I used to have really good hair. I don’t say that in a braggy, self-centered way. I say it because I really did, but I didn’t realize it until…I didn’t. It was one of those things I kind of took for granted until it was gone.
For most of my adult life, I’ve had long, dark hair with straight bangs. Aside from using a moderately expensive shampoo and conditioner, I didn’t really do anything extreme to take care of it. It kind of just did its own thing.
So, the whole “pregnancy makes your hair shiny and beautiful” thing is a myth. Or maybe it’s true for some people, but it certainly isn’t for me. From the early days of my pregnancy with my son, I started noticing a difference in my hair. It was becoming dry and flat. Where was my magical pregnancy hair? After my son was born, it only went downhill. My hair was lifeless, and falling out by the handful. If I was home, I wore it up in a bun (because newborns really like to pull your hair), and when I was out, I always wore a hat or a beanie.
Lovely new bald patches postpartum
I decided, “If my hair is already kind of ruined, might as well try something new,” which, in hindsight, might not have been the best idea, but you live and you learn, right?
In 2018, we chopped my hair to a “lob” and lightened it through the ends.
Then a couple months later, we chopped it off even more and lightened the crap out of it. It was drastically different than anything I’d ever done before, but I was feeling like I needed a change.
Now, I tried not to worry about this too much in those early days. I’d heard about postpartum hair loss, but I’d also see the bounce back my friends had had with their “new baby hairs.” But mine never came. I waited a year, then two, and by the time my son was almost 3, I was fed up. It couldn’t be chalked up to postpartum hair anymore, right? Something had changed, and I needed to be proactive about it.
At the beginning of the year, I decided this was going to be the year I fixed my shitty hair. The pictures above are from earlier this year when my hair had grown out from my bleached out experiments. It just felt so thin, so lifeless, and fried. And, when I eventually grew out the rest of the dark dye in my hair to my natural color, SURPRISE! Turns out, there’s a huge patch of gray on the left side of my hair and in my bangs. So I began my journey to try and restore my hair. And where did I start? Instagram, of course! I posted a question in my stories about thinning hair, and got an overwhelming amount of responses. I couldn’t try all of them (I didn’t want to be broke AND have crappy hair), so I decided to go with some of the most recommended. I tried a lot of products over the past 10 months, and I know there are a lot that didn’t work for me, but through trial and error, I found a collection of products that have helped me bring my hair back to life.
Grow Girl Let It Grow Hair Growth Supplements | Grow Girl I’m Bringing Shiny Back Hair Shine Supplements
I tried a lot of different hair supplements, vitamins and ingestibles this year, and these gummies from Grow Girl were head and shoulders above the rest. These supplements were the only ones that made any noticeable difference in the texture and look of my hair. Plus, they taste really good, and they’re super affordable. I tried some 30-day supplies that were $60 and up, and these ($12.99) were way better than any of the more expensive ones. You can get them at Target or Amazon.
This was one of the most highly recommended products from my Instagram polls, and I can see why. It really strengthened my hair and made it feel so soft. I used this product once a week, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
I was skeptical about this one, but holy cow this was a game changer! Before, I used to wash my hair and then let it air dry for a couple hours before attempting to blow dry it. But this magical little hair wrap really does cut the need for drying time in half. After I wash my hair, I wrap it up in this little bamboo turban and 45 minutes later, I’m ready to style my hair.
Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Super Moisture Shampoo
This is my favorite everyday shampoo. It helps my hair feel squeaky clean, but also leaves it super soft afterwards. I almost think I can skip conditioner, but I won’t 😉.
Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Hair Cap System
I’ve done deep-conditioning treatments at spas before, and this is better. I use it every 10 days or so to give my hair an extra boost of moisture and help repair the dry, damaged parts of my hair.
ORIBE Serene Scalp Exfoliating Scrub | ORIBE Serene Scalp Thickening Treatment Spray
I’ve always had a dry scalp, but after pregnancy, it got even worse. These two products from ORIBE have become lifesavers. My hair has never felt so clean since I started using the Serene Scalp Exfoliating Scrub. And I love the Thickening Treatment Spray when I’m styling my hair, it really does give it a lift that makes it look thicker without weighing it down like other “volume” products can do.
Kristin Ess Scalp Purifying Micellar Shampoo
I like to alternate this shampoo with my Briogeo one when I need something a bit more clarifying. It’s really gentle, but also leaves my hair feeling super clean.
The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Serum For Hair Density
To be honest, I don’t know if it was this serum or the Grow Girl gummies that helped me start to grow hair back in those thinning spots, but the combo of the two worked. I rubbed a few drops onto the spots each night before bed. I liked that this serum could be used daily without needing to wash my hair the next day. Some of the other ones I tried left me feeling greasy and I didn’t want to use it every day.
Another popular recommendation from my Instagram stories was a silk pillowcase. Specifically, Slip silk pillowcases, but to be honest I wasn’t willing to spend $105 on a (king size) pillowcase that I wasn’t even sure worked. I ended up ordering this one from Amazon and I love it. It helps my hair look less crazy and frizzy when I wake up.
So here we are. 10 months into my hair journey and I’m noticing major progress. My hair isn’t falling out as much, I have lots of new baby hairs, and overall it’s a lot shinier and stronger feeling. I still have a long way to go to getting it back to my glory days (LOL), but I’m starting to feel much like my old self again.
shop the hair care products I tried + loved:
