Ah, the age-old questions…
What’s the meaning of life?
What’s my purpose in this world?
Who built the pyramids?
Why do cats barf so much?
What’s the secret to gorgeous hair?
To me, all of the above remain mysteries, but I do think there are some things you can do to gorgeous-ify your hair and make it worthy of a Pantene commercial, like, not washing it every day, which I know sounds really gross, but it totally helps retain your color, if your hair is color-treated like mine.
When it comes to hair, genetics plays a part, but I think its significance is often overstated. I’ve seen so many hair makeovers where the person upgraded their coif quality by leaps and bounds, and the before and after pics look like totally different people. Depending on your hair health, there’s usually a lot you can do with your hair.
Avoiding heat styling as much as possible, at least for me, is probably the biggest hair booster. I limit myself to once, maybe twice a week because it seems like the less I mess with blowdryers, flat irons and hot rollers, the better off my hair is in general. It’s not as dry, better behaved and less unruly, and I get fewer split ends.
I think it also really helps to scour the universe until you find a stylist who completely understands your hair and its texture. Somewhere out there is the perfect someone for your hair. It’s a question of tracking them down.
What do you think? What’s the secret to gorgeous hair?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
A balanced healthy diet! and nothing else!
And I’d add taking biotin to that list! It’s amazing for hair and nails 🙂
I second that. I used to take a multi Vitamin which also contained biotin. My hair felt amazing!
Leave it alone!! I lucked out with pin straight hair that has decent volume and natural high lights in the summer. And I do NOTHING to it. wash and condition every day, no products, no heat, no chemicals. I don’t even brush it unless I end up in some sort of crazy wind storm, I just run my fingers through to de-tangle once it dries. it stays super shiny and soft because it isn’t being weakened and broken all the time.
Keep it moisturized and sealed. The better you treat your hair the healthier it’ll be!
Since day ONE, my mum applied Dabur Amla oil on my hair. And to this day I still do. I never ever blow dry it, I never use products besides Bumble and Bumble thickening spray but that’s to prevent my roots from getting greasy too quick! I never dye it either! Shampoo, conditioner and hair mask does it for me, but my hair’s really lucky in that it’s thick, got volume and is very well behaved!
As little products as possible. I found this out the hard way but now I stick to good shampoo and conditioner (and I do try to only stick conditioner to the ends. The absolute minimum goes onto the roots of my hair)
Employ natural treatments if possible, Moroccan Oil has been a revelation. Also THE only styling product I use. And my hair is so much better off! Nettle extracts are also amazing for dark hair as treatment or a rinse after your normal routine with a bit of water. It genuinely encourages both re-growth and growth length wise.
And funnily enough, the less I do with it the better it behaves and I’ve been blessed with curly hair that’s fine, sparse and will frizz like nobody’s business if it’s in a bad mood. On a good day though, it’s fabulous, mainly due to lack of styling 😀
I think it comes down to diet/self care and genetics. Products (and not using harsh ones constantly) may help.
Good diet good good nutrients and lots of water
Good quality water to cleanse it ( in my area we have hard water and this is not great I am afraid)
Use good products to cleanse and condition but not too often.
Use something like coconut oil to nourish.
Use something more “unnatural” like silicones to give it a boost and “make it look good”
Always use a good claryfing cleanser to get rid of the “unnatural” stuff to avoid building up.
Since I have acute rhinitis,I HAVE TO blow dry my hair. Still here are certain things which noticeably help me.
I do take a good dose of animal protein.
Vitamin Supplements.
Ensuring my hair is clean and conditioned. I follow up with deep conditioning once or twice.
Oil massage before shampoo ( most of the times).
Good leave in products.
And yes, rest. If I am too stressed or haven’t been sleeping properly, I do start getting scalp issues.
Ugh, I have baby fine hair. No body whatsoever. My nemesis!!
PS — love your makeup in this pic — would love a breakdown!
I am definitely with you on the no heat styling. I only heat style my hair when it’s winter. Even then it’s probably less then 5 times a year!
Simple. There is no answer. Because if you ask any doctor, s/he will tell you that good hair is hereditary. Good hair and good nails are something you’re born with or not. Nothing on the universe is going to change it. No miracle nail product, no miracle hair product. But of course, we will still spend millions for THE product. I’m guilty of it. If I see a brand promising hair revolution, I’ll buy it. And when it doesn’t work, I can almost see doctors smirking and saying, told you so.
It’s a 10!!! 🙂 I loooooove that stuff!!!
I agree that the role of genetics is important, but overstated – and that doesn’t just apply to hair health, but to any other part of the body, right?
I come from a family of hair stylists, and outside of eating right, the consensus has always been to maintain your hair with as few heating and styling products as possible. This has been the case for me since I was little: I air-dry, avoid products outside of shampoo/conditioner, and avoid/limit drastic changes (e.g. hair-dyeing, treatments). And yes – find a stylist that knows how to work with your hair texture!
I don’t use hairsprays, gels, mousses, etc. I do use macadamia oil on my hair on the bottom half to protect it while blow drying (which I rarely blow dry all the way). I stopped coloring my hair five years ago. My hair is waist length and healthier than it ever was before when I used a lot of products and colored it. I also only curl or flat iron a couple times a year, usually for holiday parties.
Good genes.
I color my hair, too, and I agree that not washing it every day and making sure that you have good conditioners is key. I do my hair myself and I add coconut oil to my hair dye, as well as ensure that I don’t buy hair dyes that are known to be drying. If I want a big color change, I go see my stylist.
I don’t blow dry and only flat iron on occasion. When I do flat iron I use dry shampoo to make it last. My stylist says that despite my love of at home hair color that my hair is very healthy, and that I have no split ends, just some dryness. I use coconut oil to deep condition, and I use a Garnier hair oil for color treated hair daily. I’m a big fan of the hair oils because they keep my hair from getting too dry.
Coconut oil and a good biotin vitamin!
It’s a 10!! Heaven in a bottle. Enough said. 🙂
HYDRATE. Biotin and avoiding heat styling did nothing for me, personally — but it makes a big difference when you’re using the right shampoo and conditioner, and following up with something that’ll help protect your hair from a flat iron or dry climate!
I think working with it and not against it is also helpful. If you have curl, embrace it. If it’s stick straight, get a great cut that plays that up. We always want to change things about ourselves. I see people with beautiful curls (that straight haired gals would die for) spend so much time and money to straighten. It does come back to your heat styling comment, too. But I think the reason for all the heat styling is because we’re trying to force our hair to be something it’s not. As you say, having the right cut/stylist can work wonders, too. For those of us who can’t abide by gray, definitely condition! 🙂
My hair is thick and semi wavy and I have always had a major frizz problem. Leave-in conditioner changed my life! I don’t use heat, I just wash it when it needs it, comb through a leave in treatment (any kind works) and put it in a bun to dry. I agree you should embrace what you have!
I think regular cuts make a huge difference. I had my hair very long (like, past-the-chest long) for years, and I recently got 3+ inches off. It’s still long and I can basically style it the same as before, but it has not felt this shiny and silky and soft in longer than I can remember! At first I thought it just felt nice because it had salon products in it, but it’s been well over a week and it still feels as good as when I left the salon. It’s amazing what taking off the old, bad, split-up stuff can do. I also believe in nourishing your hair. I rarely skip my leave-in conditioners or oils after a shower (except when I’m trying to clarify/remove buildup) because I can feel a healthy difference when my hair is being fed the right stuff.
For me, heat does not make a huge difference. I have pretty strong, resilient hair, so I just blow dry and curl whenever I want. I heat-style closer to the ends, and I end up cutting those off anyway, so heat does not affect my total hair health.
Spritz of argan oil (or carefully rubbed in with hands and distributed via brushing) for awesome shine without greasiness. I’ve tried a lot of oils and argan is still my favorite.
When I get dry scalp (my skin tends to get really dry everywhere but my face), I do a home made hair masque with argan oil, coconut oil, and a few drops of tea tree oil. Occasionally even open some of those gigantic fish oil supplements I take. Leave it in for at least an hour (or overnight) with a shower cap on, wash thoroughly, and I get a moisturized/soft scalp and nice hair for weeks.
Otherwise, I almost never do anything to my hair. No blow drying, etc. A few times a year I’ll dye it blue black (I don’t like the bleached brown ends on my Asian hair sometimes, lol), and I’ll use a curling iron less than a dozen times a year. Steam curling is much, MUCH nicer for your hair though it requires more patience! That’s how I was doing Dita von Teese curls last year, OFTEN, and came out of it with next to no dmg to hair (except when I got my strands tangled on the rollers).
I am in agreement, genetics play a huge role. I get my hair colored. I wash and blow dry everyday and sometimes I flat iron. My hair is strong and healthy. I do use good shampoo and conditioner (sulfate free since I color). I prefer gentle cleaning, with a purifying shampoo followed by a deep conditioner once or twice a month.
I’ve always found that doing as little as possible and giving rich healthy treats to my hair keeps it healthy. When i want to colour/bleach/highlight it, I take a deep breath and wait another month. I wash it no more than twice a week. I regularly slather it in oils, conditioners and potions that I massage into my hair and my scalp. Staying hydrated and eating well helps too.
And your key advice “scour the universe until you find a stylist who completely understands your hair and its texture”. No matter whether it is thick or thin, fine or coarse, coloured or natural, this is the most important thing!
A healthy diet is definitely the best way to keep your hair gorgeous, but I’ve noticed that my hair really looks better at the second day after I washed it, so I don’t do it everyday anymore…