Hi there! I have been meaning to share my current haircare routine for a while, but I am always trying out new products and trying to find my favorites so I could keep putting it off forever! Anyway, here are some of my favorite products and the process I go through with washing and maintaining my hair!
I guess first things first: I try to wash my hair twice a week. I used to do once a week, especially when I had brightly colored hair as each time I washed it it faded considerably, but I upped it to two washes a week a couple months ago and am really happy with it. I actually feel that my hair is healthier and happier with two washes because the ends don’t get overly dry in between washes, which also means less tangles and breakage.
Purple shampoo is a funny thing
I’ve tried so many different ones that all claim the same thing but DO NOT work the same.. Some are very weak and don’t make any change to your hair, and some are so potent that they turn your hair purple and dry it out like crazy. While I do use the later sometimes when I need some big time help toning down the yellow hues in my hair (like when I got months between salon visits), I’ve been trying to find a nice middle ground that will make my hair a nice ashy, silver blonde without the damage.
SO the two that are currently in my haircare routine are the Maria Nila Silver shampoo and conditioner and the Unite Blonda daily shampoo and conditioner.
I have used the Maria Nila products the past three wash and am really fond of how it tones my hair into a pretty silvery blonde with very little purple. The shampoo is a very violet color and the conditioner is a lavender color. A huge selling point for me on this product is that my hair actually feels MOISTURIZED after I use it. That’s a huge thing for purple shampoo, as it usually makes your hair feel stripped and dry.
The BLONDA products are very similar to the previous – conditioning, moisturizing, toning but not too purply. The more potent toning shampoo is what I use when I need to tone down the yellow in my hair, but the daily shampoo and conditioner are great as non-purple options.
I will also mention Fanola No Yellow Shampoo, as I do use it occasionally when I need to use a super strong purple shampoo. I used to use it all the time when I had purple and blue hair, as it is strong enough to dye your hair. It is very potent, so that comes with dryness and in turn “damage”, but I would still recommend this if you are looking for something stronger.
ILES FORMULA SHAMPOO | ILES FORMULA CONDITIONER | ILES FORMULA FINISHING SERUM
My favorite normal shampoo and conditioner: ILES FORMULA! In the past couple of years I have really learned just how fine my hair is. Every time I go to get it done by Chrissy she always tells me to make sure I am using shampoo and conditioner that is suited for fine hair. I realized just how important it is to know your hair type and find shampoo and conditioner specifically meant for it lately – I was sent haircare for dry coarse hair and it made my hair feel so heavy and unclean! I guess the people who create the formulas actually know what they are doing – SO LISTEN when it says for fine or coarse hair!
The ILES products are my favorite because they make my fine hair feel clean, light, and smooth. I use the finishing serum (the number 3 in their system) on my damp hair after every time I was my hair.
LIVING PROOF heat protectant spray | OUAI rose hair and body oil | UNITE blonda oil
When I get out of the shower, I use a few products to smooth and detangle my hair and protect it until the next time I wash it. On top of the ILES serum I talked about above, I spray the UNITE 7 seconds detangling spray in it. I have the MOST tangly hair.. I used to have very long hair as a kid, and my mom would spend hours detangling it at night. And now that I have bleached it my hair tends to get even more snarled (or the same but now I have to detangle it so it seems worse to me.. THANKS MOM!)
I also use the LIVING PROOF heat and uv protectant. I am bound to use heat on it at some point throughout the week, although I try really hard to minimize the amount of heat I use. The less heat you use, the healthier your hair is and that is super important to me. Because I dye it so often, I make sure I take all the OTHER steps I can to ensure healthy hair.
Lastly for products, I love to use a hair oil on my hair as it’s drying/almost dry/dry.. and then throughout the week on the ends to maintain moisture and shine. I have been using the UNITE blonda oil for a few weeks and love it – it is on the thicker side so you only need a little to go a long way. I also have been using the OUAI rose hair and body oil – which is a bit thinner but very moisturizing feeling. I brought this with me traveling and used it on my hair, body, cuticles – everything!
SPEAKING OF.. since I try to limit the amount of heat on my hair, I try to air dry my hair as much as possible. This can be tough because the long, thick extensions I have take FOREVER to dry, but I attempt to shower as early as I can in the day so that it has as long as possible to dry before bed.
NEVER GO TO SLEEP WITH A WET HEAD
This is another super important one to maintaining healthy hair. Like I said above, if my hair is still damp before bed I will blast it with a blow drier to make sure that my strands are dry. When your hair is wet it is at its most vulnerable to breakage because it is really elastic (not going to “suggest” this but it is interesting to take a wet strand of hair and pulling at both ends.. you can literally see it stretching to it’s breaking point!). So since we have our hair on a pillow and can’t consciously protect it while asleep I always make sure my hair is dry before going to sleep.
Another thing that I have been doing for about a year and cannot recommend enough is HAIR VITAMINS. I thought it was a load of hooey, but I got the Hair Hearts from my salon and took them for about three months and noticed a huge difference in how much my hair grew. I will link the exact ones I use here, but I haven’t tried many others so do some research of your own and decide which work best for you.
This kind of turned into a post about healthy hair habits, but that’s important too
SO in summary things I do to have healthy hair
- Use purple shampoo to tone your hair to be more silver, but only when necessary as it can be drying and damaging.
- Use heat protectant
- Try to use minimal heat on your hair (i.e. letting hair air dry, braiding hair before bed to create texture without a curling iron)
- Never go to sleep with a wet head
- Take vitamins specifically for hair growth
- Use scrunchies in hair to minimize damage
- Try to push time in between dying your hair and make sure to get regular trims (or do it yourself!)
