The best kept secrets for gorgeous locks, including styling
tips and easy recipes for healthy hair
Strawberry Mask for glossy hair: Mash 1/2 cup fresh strawberries and mix with 1 tbsp of mayonnaise. Massage onto clean, damp hair and cover with shower cap. Leave on hair for 10 minutes and rinse. Follow with mild shampoo and conditioner.
Honey Rinse for shine: Mix 1 tsp honey with 4 cups of warm water - use as final rinse after shampoo and conditioner.
After blowing hair dry - give it a final blast using the cool button on your hair dryer. This will seal the cuticle and leave it smooth.
Rinsing hair in cool water will also help seal the cuticle and enhance shine.
Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse for brunettes and redheads: Add a few tbsp raw Apple Cider Vinegar to your final rinse for added shine.
Best Products for glossy locks: MoraccanOil, Pureology SuperSmoothing Elixir, Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil
Healthy Hair Secrets
Weekly Deep Conditioning Treatments will keep your hair soft and prevent damage. Ingredients are key, so check the label!
For Dry Hair, use a moisturizing conditioner which includes "fatty alcohols" such as cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. Also look for humectants and emollients: glycerin, shea butter, macadamia nut oil and olive oil - which nourish and bind moisture to the hair. Ingredients to avoid are petroleum or mineral oil, which coat hair and clog follicles. Great products to try: Nexxus Hydra-Sleek Conditioner, Aussie 3 Minute Miracle, Goldwell Kerasilk, Redken All Soft Heavy Cream and Clairol Herbal Essences Replenishing Conditioner.
Color Treated Hair requires special care in order to preserve the color and/or highlights and prevent fading. Use products specifically formulated for color treated hair. Avoid any which contain Sulfates, as it can dry hair and fade color. Use gentle, moisture intensive conditioner to keep color and shine vibrant. It is crucial to shield color treated hair from the sun's harmful rays, which will degrade hair color very quickly - pomegranate is a natural sunscreen. Other ingredients to look for are aloe, avocado oil, sunflower oil, Another trick is to use color enhancing conditioners - made specifically for blonde, brunette or red hair-colors. Top rated conditioners for color treated tresses: Kerastase Reflection, Pureology Anti-Fade Complex Conditioner, Fredric Fekkai Technician Conditioner, Burt's Bees Pomegranate & Soy Conditioner and Enjoy Sulfate Free Hydrating Conditioner.
Extremely Damaged Hair should ideally be trimmed - but for those who find it difficult to part with even an inch - Once a week deep conditioning treatment using a hair reconstructor is imperative. Reconstructing conditioner work by re-building weak, brittle hair by delivering necessary keratin protein to the hair shaft. Key ingredients include: hydrolized keratin, soy protein, wheat protein, amino acids. Products to try: Joico K-Pack Reconstructing Treatment, Aphogee 2 Minute Hair Keratin Reconstructor, Enjoy Hair Mask, Bumble & Bumble Deeep Conditioner.
Apply deep conditioner to dry hair - it will absorb much more than damp or wet hair. For best results cover with a plastic cap and leave on overnight. Rinse in the morning and hair will be soft and silky.
Styling Secrets
Big hair never goes out of style - from the beehives of the 1960s to the teazed out glam rock look from the 1980s. Thankfully, we no longer have to rely on a teasing comb and a can of Aqua-net, to create that sexy volume.For Hair with Lots of Volume.
Don't wash! Dirty hair is easier to style and has more volume and added texture. Another way to increase hair's volume is to use hot rollers. Use the largest size possible, depending on the length of your hair. Large rollers give hair lots of lift and body, without the curl. Use the right styling products. Work a dollop of volumizing creme or gel through hair, prior to blow drying. Good ones to try: Joico ICE, Bedhead Superstar, Got 2b Volumizing Gel to Mousse.
Try this trick: Before going to sleep, put hair in a high pony-tail on top of your head (use a hair tie made of soft, stretchy material, anything too tight will cause an unsightly crimp) in the morning, let hair down, and use volumizing spray along the hairline and at the roots for instant big hair! Excellent volumizing sprays: Bumble & Bumble Thick, PhytoActif Volumizing Spray, Biolage Volumizing Spray Gel.
Go Lightly when using any styling product - the last thing you want is to weigh hair down. Volumizing Mousse is a perfect way to add body without weight. Try these for big, sexy hair: Frederic Fekkai Full Volume Mousse, VaVoom by Matrix Volumizing Foam, Pantene Volume Mousse.
A Root-Lifter can work wonders - Apply to roots before blow-drying. Tried and true products: Sebastian Root-Lift, Redken Layer Lift, Aveda Volumizing Tonic, Pantene Pro V Volumizing Root-Lift Spray Gel.
Pear Masque for amazing volume and texture: Mash a softened Bosc pear with a fork, mix in a teaspoon of plain gelatin.Apply mixture to freshly washed hair and scalp. Leave in for 15 minutes and shampoo out. Pears contain tannins which create lots of thickness and volume in fine, limp hair.
Avoid a cut with too many layers if you have highlighted hair, as the overall effect will look too choppy.
For best results, schedule color after your haircut - although many salons do it the other way around.
For curly hair, long blunt layers work well - anything too close to the crown will look puffy.
Try this anti-humidity cocktail for frizz free curls: one part each smoothing serum, leave-in conditioner and medium hold gel. Apply with fingers from root to tip, working in one inch sections.
For a longer lasting blow-out, dry both top and underside of each section of hair
Secrets for Straight, Sleek Hair
Start with a shampoo designed to smooth hair. Shampoo alone will not give you straighter hair but the right ones will help smooth, detangle, diffuse static and help eliminate frizz. Creamy shampoos are best. Ingredients to look for include shea butter, wheatgerm oil and macadamia nut oil. Good ones to try are: Straight Sexy Hair Straightening Shampoo, Frederic Fekkai Silky Straight Ironless Shampoo, KMS Flat-Out Shampoo, MOP C Systems Straight Smoothing Shampoo.
Split ends are never sleek. Have hair trimmed on a regular basis. A good hair-cut is worth the extra money. If hair is not cut correctly, it will not lay flat.
If you have kinky hair or hair that is extremely damaged and uncontrollably frizzy - You may want to consider a Brazillian Blow-out or Keratin straightening treatment. Keratin fills in gaps in the hair cuticle and is then sealed by using a flat iron. The result is smooth, straight, silky hair which lasts from 2-4 months. Nothing short of a miracle!
