We've all tragically fallen victim to bad hair days, and the worst thing about bad hair days.... is that they're unexpected! From mine own experience, I can say that my hair is the worst when it matters! It's the most awful thing when you're getting ready to go to a grand event such as a wedding and your hair won't straighten and only keeps frizzing instead! That's pretty much the story of my life and I've learnt quite a lot, so I'm here to help =)
Having beautiful hair is really essential to looking groomed. You can have perfect make-up and a gorgeous outfit, but if your hair looks like crap; dry and over processed, it all goes down hill from there. Whereas on the contrary, if you had beautiful hair, you would look amazing and be more confident, you can even get away with very amateur makeup to top it off. So to help prevent bad hair days and treat bad hair days, I'm telling you my secrets, as I've become somewhat of an hair extraordinaire as I try to fix my own hair. These tips are all wallet friendly or organic concoctions that you can do yourself, because salon products are quite costly. Also, it would be a fairly simple blog if I just decided to name drop, which I won't do because that's silly and I want everyone to be able to share in the joys of my secret to beautiful hair. However, I do use store bought products in my hair, none of them will be mentioned here, so if you're curious... feel free to ask me. These are all quick remedies for your hair, keep in mind that they won't cure unhealthy hair. Many times when you're looking for hair care tips, you find things about drinking lots of water to keep hydrated, quit smoking, don't drink too much alcohol, start exercising etc. Yada! Yada! Yada! Even though those are very good points that we should all follow in our lives.... 'ain't nobody got time for that' when you have an hour or two to get ready and your hair's gone all Wild Wild West/ Book Hermione.
FRIZZ
So I'll begin with the most common hair trauma to hit all seven continents... FRIZZ. Usually, in my younger days I would use any hair shine product to try and tame my hair, however that would never work for me. I would keep applying more and more because it seemed as if my hair was just absorbing it and remaining frizz, until a point came when it seemed to work.... but by then it would be over saturated and I'd have flat greasy hair [despite just washing my hair yesterday]. Your hair frizzes because it's dry and seeks moisture in the form of water from the air, so to really cure frizz you need to hydrate your hair and seal in that hydration, so that it's not thirsty for atmospheric water, and also stay away from heat which will ultimately dry out your hair.
- One of the best ways to moisturize your hair, is to use a leave-in-conditioner. It leaves your hair feeling silky smooth, manageable and also FRIZZ FREE. There are many leave in conditioners on the market, and you can purchase one from your favourite hair care line. A natural alternative is simply using coconut oil. Rubbing a small amount of coconut oil in your palms, and then uniformly applying to your wet locks from the base of your neck till the ends of your hair, will leave you with soft, frizz free hair when it dries. It is necessary to use oil sparingly as it is really easy to apply too much and make your hair so oily that the strands will clump together like wet dreads. Indians have long used coconut oil for their hair and we've all seen the results of that. Be sure to use a high grade coconut oil, like the one used for cooking and not the low grade one used for lighting lamps/deyas. Another recipe for a leave-in-conditioner is 1/4 cup jojoba oil and 1 tbsp olive oil. Jojoba revitalizes and hydrates hair, whilst olive oil hydrates and tames frizz and fly-aways. A few drops of lavender oil will fragrant the mixture nicely. It should be stored in a dark coloured bottle, preferably kept in the fridge and should be lightly applied/massaged to damp hair from root to end.
- I am more fond of using essential oils to tame frizz and fly-aways as compared to store bought products, as they nourish your hair while taming it. As said before, use oil sparingly as you can easily put too much. Rubbing a very small amount in your palms, and then running your hands over your hair where there is frizz or fluff eliminates such frizz just like store bought products, but leaves your hair softer. Essential oils can be applied to damp hair from the base of the neck to the ends, after using a leave in conditioner for best results of tame hair. There are a variety of essential oils for you to choose from, each with their own set of benefits, such as avocado, coconut, Argan, Moroccan, olive, almond, vitamin e, rosemary or lavender. Personally I use almond oil and sometimes vitamin e, as it is light enough to apply to both dry and wet hair and also has a nice fragrance.
- Sometimes your hairbrush can have an electrifying effect on your hair. We can see this as after washing your hair and letting it dry naturally, as soon as you brush it through it becomes poofy and frizztastic and you're wondering, 'why did I bother to brush my hair because it looked better before!' To combat this static electricity, just spray your hairbrush lightly with hairspray before brushing or just use a comb instead. You should actually be combing wet hair as wet hair is more vulnerable to breakage with a brush as it is weak. If your hair is especially prone to frizz after washing, then the problem may be with your towel. Instead of towel drying, try wringing/squeezing/sapping your hair with paper towels as paper creates less friction than cloth. If you can let it dry on it's own then that's even better. Avoid heat drying unless you have no choice, and if you have no choice, be sure to put a protectant before drying and a moisturizer after drying. If you're blow drying your hair, don't flip your hair over and blow dry upside down, because even though it creates more volume.... it also creates more frizz.
- In need of a quick fix? Let's say you've just styled your hair and now you've got rebel hairs waving in the breeze... Rubbing about a dime size drop of hand lotion in between your palms, and then gently smoothing over the wispy areas. This works just like gel, but without hardening the hair.
- If you have time for a hair mask, then by all means go ahead! I can't guarantee that it works, because I've tried many but I can't remember getting results that I loved. But regardless of how well it worked, it was fun and something relaxing to do. Hair masks feel good on your hair, and you feel good knowing that you took time to treat yourself. Here's the recipe for an anti-frizz mask.
Gather:
- 1/2 cup honey.
- 1/2 cup yogurt.
- 1 tbsp almond oil.
Concoct:
- Combine all your ingredients together.
- Massage into hair from root to ends.
- Let this sit for twenty minutes before washing out with an all natural shampoo.
OIL
The only thing worst that frizzy hair, is having flat oily hair. Oily hair is so annoying because when your hair is oily it falls flat on your face, you look sick and you can't do anything to make it look better besides wash it! Hair will get oily as the hair roots secrete oils and we also add oils to tame our hair, as a result of all this oil, the hair on the head slicks back while the ends are finally looking the way we want them to. If you have naturally oily hair, then you would want to stay away from adding anything oil based as well as shampoos& conditioners which add oil. I'm no stranger to oily hair and I can tell you it's aggravating. Sometimes you may have forgotten to wash your hair and then thinking you can get away with it.... you realise it's too oily to style decently and you can't go and wash it quickly because you don't have time to tame that beast. Well you need to get rid of that oil! And get rid of it fast.. how to do so?
- So whether your hair got oily and you don't have time to wash it, or if you washed your hair and added way too much essential oils, you can try this home-made dry shampoo recipe which will absorb the oils. Mix together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 4 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and just spray where hair is most oily. Be careful not to drench your hair with the mixture, just dampen and shake bottle before spraying. After spraying, use your blow dryer on low heat to dry it so that you can style your hair and get on with your busy schedule. Or you can let it dry naturally.
- My cousin thought me this trick. We both have the same problem; where the roots of our hair and beyond would get oily, especially our bangs and with having long hair the ends would be perfect, not greasy and not dry. To combat oily bangs so as to prevent breakouts and not have it flat on your forehead, line your hair line with baby powder before you go to sleep and that takes care of that. I decided to take it a step further by applying baby powder directly to the roots of the oily hair, and massaging it in before bed. The next day my hair was not oily at all, and had even more volume. If your in a last minute rush, you can add baby powder before styling your hair, massage it in and then blow dry on low/cool to get rid of the white. However it should be noted that this is just a quick fix and you would have to wash your hair in a days time because the powder would have accumulated on your scalp.
- To avoid getting oily hair, then you should avoid touching it. You would find it difficult to flat iron your hair with volume. That in itself is a task and once you've achieved that volume, you don't want it to go. Many us of tend to run our fingers through our hair a lot before leaving home and getting ready. That's a NO! NO! NO! don't do that as you're just compromising your volume and making your hair oily as your fingers would stimulate your oil beds through touching it. Just remember that you would be running your fingers through your hair throughout the night/day to keep your hair in check, so try to minimise touch from the time you're readying and leave it for important times; such as when you're coming out of the car.
- If you have really oily hair, then you can use an acidic rinse to strip the oils from your hair. You can make the rinse as strong as you want, using lemon juice and water. You can use the juice from 3 lemons and a quart of water and rinse your hair with the mixture after shampooing. Leave the rinse for 5 minutes and then rinse off with water and follow with an oil free conditioner. If your hair isn't very oily then use less lemon juice or more water, if it's very oily then use less water.
- You know how much I love hair masks! Here's one to increase your hair volume, which oil tries hard to defeat.
Gather:
1 egg.
1/2 cup flat beer.
1 tbsp of honey.
Concoct:
Mash your banana, creating a thick consistency.
Mix in one egg and blend until smooth (a hand mixer could be helpful...).
Add 1/2 cup of flat beer, then a tablespoon of honey and blend.
Apply to scalp, roots and all the way to your ends.
Let your mask sit for a few hours, and then shampoo out.
Why beer? Well, beer has properties that help to thicken the hair, giving the appearance of fullness and volume. It also contains proteins that provide shine and strength.
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