I Can't Stress This Enough

Washing your hair everyday is NOT a necessity. In fact, washing your hair everyday isn't healthy for your hair. It's very drying. By washing your hair daily you are stripping it of it's natural oils, and your scalp begins to overcompensate and produces extra oil to counteract the drying.

Your scalp can adjust to an every other day shampoo, but it will take time. The first couple weeks won't be your prettiest, but after you've overcome the transition, your life will have changed. Changed, I tell you.

The key to this new life you'll lead is DRY SHAMPOO. When I discovered this it was as if the clouds opened up and the hair gods said, "It's about freaking time, and you'll never be the same. Now go forth and spread the word". And I'm trying.

I'm not only a never-wash-daily kind of girl, I'm a never-wash-more-than-once-a-week kind of girl. I may have been known to go 11 days in the past. Just one time. But, I can't say I wouldn't do it again!

My shampooing schedule typically goes as such:

Day One: Clean hair, no need for dry shampoo. Occasionally I'll tap in some Powder.Puff to give it some texture. I hate the feeling of soft, clean hair.

Day Two: With my scalp being well adjusted to once a week shampoos, I am not in need of dry shampoo yet.

Day Three: Flat-iron-curl my hair to give it body and texture. Lightly spray dry shampoo throughout my roots that evening, always avoiding my part and hairline. Leave it for 2-5 minutes then brush through with a paddle brush, distrubuting the product through the ends.

Day Four: After curling my hair on day three, it only needs some fluffing. No need to touch it with any hot tools, just a bit of Powder.Puff. Lightly spray roots again with dry shampoo and brush through.

Day Five: Bend the roots a little with the flat iron to encourage curl and volume. Maybe pin back my bangs or pull it up for part of the day. Really attack my roots with dry shampoo in horizontal and then vertical sections near my hairline. Brush through.

Day Six: Ocassionaly spray more dry shampoo lightly around my head, and brush through. Flip my head over and spray Brocato Back to the Beach throughout. Amazing texturizing mist that holds the volume I've created with the dry shampoo, and encourages curl and texture.

Day Seven: Back to the Beach spray is really hard to brush out, so I don't bother touching it. Maybe pin back my bangs, the sides, or even all of it. The beach spray also allows incredible hold if I want to put my hair in a side braid or a messy bobby pinned bun.

Over the years I've tried a number of dry shampoos and my all-time favorite has definitely surprised me. Pssst! It's the first one I ever tried, and continues to remain at the top of my list. I purchase it at Wal-Mart, Walgreens or Rite Aid, and at $6.99 it can't be beat!

Super lightweight amazingness with a light, fresh scent. Also adds a little volume by creating bulk at your roots.

If you're looking for a fresher smelling dry shampoo, I've enjoyed Big Easy by Brocato, which we sell at the salon.

We also sell this one at the salon, and it smells amazing! It absolutely masks that dirty hair smell.

The downfall is that it's about triple what my beloved Pssst costs.

Need a little more encouragement? You just let me know and I'll do my darndest to convince you!

Curl Tips

I've had a firm testimony of flat iron curls up until last week when I performed Operation New Years Eve Curl on two clients. I used a one inch curling iron wand (no spring makes it a wand), and took large sections, and wrapped around the wand. The high heat setting of the wand created fairly tight ringlets (pictures would be helpful right about now, but I'm a fool and didn't take any) in just a few seconds, which I assured both clients would not be the final result.

After curling the whole head, which took about 20 minutes, I grabbed my magic Kevin.Murphy comb, and brushed the crap out of it. Gasp! You brushed curls? You bet I did, and the result was incredible. One client reported back that her husband called it [warning, PG13] "sex hair". Who doesn't want that while ringing in the new year?

I WILL do this again, and take pictures to prove it's beautiness. Yes, that's a word. As of today.

The finishing touches were made by dusting my favorite Kevin Murphy product, Powder.Puff, all over the flipped-over-head. Powder.Puff is essentially a volumizing powder. Genius right? We're always working to create volume, but using product that add at least a little weight. But this powder creates incredible oomph and texture without the weight!

What's Kevin.Murphy, you might ask. Well, it's a new line we carry, which I believe isn't sold in any other salons in Provo. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of their shampoos and conditioners, but I am a big fan of a few of their styling products, namely the Powder.Puff.

Ahh, and then there is their comb. Ah, the comb of all combs. It is true that we hair stylists get excited over combs, clips and even bowls, but this excitement of mine is legit. The carbon fiber make of the comb allows for hold and texture without frizz. You can actually tame curl (hence my combing of the New Years Eve curl) by combing through it!

Magic comb, and one inch curling iron, although not the one used on above-mentioned clients.

However, this curling iron, called a Marcel, is one of my favorites. It allows you to rotate the iron after clamping the hair (or holding the hair around the wand), so as to help you wrap the strand.

Another little secret about this miracle product...it helped in lengthening my time between washes, along with my trusty dry shampoo. BONUS!

Although I loved the result of these curls on my clients, I find using a flat iron on myself to curl is much easier. However, I'll give this a try, and report back!

What a poor excuse for a hairstylist I am...can't even curl her own hair with a curling iron!

That was a whole heck of a lot of words, I promise the next post will include more pictures. If you're anything like me, you read a blog and get bored after a paragraph if it's not broken up with pictures.

I have a secret...

...and I want to share it with all of you!

Are you included in the .1% of the human population that washes their hair daily and wishes they didn't have to? Ugh, I'm beginning to sound like an infomercial...

In a nut shell, I don't wash my hair everyday and neither should you (Lindsey, you included). I've discovered dry shampoo helps me in my dirty deed, whether it's second day hair or sixth day hair (yes, you read that correctly).

Many a dry shampoo has been tested in my bathroom (mainly the three below), and not-a-one compares to my first dry shampoo purchase, Pssst!

Whether you are looking to pump up your volume on a daily basis, or cleaning those roots often this is an incredible product and one of my top 10 products I can't live without, another being Neosporin. Can't tell you how much I love that stuff.

Pssst can be found online or at your local Walgreens or Rite Aid. Go get it. Let me know your thoughts!