How To Have Great Second Day Hair

First post on the new blog!  Let's start out simple :)

First off I just wanted to say hello and welcome to those of you kind enough to check out my new adventure!  If you didn't read the little "About Me" section then let me start off by saying that I've created this blog to discuss all kinds of things related to your hair and skin.  I am a mom of an amazing but wild 3 year old and 7 months pregnant with our second baby (a little GIRL!!!!).  I have been a hair stylist/cosmetologist for 8 years now but I am not currently working in a salon.  I decided to take a few years off to stay home and raise my son and it has been SO worth it!  Enter baby number 2...looks like I will be taking a few more years off to raise my sweet little girl.

I have kept up with my license and have been and will continue to do outside education so in a few years once I jump back into this thing, I know what I'm doing :)  I plan to open up an in home salon in a few years and I am so very excited about it!  Until then, looks like I'll be telling you the things I have learned these past 8 years and all I will continue to learn in the future.  I think it's going to be a fun way to still keep one foot in the beauty world by updating you weekly on all kinds of hair, skin, and makeup tips.

I have another blog that is fairly new that's more family oriented, where I talk about my growing family, what it's like being married to a police officer, what it's like living in a new city where I don't know a soul, starting up my little business of making handmade adorable things for your kiddos, and everything in between.  Check it out!

My beautiful little family 

Okay, enough about me.  Let's get to the point of todays post.  I'm going to be discussing something that might be a big "duh" for most of you.  But hey, if just one person learns something new then it's totally worth it!  And like I said before, let's start out simple.  Considering I will covering one main topic every time I post and there are an infinite number of things I can write about concerning your hair, skin, and makeup, I figure some days you'll read and learn a lot, and some days I might put you to sleep!  Sorry in advance if today is one of those "put you to sleep" days :)

On the agenda today...hair!  I'll keep this post pretty short and pretty strait forward.

How many of you wash your hair every day?  If you said "I do" well I say, don't.  Not only is it completely not necessary to wash your hair every day, it's actually not good for it.  I would say about 90% of my clients when I was working in a salon who did in fact wash their hair every day, didn't know there was anything wrong with it.  The other 10% knew it wasn't good, but they just couldn't live with that greasy second day hair.  Well, if you are one of the ones who said, "I do" about washing your hair every day, I can give you a few tips on how to keep that greasy second day hair under control!  But seriously, you really should not be washing your hair every day.

Your scalp produces natural oils.  Most of you I'm sure know this because whether it takes only 1 day or 5, your hair will eventually get oily.  These oils are essential in keeping your hair shiny, healthy, and in great condition so that it doesn't get damaged as easily.    These oils travel down the hair shaft but when you are washing it every day you are not allowing it to travel beyond just your scalp.  You might feel "cleaner" and less oily if you wash it every day but eventually you will notice your hair is breaking off easily, it's dull, and just lacks the manageability that it would have if you waited at least every other day to wash it.  Women with ethnic hair, course hair, thick hair, and/or curly hair can go much longer in between washes.  I had clients who would only wash their hair once a week!  They couldn't wash it more than that or it would get too dry and break off.  Keep in mind too if you are professionally coloring you hair and especially bleaching it, that you are going to have a much harder time keeping you hair in prime condition if you wash it too frequently.  There are no permanent colors out there that will last forever without fading.  So you will notice some fading (unless you are getting it bleached), but if you wash it every day you will notice much sooner that your "permanent" color is looking a lot more like your natural color.

Bottom line...you just shouldn't do it.  Since shampoo removes your natural oils and excess skin cells from your scalp, you are really going to notice overtime how dull and brittle your hair will become.  Maybe some of you have been washing your hair every day for years and think your hair looks fine.  And it might!  But I can guarantee you that if you did an experiment and went 3 months with washing it no more than every other day, you will notice a difference.  Now of course I know things happen.  Some of us moms can get all kinds of mysterious crap in our hair.  That is different.  I'm talking about when you go through your day and don't get any extra random crap in your hair.

Okay, so I'm going to make this part 1.  Not washing your hair every day will go great with some shampoo tips that I can give you when choosing the right shampoo for your hair.  I'll save that for the next post.  Your hair is important!  If you dont think so shave it all off.  (Didn't think you'd go for that) :)  You should want to do whatever you can to give yourself the best, healthiest, prettiest hair possible.

So here are a few tips for how to deal with that greasy second day hair.  Some of you might want to wait 2 days in between washing (if you can manage that, then that's even better).  There are of course the obvious things you can do.  I only need to wash my hair every 3 days.  So by the third day I often go for the cute hat look.  No one will see that oily scalp under your hat!  Unless of course your 3 year old rips it off your head!  But you can get all kinds of cute things like headbands, bandanas, those cute knitted head warmer things, hats and anything else you may have that will hide or help disguise that greasy head.

Then you have your product options.  Blondes can get away with using baby powder.   If your hair is dark brown, be warned!  There is a very good change it will look like you dumped baby powder in your hair.  Leave this tip to the blondes and those with light brown hair.  All you will want to do with this is lift up sections of your hair and sprinkle a small amount in the roots of your hair and repeat throughout the whole top of your head.  Then just use your fingers and lightly work the powder into your scalp and roots until it has soaked up the oil and your hair is looking clean again!

As far as products go dry shampoos are great!  They were designed for this purpose and are still a fairly new addition to the hair product world.  There are many different lines that make dry shampoo so shop around and find one thats best for you.   Most dry shampoos come in 2 forms.  A spray which is the most common and powder form.  The powders can be used to soak up excess oil but were more created to be used to give your hair some volume throughout your roots.  

I love the powder form and currently use Sexy Hair Powder Play (above) when I'm wanting to get rid of some oil but mostly to give me some volume on top.  I have long hair, so it's easy for it to look super flat.  You would apply this the same way you would the baby powder.  And yes, it is a white powder but dries colorless so you don't see any white.  A couple other professional lines that make this similar product in powder form are Redken and Schwarzkopf.  I have been using professional products now for a long time so I don't know what's out there that would be comparable to this that you can get at Target or wherever you get your products.  I know going with a professional line is much pricier but if you can make it work, there is such a big difference in using professional products (I will blog on this another day).

 These products are all going to be in the $20 price range (give or take) but they will last you forever!  They are in a small bottle but you just need such a small amount that they really do last.  I have had my Powder Play for over a year and I sometimes use my Schwarzkopf which I also love, and I have had that for 3 years!  Now I do not need this all the time so yes, it is going to last me longer.  But still, you should get at least 4-6 months out of it if you are using it every other day.

So the other form of dry shampoo is the spray form which is the most popular.  And this one doesn't have any fancy name, it's just dry shampoo.  Again, I do not know what they have in the stores where you might buy your products so I cannot recommend something in a lesser price range.  Most hair salons will carry a variety of these professional products so you can just buy it at your hair appointment or walk in to your local salon and see what they have.  You can also get these products at Ulta.  Keep an eye out for their sales because you can get some great deals through them and they have a very large selection of professional products.  So for dry shampoo in spray form I have not tried a lot but I have used Sexy Hair and Redken and I have been very happy with both.  For these you don't necessarily have to section out parts of your hair but instead, you will want to hold it about 12 inches away from your head and just quickly spray all over.  Be careful and remember you can always add more.  Some product lines tend to leave a white residue on dark hair if you get too carried away.  Oh, and for some reason, the stuff in the can is like magic.  If you leave the can tipped on its side or just throw it in a drawer where it is not standing upright it will magically disappear.   I have no idea why but I know several people who have had that happen to them in several different product lines.  So keep it upright under the sink or in the medicine cabinet.

   

So there ya have it!  Hopefully those of you who are wanting to go longer in between washing your hair have a few ideas of some products (or baby powder) that will help you do that!  Keep in mind dry shampoo is NOT to be used in the place of actual washing.  It does not have the cleansing proporties that regular shampoo has.  It is just be used to help control oil and make your hair look as if you had washed it.  There are so many products on the market so I hope you can find one that works great with your hair!  Keeping those natural oils in really is essential for beautiful, shiny, healthy hair!  :) 

Have a great weekend everyone and don't ever forget how beautiful you are!

Xoxoxo,

Christina