Whenever I meet someone with envy-worthy hair, I always ask them what their secret is. Now I know a lot of it depends on genetics, but women with gorgeous hair usually have a trick or two up their sleeve. We’ve all seen “The Princess Diaries” transformation, you know what I’m talking about 😜.
Katherine Hilton | @kmhiltonn
My hair is definitely the attribute that I get the most compliments on and questions about. I didn’t always used to have long, healthy hair—it definitely took some love and attention to get it to where it is today! I would say that my number-one hair tip is to not over-wash your hair. When I was in high school, I used to wash my hair every single night. Then, I didn’t know any better and washed my hair frequently to avoid it getting greasy. What I’ve learned now is that you can actually train your hair to not be greasy. Currently, I wash my hair on average one-to-two days a week. I started slowly by washing my hair every other day, roughly three times a week. I then took it down to two days a week and now wash it about once a week. This may sound gross (I shower every day, promise), but I swear this has made all of the difference in my hair. It also grows insanely fast now!
I definitely owe my being able to wash my hair one day a week to my hair products. I’ve tried a variety of different shampoos, conditioners and dry shampoos—some high-end, very pricey ones as well! I have to say my Kristin Ess shampoo, conditioner and dry shampoo take the cake. I am OBSESSED with these products—and you can buy them at Target! They work so well and smell divine. The key to shampooing once a week is to shampoo REALLY well on the day you wash your hair. I’m talking two to three shampoos to make sure that you are getting all of the product out of your hair, leaving your scalp squeaky clean! I try to let my hair air dry, if possible, but am not opposed to using a hair dryer every now and then. My go-to hairstyle is wavy hair. I use this cheap (but amazing) Conair curler and swear by this Aveda hairspray.
Brandi Gray | @beekaygee
I typically only use organic-based, fragrance-free, shampoos. I decided to go back to my old favorite brand Biolage, and try its Sugar-Shine Shampoo and Conditioner set. I’m in love. My scalp feels clean, my hair looks shiny and my curls have been more consistent. I usually have to oscillate between a moisturizing set and a clarifying set, which can be frustrating and often not even worth the effort. I’m glad I took a chance on Biolage again.
Following the shower, I put in a small amount of Dr. Bronner’s Organic Hair Crème. It does wonders for my curls. I’ve struggled to find a curl solution for ages. They’re usually too heavy, weighing down my curls, they make my skin break out and make my hands greasy since I’ve always got my fingers in my hair! This has been such a perfect solution for all of that. And it tames my frizz.
I don’t wash my hair very often, every three-to-four days unless I get a good sweaty exercise in, or if I wear a hat on a hot day. This leaves a lot to be desired with naturally curly hair. I use Kristin Ess Texture Spray to revive my locks between washes!
Bi-weekly, I do a deep-conditioning treatment. When I was working, I’d splurge on an Olaplex treatment in a salon. You can buy it and do it yourself at home, too! As a stay-at-home mom who doesn’t generate and contribute to our income, these days I make my own conditioning treatment with a blend of coconut oil, EVOO, jojoba, rosehip and a handful of essential oils to include: lavender, clary sage, geranium and ylang ylang. Occasionally, I’ll add an avocado and an egg to the mix. It takes more than one wash to get completely out, but if I skip either of the bi-monthly treatments, I definitely notice the difference.
Esther Shokair | @wallflower_inspiration
Once a week, I do a hair mask to moisturize the tips of my hair. I feel like after having a baby, my hair has felt more dry and I also did an intense blonde coloring to my hair right after having Mykah. So a hair mask helps with colored hair (more specifically blondes due to bleach) and postpartum.
I also use a very purple shampoo once a week to take out the brass color from the blonde balayage. It’s called Fanola No Yellow Shampoo. It was recommended by my hair colorist Linda Gatt from Capsyl Salon.
Also, I only wash my hair every three-to-four days to prevent drying out. But the night before I wash my hair, I use Lavender Jamaican Black Castor Oil on the areas of my scalp that I’ve lost hair from postpartum. I actually saw results in a month! This was recommended by my hair stylist Alma Mae Lott.
Andra Philips | @andra.loves
I wash my hair once a week. I started using Prose about four months ago, so it’s customized to me. I have a pre-shampoo scalp mask, shampoo and conditioner. In the shower, I use a wide-tooth comb to detangle and then dry with a terry cloth towel. Next, I apply Moroccanoil and the Prose curl cream, and I let my hair air dry. I wear it down for as long as I can stand (usually two hours), and then up in a messy bun for the rest of the week. I haven’t used heat on my hair for a good six months, and then I was touching up with a curling iron. I haven’t straightened my hair in over a year. I’m embracing my curls!
Diana La Counte | @diana.lacounte
My game changer for my hair health was adding red currant oil to my supplements. I have autoimmune issues with a blood mutation, and sometimes I can get vitamin B toxicity. This has been the safest for me, and I made it through the postpartum hair loss with minimal fall.
Merrill Melideo | @merzydotes
I think a lot of people have the misconception that curly hair is low maintenance and that you can just wash and go, but the reality for me is that I need to spend some quality time on it to make it cooperate. And it usually never turns out the same way twice! I loosely follow the curly girl method, but my main routine is wash with a silicone free shampoo then work a conditioner through my hair in sections to really saturate it. Out of the shower I leave it as wet as possible and put in an anti frizz cream and a curl serum then scrunch my curls with a gel. I use a diffuser and dry my hair upside down to get as much lift as possible, then once it’s dry give a good scrunch with a little hair oil then pray to the hair gods that it didn’t end up a hot frizzy mess. It took me a long time to appreciate my curly hair, but now that I know how to work with the unruliness I truly love it!
Vanessa Wade | @vanessawade_
I am 7 months postpartum so I first shampoo with Surface Awaken shampoo, it helps with hair loss and thinning and has helped my hair growth so much. I follow that up with Prose shampoo which has all clean ingredients and is custom tailored. Lastly I use Prose custom conditioner, which is lightweight and ultra nourishing, on the ends of my hair. On non-shower days I love the Prose dry shampoo! It refreshes my roots and comes in a really fun bottle that doesn’t use aerosols.
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