Your hair questions answered!

I'm lovin' me some quality hair convo's, let me tell you. This is great stuff folks.

Now the answers you've been waiting for!

1.  I was wondering two things-- Do you have any ideas for a casual school day hair look? And do you use protective spray on your hair when you curl it or is that not necessary? Again- some GREAT ideas you have! 

    My first question is are you asking for school day hair tips for your daughter, or yourself? I can answer this one once I know who the hairdo is for :)


    Secondly, YES YES and YEESSSSS I use protective spray on my hair when I curl or straighten it! I am the hair protectant freak. I have all the random hair care products you can think of that pertain to keeping your hair healthy. This is a great, great question and I am thrilled it was brought up. If you apply heat to your hair in any way (blow drying, curling, straightening) you have to use some kind of protective spray or gel (espeeeecially if you always dye your hair). If you don't, you are basically signing a death warrant for your poor hair, not to mention speeding up the split-end process. We wouldn't think twice about applying sunscreen on a hot, summer day... why not think of your hair in the same regards? These are my secrets to having long, healthy hair...

     * After using shampoo and conditioner, apply a leave-in conditioner. I prefer the Garnier Fructis leave-in conditioning cream sleek and shine (for frizzy, dry, unmanageable hair). Not only does this stuff make your hair feel a.ma.zing. but it smells delightful! (I also occasionally use Pantene Pro-V strengthening fortifiant leave-in spray instead.) You only need a small amount to cover the ENDS of your hair. You don't need to apply conditioner or leave-in conditioner at the base of your head. That will make your hair greasy and yucky. Focus shampooing the top of your head, and conditioner towards the ends.

     * If you are going to straighten or curl your hair, apply some kind of heat protectant serum. I use Matrix Essentials sleek-look sealing serum. My mom bought it for me from a salon-ish type store and I'm hooked for life. You can find similar items in Walmart or Target for cheap. Just read the labels and make sure it says something about protecting your hair from heat damage. Make sure only to put a small amount in your fingers (if you use a serum) and apply only to the bottom half of your hair, or else it will look to greasy. I also occasionally use a heat-protective spray- Matrix Essentials sleek-look iron smoother. This sprays on easily and quickly, and isn't as greasy as the serum. You can find loads and loads of heat protective sprays and gels for cheap at Walmart and Target!

     * Don't always use heat on you hair every day, day after day. You will kill your hair (well hair is already dead cells... but that's another topic). Find other cute ideas that don't require heat, like my earlier post. One idea is scrunching your hair with gel to get the wavy look. I use Garnier Fructis sculpting styling gel- extra strong hold, non sticky. It smells incredible and I always want to eat my hair after using it! (It literally smells like FRUIT!)

    * Whenever possible (maybe twice a month or so) put conditioner in your hair and don't wash it out. Braid your hair or put it in a bun and sleep overnight with the conditioner in. When you wake up in the morning, wash and style your hair as usual. This is an intense conditioning treatment you can do yourself at home for way cheap :) You can also buy special conditioning masks from Walmart or Target- Pantene Pro-V and Garnier Fructis brands have them.

    *If you want your hair to grow longer and you're having difficulty, try taking prenatal vitamins on top of following the hair care steps above! I am not even kidding you, I know a guy who took them for this very reason. I know you are dying to know who, but I'll never tell... I'm too nice :)
       
2. Do you recommend any brand of hairspray? I never know what makes a good hair spray. Does hair spraying your hair before you straighten or curl prevent static? 

     A couple of factors come into play with choosing the right kind of hairspray. When I was in the states this past summer, I was given some free hairspray that I'd never tried before. I'm basically hooked for life now. It's called Bed Head maxxed-out massive hold hairspray. I like this kind because it is really strong and it only takes a few sprays to work. The last thing I want is spraying my whole house down with hairspray!

    When choosing hairspray you have to ask yourself a few questions. What kind of a "hold" do I want? Do you need super intense hold for a fancy up-do? Or do you just want a light hold so your hair will still bounce and flow normally? If you buy the opposite kind of what you need, you will become very frustrated.

    Also you need to ask yourself if you want a normal spray, or the aerosol spray. Personally I like the normal spray better because I can control the intensity of the spray coming out. It seems with the aerosol cans I tend to blow my hairstyle away with the pressure. Plus the aerosol kinds tend to make me cough. The only problem with normal hairspray tops is they can become clogged. To fix this you can take the top off, place it in a sink full of hot water, and start pumping (as if you were spraying) until the tube becomes unclogged and sprays out hot water. Then take the top out of the water, spray out the remaining water, then place back into the bottle. If all else fails, just buy another bottle :)

   Next, do you want a hairspray that smells nice? I sure do. The last thing I want to smell all day is, well, of course, yucky hairspray! I used to buy Suave hairspray with flower scents. It seemed like I was spraying perfume on my hair- it was delightful :) And might I add that Suave products are ridiculously cheap?

    Lastly, I think hairspraying your hair before styling can definitely help control static. But so many other factors come into play as well. If you use leave-in conditioner (especially for frizzy hair), and some sort of heat-protective spray or serum, you might be able to skip the whole hairspray business. I sometimes even apply a teen-tiny bit of serum after I straightened my hair to get the extra frizzies. The majority of the time this is what I do! I only use hairspray when I am doing spiral curls.

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Keep the questions coming my dear friends! I'm lovin' this :)