I am not delusional enough to think many people care about my hair or hair routine.
But a few people have asked recently, and in the last year I’ve really stepped up my game so that I’m no longer completely annoyed by my flat, limp hair on a daily basis, so I figured I’d share what works for me.
The first thing is that I only wash my hair once a week. When I was working full-time, I used to wash my hair every other day, but after Ella was born, I started stretching it to two days and then three between washes, and eventually realized I could absolutely go longer stretches.
My hair is NOT oily at all, so I really can go more like 10-12 days, but it’s most convenient for me to wash it on Sunday mornings because I have more time, so 7 days it is right now.
I do my hair every single day (always have), so not washing it most days means I can have it done in less than ten minutes.
Here are the products I use:
As far as
Pureology goes, I know people love this stuff, but frankly, I haven’t noticed a major difference. At the rate I wash my hair, I’ll probably be using my giant bottle of it until I die, but I don’t know that I’d necessarily run back out to buy it again since it’s definitely on the more expensive end of shampoos.
On the days I wash my hair, I
blow dry it (I usually brush it – which I know you’re not supposed to do – blow dry it for a minute or two, then let it dry for a bit while I do my make-up, and then blow dry it the rest of the way).
Then I rub some
Super Skinny Serum through all my hair (especially the bottom half) and
flat iron everything. I use a
$10 flat iron that
Merrick gave me when she got a newer, nicer one, and it’s still going strong some 4 years since she sent it to me. My hair is already so naturally straight that it takes at least a day and usually two of not being washed before it will really hold a curl very well (you can see my
straight hair in
these photos).
If it’s looking particularly flat, I’ll spray some
dry shampoo in about four lines running from my front hairline toward the back of my skull and let it sit for 30 seconds or so before rubbing it in, and then add a little hair powder on my part and massage that in to get a little lift.
I finish off with some
NuMe Hair Oil to keep the little flyaways in place and give my hair a little shine, and voila! There’s Day 1 (and usually 2 also).
After those days, I just brush my hair in the morning, then curl it with a
curling wand. I have this
$25 curling wand, which I set to 410 degrees, and I love it.
In fact, NuMe sent me one of their
magic wands and it was significantly less impressive for my hair. I don’t know if it was the fact that it was a little fatter than my current one, but it didn’t hold a curl AT ALL for me – my hair looked almost completely straight by the end of the day. It also has no stand, so it rolled around on my counter and immediately melted a little dot in my makeup holder, and there’s no plastic tip like my other one has, so it was very difficult to curl my hair without burning my fingertips.
I know every blogger swears by their
NuMe wand, so I was surprised by how unimpressed I was, but after a few days, I went straight back to my $25 Target one and haven’t picked up the NuMe one again.
I curl my hair in about 10 sections and hold each one for about 10 seconds, wrapping my hair away from my face. Then I let it sit for a couple of minutes before I run my fingers through it and add some dry shampoo and hair powder (after two days or so, I usually only use the dry shampoo and hair powder every other day, because I generally have enough built up that I can just massage it a little and it’ll act like I just added some).
I’ve seen some bloggers talk about “leftover curls” and it’s very rare that my hair stays curly enough to get away without curling it again (see: extremely straight hair).
But since it only takes me a few minutes to do the whole thing, it doesn’t bother me to do it on a daily basis.
Maybe someday I’ll learn some other hairstyles, but . . . probably not.
I was definitely one of the ones wondering how you liked your gold-flecked shampoo, and think your hair looks great! I recently got one of the NuMe wands (after seeing you mention your curling wand before, then watching Merrick's tutorial with her NuMe wand) and am super jealous that yours has a stand and a plastic tip at the end–I've burned my hands/fingers a number of times, and feel a little ridiculous wearing a glove every morning to do my hair (doesn't help that my husband also thinks its pretty hilarious…) 😉 The NuMe wand does do a great job curling my hair though (once I got the hang of it and surrendered to the glove). I don't think I will be going back to a curling iron anytime soon!
I have the same type of hair as you (pin super straight), and have no idea what these "next day curls" are that people talk about either. The only difference is that my hair does get super oily, but I've noticed that if I keep it curled, the hairspray kind of keeps it under control a little bit, and I can stretch washing out to 3-4 days. I've noticed my hair has been getting pretty frizzy though, so I think I need to try a hair oil out to see if that helps.
Have you ever tried any other dry shampoos before? The one you use has mixed reviews on Amazon and I am wondering what your experience has been? I love your book reviews, especially for children! Keep up the great work. Thanks!
I never have, but Merrick recommended this one and both of us love it!
Wow, I'm seriously impressed by your hair routine! I have very fine, straight hair too, but I have lot of it. I WISH I could go a week without washing it. I'm jealous you can flat iron your hair and then still curl it after two days. When I flat iron my hair, by the next day, it's so flat and piece-y. And looks super greasy. I find my "magic" formula is, wash and blow dry out with a round brush for some volume. Then curl on day 2 and then I can get away with a ponytail on day 3 and possibly day 4. But I cannot use any kind of product other than a bit of hairspray and some powder dry shampoo. Maybe I need to re-try aerosol dry shampoo again? The first time I tried it, I just couldn't get over the heavy feeling and the feeling of still having dirty hair, even if it didn't necessarily *look* that way. Anyway, total hair envy over here! (Also…another thought: do you dye your hair? I'm pretty sure you don't…but anyway, I haven't dyed mine either for almost a year now and I do find that my natural roots are more prone to getting greasy. Which drives me nuts haha!).
Thank you for sharing your hair routine. Its really helpful. Definitely gonna try. Thanks!
this post
I know you exercise regularly, do you put it in a pony tail? I can’t stand hair in my face but after putting it in an ponytail, I have a huge dent in the back that it impossible to get out without washing. Once I put it up, it’s up until I wash it again.
Even though you claim not to be an expert, I appreciate behind the scenes of a real person! Thanks!
Yes, I put it in a ponytail when I work out! My hair is super straight, so it doesn’t seem to hold a dent very well.