I truly believe that great hair starts in the shower! How you cleanse your hair sets the tone for how well it will behave for you when you style it. I get asked a lot about my hair, so I figured I’d put together a little blog post about how I cleanse my hair and some foolproof tips for hair success.
Determine Your Hair Type.
If your hair is fine (like mine) a lot of times shampoos for moisture are often too heavy for you, and you can kiss goodbye any hopes of volume. Instead, choose a volumizing or deep cleansing shampoo because it won’t weigh the hair down. Conversely, if your hair is course, you’re going to want a moisturizing shampoo.
Determining your hair type really cuts down the guess work and will result in much more cooperative hair when styling. The ABBA hair line offers several different products: Color Treated, Volumizing, Moisturizing, and Fragile, so no matter what hair type you have you can customize it to your specific hair needs.
As mentioned my hair is fine, but I do have a lot of it so anything volumizing typically performs best to cleanse my hair because let’s be honest I don’t wash it every day. Which is why I love the ABBA Volume shampoo and Conditioner.
The ABBA Volume Shampoo and Conditioner both utilize grapefruit and lemongrass to revive fine, limp hair to boost body and volume. ABBA’s ProQuinoa Complex, contains quinoa, barley and soy protein that is designed to rescue and strengthen hair fibers from the inside out. Their specific hdyrolyzation process separates the proteins to create a gluten free product, 100% vegan, plant derived botanicals that are always cruelty-free.
You might also take comfort that these products is that they are free of parabens, sulfates, gluten, sodium chloride, DEA, phthalates, synthetic color additives.
Both the Abba Volume Shampoo, and Conditioner are designed to improve volume, revive limp hair, and add shine. The ABBA Shampoo retails for $19.95 and the conditioner $20.95.
Lather Rinse, Repeat.
If you work out, or your hair is oily, extra thick or long you likely need to cleanse your hair twice. I wash my hair every couple of days, so when I do wash it I want to make sure I do an especially good job to remove any product or build-up. There’s nothing worse than going through all the work to wash, dry, and style your hair only to have it look just as bad as it did when you went in.
I wash my hair once, and then rinse, and then go in again making sure to get underneath especially where my ponytail is because I dance a lot and I find there’s often a lot of oil and build up in there.
Condition Ends Only.
Like I mentioned my hair is fine, but I feel like this is true for most people. You don’t need to condition your whole head of hair. Focus on the ends, as this especially helps with tangles.
On this note, less is more. You really only need a small amount of conditioner to get the job done. Anything else is just a waste and isn’t doing your hair any good anyways.
Give Your Conditioner Time to Work its Magic.
I like to leave my conditioner hang out on my hair for a few minutes, so I’ll often do something else like shave my legs or cleanse my skin to fill the time.
I love using the Konjac Sponge in the shower because you don’t need to use face wash or anything, and it comes with a little string that you can use to hang to dry. I love the string because like the idea that it’s not collecting bacteria or anything from my shower ledges. I use the Charcoal sponge which is great for acne-prone skin, but it also comes in Original too if you’re lucky enough to not have acne. The Konjac Sponge retails for $14.95.
Be Gentle With Your Wet Hair.
You want to treat your wet hair like it’s as fragile as silk. When your hair is wet it’s at it’s most fragile state, and while it’s our natural inclination to go ham with the hair brushing to get through the tangles you’re really putting your hair at risk for breakage, and loss.
Trust me when I tell you that you take your hair for granted, and anyone who’s had a tremendous hair loss knows just how devastating it is to lose it. You don’t realize how much you value something until it’s gone.
I had some issues with my health a few years ago, and as a result, I found a patch of hair loss the size of a quarter. Nothing will stop you in your tracks quite as fast, and make you reevaluate how you treat and appreciate your hair more. After this incident, I vowed to take special care of my hair, and I’m happy to report that eventually, it grew back.
One of the things I did was switch to a Wet Brush. Ladies, if you don’t know about the Wet Brush you’re seriously missing out. It’s flexible bristles make it so much easier to get through your tangles, and doesn’t tug so you know you’re not taking half your hair out when trying to detangle or blow dry it. I’ve been using the Paddle Wet Brush for years, but I was super excited to try the new Epic Quick Dry Brush.
The Epic Quick Dry Brush with its open vented design gives more air flow for a faster drying time. The intelliFlex bristles, like the original Wet Brush, are heat resistant up to 450 degrees and does not pull on your hair. This brush is great for keratins or just to cut your drying time up to 30%. LOVE. The Wet Brush retails for $21.99.
Apply A Smoothing Lotion.
My hair is fine and curly so it tends to not cooperate with the heat of styling tools, moisture in the air, or basically anything it encounters so I NEED to apply something before blow drying or I look like I stuck my finger in a socket.
I have been using the Moroccanoil Smoothing Lotion for so many years that I actually can’t even tell you how long. But I will say that I only use one pump at a time, and while it probably helps that I don’t wash my hair every day but that bottle has lasted me a seriously long time. Available in-store only, the Moroccanoil Smoothing Lotion is great if you have frizzy hair but you find serums too heavy or greasy. I find the blow dry cream is just subtle enough (when applied to the ends only) to keep frizz at bay, and helps keep my curls luscious and smooth.
And honestly, that’s it! I try to keep it pretty basic because I just don’t have time to do much else. If you have any questions about the items mentioned above be sure to comment below or reach out to me on social media @shortpresents.
All of the items mention above are available at Trade Secrets! To find a Trade Secrets in your area pop over to > locations.tradesecrets.ca. Trade Secrets is also currently running a promotion, so when you spend $55 you get a Free AG Revamp Keratin Volume Hair Spray 10oz ! Now who doesn’t want extra volume?
Hope you enjoyed today’s post!
xx
Kayla
*This post was sponsored by Trade Secrets; however, all opinions and selects are my own.
