I will give some recommendations for things I use. Please note that expense doesn’t even mean that cheaper products don’t work. I also try to leave some cheaper things I used in the past that might’ve worked well.
Also, this is not just producing recommendations (I don’t get anything for by the way) but also tips in my routines that worked like a charm.
1. Never brush your hair when it's wet
Now, curly hair is obviously the exepection but since I have straight hair, I am not qualified to speak about curly hair!
I always brush my hair through right before I take a shower; it’s helped my hair loss, and it works well for me. When I have to brush my hair, my hair immediately tells me it hates it.
If I have to, which is only when I braid my hair into tiny sections to have heatless curls, I am very careful with this. Since I brushed my hair before getting it wet, there are barely any knots, so only going through it carefully and slowly.
2. Massage & wooden brush
Something I also do before I wash my hair, but a massage always looks different for me. I have a hair massage brush that I use, but what I like the most with my longer nails is to just use them. I massage my scalp by hand a lot more than with the tool; I do it as much as I can.
Since I have a hereditary illness, I can’t use my arms like healthy people can, so with tools or without tools, I can’t do five minutes of hair massage, since I can’t lift my arms that long. I am not saying this for pity, but to show that I do it maybe one or two minutes, just whatever feels manageable, and feels right for my hair, and it is enough already.
And after this, I use a wooden brush and brush through my hair again, focusing on my scalp like some sort of massage again. I do it as much as I feel like, I like to listen to my intuition and body a lot, so I do it here too, when I feel like it’s enough (Or my arms tell me it’s enough, haha) I stop.
3. Rosemary & Coconut oil
I don’t use it all the time anymore, but there was a time I did it all the time. When I wash my hair, I now do it once every two weeks. Find out what is best for you!
You can buy a good one or make it yourself. Of course, when you do it yourself, you know exactly what is in it. But there are also a few good ones out there. I bought one. I use pure natural rosemary oil; you can mix it with whatever oil you want. But I swear on coconut oil for my hair.
I use coconut oil, also for my ends before I take a shower, and let it sit for a bit. I don’t have an exact time, but when my hair was really damaged from dyeing it all the time, it helped a lot. I let it sit for 30 minutes to a few hours, till I take a shower.
4. Shampoo twice
For a few years, I have been doing this now, shampooing twice instead of just once, which gets the scalp and hair cleaner, especially for someone who has thick hair that can be golden.
I am investing in good shampoo, it’s something that is my priotiy but it doesn’t mean drugstore hair shampoo won’t work, I always say everyone has their budget and things they are willing, or can, to invest more of than others. I get the ‘I wash it out, why would I spend a lot?’.
I totally understand this.
As someone who has gone through so many shampoos in my life, I noticed that with the drugstore ones I tried, I had to take more product to make my hair clean. If you ask me for an affordable drugstore one (At least in my country), it would be L'Oréal. It’s a drugstore company I had the best hair experience with.
But a few years ago, I tried out the function of beauty. I loved how you could customize it for your hair and hair goals; that was a selling point for me. You can customize the color and scent. It’s over $60 for shampoo and conditioner, but I get so far with one bottle, at least a year. Since I wash my hair once a week (Sometimes twice), that works best with my hair. I have a lot of it.
But for a few weeks now, I have been trying out Olaplex No. 4, and I am absolutely in love with this. I use my function of beauty shampoo for my first wash, and a bit of Olaplex for the next one, and that mixture made my hair really soft.
My mom swears by drugstore hair products; most of the time, she uses different ones and never stays with one. She has fine and thin hair. I asked her for some recommendations, but since she uses different ones all the time, when one is empty, she just said, ‘All are good.’
And that is my mom❤️
Disclaimer: I am investing in my hair so much because it is so thick and heavy that I can barely do any hairstyles, so to make it look good without anything. And because I dye it regularly with my split dye, and for that not to look like dead hair, I do this to manage my hair.
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
5. For the ends
Caring for your ends is really important. I found a good routine for me, what I do before and after the shower to it I will write about in the next section! In my function of beauty custom set is a shampoo and a conditioner, which I always use. But for a few months, I changed my routine.
Before I alternated between using the conditioner and a hairmasks for years, but now I have changed it, and it has made my hair feel better. I swear on this mask by Pantene Pro-V Keratin Repair & Care. This hair mask works wonders on my hair! I also started using Olapley no3 in August when my hair was damaged because of a two-time bleaching accident, saved it with my hairdresser by taking a small break from the blonde to red. My hairdresser is in another country, I only see them when I am on vacation there, and while I was shopping with my mom, I found a shop where I stumbled upon the Olaplex No.3, 10 euros cheaper than in my country, so I tried it out.
And I have to say it saved my hair! If I can only invest in one product, it would be this one. I love it so much. That product was also the reason I tried out the Olaplex shampoo!
Now I don’t use the conditioner anymore, and switch between Olaplex No3 and my hair mask. I let it sit in my hair while I do my shower. I never had so healthy and soft hair.
Do you have any products you swear by in your routine?
6. Out of the shower (Before and after)
What you do before and after the shower is also important. I already mentioned 1-3. These are the steps I use before my shower, although since I use my Olaplex and hair mask on my ends, I don’t do the coconut oil all the time, just when I feel like needing it. Maybe one or twice a month since we have winter and it’s cold. Now, where I live, it has also started to snow, so the air is really cold.
For that, I was gifted a hair oil, Wella Professionals SP Luxe Oil, from a friend. It’s a thick and heavy oil, I think isn’t good for thin hair. (She has thin hair and said it doesn’t work for her.) I am sure it will weigh down the hair, or you have to take very little. But another good one that is for all hair types is the L’ORÉAL Paris Elvital one; it’s an affordable one that also has heat protection. Yet, I would still use another heat protection on top of that.
I know there is a whole discussion about air drying or blow drying your hair. Find out what is best for you. I always let my hair air dry; it works the best for my hair. If I blow-dry it, especially when I had my hip-length hair, it would’ve taken me too long. I use a microfiber towel and put my hair up in that for some till I feel like it’s right, and then let my hair dry, most of the time overnight in a protective hairstyle. Or now, since I have my long bob, I keep it loose, but in the hood of my hoodie, which I sleep in the winter. And I always use a silk pillow to sleep on.
7. Find your wash rhythm
Everyone’s hair is different; what works for someone else might not work for you. I wash my hair, as mentioned above, once or twice a week. But mostly once, and that is what works for my hair. I think if you have fine and thin hair, this might not work for you.
Once or twice a week, my hair is happy and healthy; it just works the best for me. I tried out a lot over the years, and this stuck with me; I always look at my hair and decide in that moment.
8. Hair health also comes from the inside
With everything in our body, the healthier you are inside the body, the healthier the outside is. I notice a huge difference in how much hair loss I have at certain times of my life.
Healthy and balanced eating, drinking enough water, and finding the vitamins and minerals you lack are important. The more I lack these things, the more I experience hair loss.
I remember I had a phase where I didn’t color my hair, but I started to experience more hair loss. I thought it couldn’t be hair dye since I was taking a break from it, even when the color grew out. When this happens, I always check everything:
Did I do something different?
How stressed am I?
How is my lifestyle?
And I quickly realized I wasn’t doing well mentally, stressed, and was almost only eating some frozen food that had no vitamins or anything. I changed this again, and my hair was doing better.
Sometimes we have to look at our lifestyle also for these things. I am not one to say never eat frozen food. I have been dealing with an ED for 11 years, and I would never tell someone what they can and can’t eat, because that is how things go down. I just balanced it out, and that helped me a lot. Also, finding out about different supplements I don’t eat naturally or have a lack of, even then.
I don’t take them every day, but when my body tells me that I should. I am going to write a post soon about that.
9. A blonde tip with caution!
Sometimes I use the L’Oréal Elivatl Color glanc deep purple masks for my blond hair. Just when I feel like it, maybe a few times a year. That mask turned my blonde hair into a white blonde last time. Definitely don’t go over the recommended time! This mask, surely, will turn your hair purple if you let it sit too long.
There is one thing I am a huge believer of and it’s trying and failing. You should try out things you feel like could be good for your hair, even when they might not work in the end. I experimented so much in the past, almost seven years, and I am really happy with my routine. My hair was never healthier and softer, even with dying a few times a year.
I love my split dye a lot, but it’s also a lot to upkeep, so the right products and routine can help a lot. Even when I am not a hairstylist, I know a lot about hair. My hair. I was close to becoming a hairdresser, but my sickness in my arms and legs, which I inherited from my grandma, made that impossible. As sad as I was, I think that makes me even more passionate about my hair.
As I said, I dyed my hair like crazy when I was seventeen, at home, a nightmare for every hairdresser, and even when it worked out every time, my hair was done. But over the years, I became really good at it. I only see my hairdresser once a year. I dye my hair myself, take care of it, and cut my own bangs because I have a lot of experience with it. And I love how when I see my hairdresser, she is always happy she doesn’t have to start with zero, we always chat about new things we discovered, and it always makes me happy when I have a tip for her (That I am doing), and she didn’t know as well as the other way around. I love my hairdresser, she’s a middle-aged woman, who is always lovely to be around, even when I sat there last year in the summer, with hip-length, really thick hair, in the heat of the Spanish sun, she never made me feel my heavy hair was too much. And I sit there for hours with her, but it feels like spending time with a friend.
Enough with the gushing about my hairdresser, haha. It was just hard for me to find someone I could trust blindly and not spend almost a grand on my hair. If there is one change I want to make in my hair dye, it’s always her, even when I have to wait to go on vacation.
xx
Lena
