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1. Regularly use hair masks like the cult fave Olaplex Hair Perfector No. 3 and the more affordable Elizavecca CER-100 collagen treatment to do everything from reducing breakage and split ends to repairing strands with all the vitamins and oils your hair has been missing. You'll stop seeing your precious strands go down the shower drain!
2. Trim your hair at home. You don't have to empty your wallet at the salon for trims every three months! These razor sharp hair cutting shears use Japanese stainless-steel to trim your ends evenly and neatly. Trimming every few months is absolutely key to hair health, guys! It prevents split ends and breakage, and promotes hair growth. It's simple enough to do yourself but your dull kitchen scissors aren't gonna do the job!
3. Say hello to serums and essences — your hair's new best friends! These help your hair texture, taking your strands from rough to silky. Go for lightweight ones like Etude House Silk Scarf Hair Serum and Skinfood Argan Oil Hair Essence that use nutrients and fatty acids to boost hair health, soften and hydrate, replenish damage, and provide shine.
4. Embrace oils to target specific hair concerns. Oils can be scary but the right ones (AKA the ones that are light and don't weigh your hair down) do wonders: from protecting your hair fibers, rebalancing moisture levels, and targeting UV damage like the salon-fave Shu Uemura Essence Protective Oil to strengthening, detangling, and moisturizing like the restorative Verb Ghost Hair Oil. Your dry, frizzy strands will become a ~ghost~ of the past.
5. Use a shampoo that actually addresses your hair's needs. The right shampoo makes a huge difference rather than just grabbing a generic drugstore one. For example, if your hair is thinning or needs volume, thickening shampoos like Klorane Shampoo with Quinine and B Vitamins and R+Co Dallas Biotin Shampoo stimulate hair growth with targeted ingredients that restore volume and hair health.
6. Or repair damage and breakage with reparative shampoos that use effective ingredients to combat brittleness, split ends, and chemical damage. Garnier Whole Blends Honey Shampoo uses a yummy blend of royal jelly and honey while Moroccanoil Moisture Shampoo uses antioxidant-rich argan oil and herbals.
7. Reach for silk hair scrunchies and large hair claw clips instead of traditional hair elastics and sharp clips! These are actually gentler on hair because they won't cause wear and tear. Plus, silk scrunchies don't give your hair that annoying bend you get when you leave it up in a pony for a while. They hold firm and won't slip off. Large hair claws are also strong enough to hold both thick hair and thin hair easily.
8. Exfoliate! Your! Scalp! News flash: Your scalp needs deep-cleaning care and exfoliation for much the same reasons your face does. Scalp scaling is a gentle form of exfoliation that removes oil and product build-up and balances both dry and oily scalps without the harshness of clarifying shampoos. They leave your scalp with less irritation, less dandruff, and less itchiness. After all, healthy hair starts at the root!
9. Or opt for a detox shampoo like OGX Charcoal Detox Shampoo, which uses coconut charcoal and kaolin clay (two ingredients that are used in face masks to help with oily skin too!) to purify and rid your hair of buildup, leaving it nice and balanced. Use this in place of your regular shampoo once a week!
10. Feed your hair the necessary nutrients it needs with pre-shower treatments that'll ensure your strands come out, well, not feeling like a witch's broom. A scalp detox like Act + Acre's is a good option that uses organic botanical oils to nourish, soothe, promote hair growth, and protect against environmental damage. A castor oil treatment will help deliver vitamins and fatty acids while repairing damage.
11. But take care of your hair with in-shower treatments as well! L’Oreal Wonder Water Lamellar hair treatment is a cult fave that works its magic in eight seconds to give you shinier, more hydrated locks, using amino acids — no matter your hair type. A wonder indeed!
12. Brush gently and use a detangling brush to minimize split ends and breakage, and get through tangles your regular brush can't solve. If you thought brushing with your old comb was enough, think again! When you have damage, the last thing you need is rough brushing. This one has over 30,000 5-star reviews on Amazon because yeah, it's that good. People swear by it for detangling fast without damaging hair. The Wet Brush is another fave for gently smoothing knots without ripping out hair like other brushes do.
13. Try a shower brush too, which helps curly- and coily-haired gals style, detangle, and gently work in conditioner through wet hair, resulting in a happy head and healthy locks!
14. Help your shampoos and serums get in that much deeper with a hair scalp massager. These really get your blood circulating; plus, it removes the oily buildup that clogs your follicles. Above all, you get a salon-worthy hair massage!
15. Use flexible foam rods, which let you wake up to those same voluminous curls you get when you curl with heat. Everyone knows that using less heat is good for your strands but if you've been wondering how exactly to get those curls without your trusty ol' curler, this is a great option. Pop these in overnight, have some fun with how funky you look, and bam!
16. Throw up wet hair in a microfiber hair towel, which is much more lightweight and gentler on damaged hair than cotton towels. Your hair will be smooth and dry in no time. Plus, no frizz!
17. Wash those brassy orange undertones down the drain with purple shampoo! If your hair is bleached, rather than always going to the salon for touch-ups and leaving with a lighter wallet, the violet pigment in purple shampoos will get rid of those unwanted hues on gray, platinum, blonde or highlighted locks, letting you go longer in between professional touch-ups. Fanola No Yellow Shampoo is a fave!
18. Revive dead hair with a leave-in conditioner that'll provide the moisture and silkiness your hair needs to look its best even when you're not doing anything else to it. All you need to do is put some into your ends and go about your day. You can find one that targets your hair's needs too. Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner uses jojoba oil to promote growth and retain moisture while this hair butter uses shea butter and argan oil to repair damage.
You @ your new, smooth, moisturized, hair:
