One of the my most asked questions I get is “Chloë, how do you dance so amazing?” (Just kidding, if you’ve seen me dance you definitely know that’s a joke.) But seriously, I feel like every day someone asks me how I get my hair to look the way it looks. To save myself some time, I thought I’d just write a blog post about it.
First of all, I really gotta give props to my parents for this one. My mom still has beautiful blonde hair and my dad, well, my dad is bald. But apparently before my dad lost all of his hair he used to have a luscious pony tail (which he claims eventually all fell out due to a combination of a perm and highlights in the same go applied by his cousin who was practicing for hair school... oh the 80s).
What I’m getting at though is I was blessed with good genes which gave me thick corse hair which also happens to grow quite quickly. My hair is naturally curly/wavy (depending on the humidity) and very very frizzy. An unplanned hair day either results in me throwing it in a bun, or going out looking like Albert Einstein. Rain? Yeah that sure puts a “damper” on my locks. Unlike many of my lucky friends, a “quick” blow dry after the shower takes 40 minutes (and strong delts to hold my blow dryer up that long.)(Imagine this: blowing hot air at your scalp for 40 minutes stopping every 5 minutes to brush out tangles, breaking a sweat due to the heat, basically a full workout)
However, there are some tips I use to keep it looking the way it does.
It all starts in the shower. I’ve trained my hair to not get greasy (I wash my hair once a week) by not washing it very often. When in the shower, I shampoo (and use the pads, not the nails of my fingers to work the shampoo in) only at the scalp with any extra shampoo slowly working it down my hair.
After thoroughly rinsing this out, I condition, BUT HERE IS THE KEY, I only apply conditioner to the bottom 3/4 of my hair. I do not apply conditioner to the roots. This helps them not get “too soft” so they lay down flat against my head and instead can still have volume. I leave the conditioner in my hair for a solid 5 minutes (I usually shave during this time) so the rest of my hair is smoother to reduce frizz.
For the brands I use the best I have tried is Mane and Tail. I know this is for horses (lol) but I have corse enough hair that it does the perfect job.
While rinsing my hair of conditioner I brush it out so it’s free of knots (which I’m aware is a bad choice but I can’t help it... sue me) and then again when I’m out of the shower.
In terms of drying, I towel dry, let air dry for about 4 hours (which it will still be very wet after) and then do a ROUGH hot blow dry. This means literally whipping the blow dryer all around and letting my hair turn into a mess of knotted mats (if you’re a hairdresser and reading this I’m sorry... I know). Halfway through I stop, brush out my hair, and repeat the process but this time flip my head upside down for the remainder of the drying. I dry until my hair is bone dry (moisture=my hair looking like a Pom-Pom after styling).
Although I do have naturally curly hair, I usually curl it with a large barrelled curling iron (not a wand!). I use the highest heat setting and curl my hair in sections from the bottom of my scalp, slowly working my way upwards. I curl all my hair away from my face (except I just do whatever at the back) and after curling each strand, I hold the curl right in its natural ringlet close to my head until the hair has cooled to the touch (sometimes I use little clips to hold them up).
After this, I don’t brush my curls, no no. I instead run my finger through them to loosen them up, as well as do about 5 heavy metal headbangs where I wildly flip my hair down and back again.
Products? Never heard of them. I usually avoid hairspray (I literally feel like it weighs my hair down) unless I’m going to an important event, although usually run a smoothing serum through the tips of my hair. If I have any extra frizzies near my forehead I’ll snag them with a straightener to blend them in. I do take a daily “hair skin and nails” vitamin with biotin, if you count that.
And that’s it! It sounds complicated but it’s honestly habit for me! My hair will last this way for about 4 days before I need to start throwing it up in a ponytail if I do morning touch ups.
I’m aware with different hair textures and types this won’t work 100% for everyone, but hope that at least some of the tips will make even the slightest improvement because it sure works for me!
I live by the motto “your day will be as good as your hair” and to invest in your hair, as it’s the crown you never take off.
Cheers,
Chloë