Hello beauties!
Since I already did my skincare routine some time ago, I thought it would only be right to do a haircare routine as well. This time, with a little bonus - my tips for growing long, healthy hair!
Step 1: Wash & Condition
As for washing your hair, the main thing I can recommend is changing your shampoo and conditioner from time to time because if you continue to use the same shampoo/conditioner for several months, your hair will get used to it and it will not give you the same results as it used to when you first started using them.
My current favourite shampoo and conditioner duo is the Herbal Essences Clearly Naked series. There is a few different ones (shine, moisture, volume) and I like to use all of them. I honestly cannot tell a massive difference between the three which is why I will use the moisture shampoo with the shine conditioner if I run out of one or the other. I don't think it makes a different in what kind you use.
What I love about this series though, is that they are free of silicones and all the chemical, nasty stuff that is not good for your hair. Indeed, silicones make your hair look nicer, while actually ruining your hair.
I found that with this shampoo/conditioner, my hair is a lot cleaner for longer. I used to wash my hair twice a week, like mostly on sundays and depending on the way my hair looked or how I had time, I'd wash it wednesday or thursday as well. When I started using these, my hair would look fresher a lot longer so I now get away with washing my hair once a week only. Even though on the 6th day it will start to look a bit greasy, which is where dry shampoo comes in handy. But more about that in Step 3!
Step 2: Hair Treatments
Depending on your hair structure, the amount of hair you have or how dry/oily your hair is, you can use different hair treatments. As for me, my hair is completely straight, quite shiny on it's own without looking greasy or oily, but can tend to get dry in the summer months, especially when I spend time on the beach.
Whenever I feel like my hair is really dry and just not healthy looking, I will use the Schwarzkopf Essence Ultîme Omega Repair Intensive Mask in the ends of my hair. Nothing will ever touch my roots except for dry shampoo! First of all, this hair mask smells absolutely incredible. Second of all, it makes my hair feel moisturized and renewed. What I especially love about it, is that it's a 1-minute mask so it barely takes up any time. I honestly just cannot be bothered with leave-in masks or masks that you need to let on your hair for like 15 minutes. Momma ain't about that life!
If my hair is having a dull moment or looks a bit frizzy and dry after blow-drying it, I will use the L'Oreal Paris Elvital Oil Magique in the ends. Definitely keep it away from your roots because then you will have to wash your hair the next day. Hair oils + roots = not a good combo! This oil makes my hair super shiny and healthy looking, I love the smell of it and it's nearly impossible to go through a bottle of hair oil. The only thing that bothers me is the glass bottle because if you use an oil, obviously your hands are going to be slippery and if you drop that bottle, it'll go everywhere and you definitely don't want to clean up a oil mess on your floor.
One product I always use in my ends after blow-drying my hair, no matter what, is the Schwarzkopf Gliss Kur Serum. As all my haircare products, this smells so amazing, if I could put it all over my body, I would. If I use it in combination with my hair oil, I will go in with the serum first and then put the oil on top of it and brush them both out to distribute the product evenly.
Step 3: Dry Shampoo
Let me say one thing: If your scalp is very dry and your hair is dry as well, please do not use dry shampoo regularly because it will dry out your hair and scalp really badly. But - if you use it once a week it's totally fine!
My favourite dry shampoo in the entire world is COLAB, which you can get in the UK or off of feelunique.com which is where I get mine. The London scent might have to be the nicest smelling one to me, even though they brought out a few new scents which I have not tried yet but definitely will.
Another great dry shampoo that I can recommend is Batiste, especially their coloured ones because us dark haired girls know the struggle of putting on dry shampoo and having to deal with white roots for the day. Not a cute look, trust me. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that with the dark brown one, you have that thing all over your hands. Like this stuff is coloured for real. I honestly would recommend wearing a dark shirt with it because if you wear a white shirt, that baby is going to be dirty real quick if you have long hair.
Dry shampoo is a really great way to make your hair look a bit fresher again and get rid of all the oils on your roots. No dry shampoo will ever make your hair go from 7th day hair to freshly washed, that ain't going to happen. But it will soak up most of the oils and you can go one or two days more without washing your hair, which is actually a very good transition to my
Tips for growing long, healthy hair
1. Do not wash your hair every day! - If you do that, your hair is going to produce so much more oils and you will have greasy hair withing a second. It's a vicious cycle. If your hair tends to get greasy very quickly, try using dry shampoo if you need to go out or just leave your hair dirty a few days if you don't have to go anywhere. It's going to be hard for the first like month but your hair is going to stay cleaner a lot longer if you stop washing it daily. Once your hair is used to getting washed only twice a week, it will stay clean for that period of time.
2. No heat! - Try to use no heat on your hair, no curling wand, no straightener, no blow drying. I know this seems to be hard but heat will damage your hair and cause it to break or you'll get split ends which will result in your hair breaking off as well. I am guilty of using heat on my hair, I have so much hair I just could not let it air dry because I'd be sitting there for days. But since I wash my hair once a week only, it's not that big of a deal. Girls that straighten their hair every single day usually have such thin, unhealthy hair that it doesn't even look good anymore. So please try to use as minimal heat as possible.
3. Wash with cold water! - Not freezing cold, but if you use hot, boiling water it has the exact same effect on your hair as if you used a curling iron or straightener every day.
4. Get your ends cut regularly! - I know this seems to be weird when you want your hair to grow longer but if you get your hair cut around 2-3 cm every few months, your hair can actually grow. If you have split ends your hair will always break off which causes it to stay at the same length forever since there will usually break off way more than if you got regular trims.
5. Wet hair won't be brushed! - If you brush wet, knotty hair it will cause it to break off or you'll just pull out unnecessary hair. If you need to brush your hair while it's wet, use a wide bristled comb or a WetBrush
6. Stay away from chemicals! - Try to avoid shampoo/conditioner with lots of nasty chemicals in them. I recommend to use silicone free shampoo and conditioner since it's so much better for your hair. Silicones will make your hair look a lot nicer, but on the actual, it's not doing anything good for your hair.
If you use this tips, I am sure your hair will be a lot healthier and grow a lot faster!
xox, Julia
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