Beauty Routine: Hair

I loved the feedback on my skin care routine, thank you! So I thought it only best to keep this series going.

Let's talk about hair care. As I've mentioned, for an Italian girl with curly hair, may hair is actually fine. So something that does not work wonders for me? Moroccan Oil. I tried. I tried desperately to use it and wanted so badly for it to make my hair even healthier. But all it did was leave me with oily, stringy hair. Lovely.

So over the past year, well actually more specifically the past 6 months, I've learned what works best for me.

Shower

I'm not sure why I started buying the Clear brand shampoos, I am a sucker for good packaging. But from the first use, I've really loved it. Not only for my hair, but my scalp. Oh my scalp. It can get so uncomfortably dry in the winter. And the Clear shampoos have seemed to clear this right up. J also has a dry scalp and has had luck with this shampoo.

And since I was enjoying the shampoo so much, I recently decided to switch over to their conditioner as well. No complaints. This shea butter one definitely makes my hair feel even softer.

Lastly, this Neutrogena anti-residue shampoo was recommended to me by a hair stylist this summer. As you keep reading, you'll see that I kinda/sorta use a few extra products to style my hair. So about once a month now, I'll use this Neutrogrena shampoo to get rid of any residue the styling products have left behind. My hair feels so light and soft on those days! 

Wet  Styling

My after shower hair process is a bit more in depth...

1. Spray in a volumizer. I got sucked into buying the Oribe one at the salon at one point. I can't complain though, I love the smell and it definitely helps. It's pricey though so I did find a more affordable option that I now use during the week. The Organix brand works just as well really for me. All I'm looking for is a bit of a boost in volume and thickness. I swear the Organix one makes my hair grow a little faster too with the Biotin in it...

2. Brush/comb out my hair and then add mousse. If money wasn't an issue, I would use the Redken mousse daily. Redken products in general are just amazing. But, I use a decent amount of mousse everyday and J uses it now too. So we'll stick to our $4 bottle for now. It's the best "cheap" mousse I've used for sure.

3. Curl cream. Just a little something to add some softness to my curls. Mousse can leave your hair rather stiff if you let it dry naturally. Plus, I need something to fight frizz on rainy or humid days. I absolutely love the Miss Jessie products! Both I've been able to use thanks to Birchbox and just now need to purchase one as my samples are finally running out. Boo. But where I use less than a dime size amount daily, I don't mind spending a bit more money on this product.

4. Blow dry with a diffuser. For my curly hair, using a diffuser is absolutely necessary. It works its magic to fight frizz.

Dry  Styling

On those days where I give my hair a break from shampooing, I rely on dry shampoo. If you're a brunette, you know how frustrating dry shampoo can be when it's not tinted. Or maybe it's just me? Either way, the brown tint to this Baptiste dry shampoo is fantastic.

And on those (rare) days that I use a curling iron on my hair, I rely on Spray Wax. This is a new find as of this summer and is amazing. Apparently regular hair spray is a no no on fine, dry hair as it dries your hair out even more. Oops! I had my hair washed and styled for a wedding this summer and learned so much from the stylist. She used spray wax on my hair and it held all night. I then came home and asked my normal hair stylist about spray wax and she also raved about it. Sold. I bought a can on the spot and have been using it since. Be careful though! A little goes a long way.

Night Before

And lastly, as I mentioned in my tips last week - spray in some dry shampoo the night before. I've been buying the Psst brand for a while now and love it. My only complaint is that it's white. So I now use this one at night when I know I have a few hours for it to soak in.

What hair products can you not live without?

Definitely mousse for me! It's probably the one product I've been using for more than 15 years, well that and shampoo/conditioner....but besides those. Some days I'll use only mousse. It's the saving grace for these curls.