People ask me all the time to tell them exactly what I do to my hair to make it look “so perfect all the time.” I might disagree that it looks perfect ALL the time, but I’m happy to share my routine just the same. :)
I color my hair with Ion Color Brilliance color every 6-8 weeks. I've used many brands over the years and I prefer this one to get a nice, vibrant red that doesn't fade. I use 2 parts Light Copper Blonde and 1 part Intense Red. (My natural color was a strawberry blonde so this just takes it all the way to red.) A few times a week I put in a dime sized puddle of Oil Blend For Softer Hair and leave it in overnight and once a week I use my Deep Conditioning Treatment to provide extra moisture. I get little trims every 3-4 months to take care of any dead ends and re-shape it. If I don’t, my hair turns triangular pretty fast. :)
Ok, now for my daily routine.
I wash it every 2-3 days with either Gentle Lather Shampoo or Hair Cleansing Cream. The regular coloring dries it out, so I gravitate towards Hair Cleansing Cream for the week or two after coloring and bounce between the two of them the rest of the time. To wash, I take a puddle of whichever cleanser I’m using, rub my hands together and smooth it over my hair like I’m putting it in a ponytail. I then massage my scalp all over to produce a lather, and finger comb that lather through the length of my hair. This gets it clean without causing tangles.
After rinsing really well I condition in the shower with Too Shea! Extra Moisturizing Conditioner, or if my hair feels particularly dry that day, I’ll use the Deep Treatment instead. I wring my hair out really well, put about two handfuls of conditioner in my hair and finger comb it through the length so all the hair is coated. I then put it up in a bun for the rest of my shower so none of it gets rinsed out by accident.
After about 5 minutes I take it out and gently comb with a wide tooth comb to detangle and get all the shed hairs out. Once it’s all detangled, I rinse upside down to encourage volume at the roots.
While my hair is still soaking wet (and still upside down) I put a quarter- sized dollop of Too Shea, and a puddle of Rockin’ Ringlets into my palm, rub my hands together and rake that through my hair 4-5 times. (Yes, you can totally use Too Shea as a leave in – I do it every day! ) I then scrunch (with my head still upside down) about 5-6 times, then scrunch in a puddle of Spiralicious Styling Gel.
Then I grab my microfiber towel (which of course is hanging by the shower in easy reach) and scrunch with that 7-8 times to soak out the excess water and help the ringlets form better.
I follow that with one more small puddle of the Rockin' Ringlets/Spiralicious combo just so I get enough product in there.
I then plunk my curls down into a microfiber towel and leave it on for about 10-15 minutes. This has allowed me to reduce the time I spend blow-drying. It’s basically like scrunching your hair for the length of time you have it on your head. If I leave it on for more than 20 minutes it can start to get frizzy, so 15 is really the max for MY hair. Watch a demonstration video of this technique.
Next I blow dry using a diffuser on the end of my blow dryer. I use high heat and it takes about 10-15 minutes. When I begin blow-drying I also scrunch the hair to get it to form spirals. I alternate between hanging my head upside down, hanging it over to the left and hanging it over to the right. Once the spirals are formed I don’t scrunch anymore. Instead, I switch to an open palmed motion, gently pushing up a handful of curls. This encourages them to be as tight as mine are able to be. Leaning over while blow-drying and scrunching encourages the curls to separate from one another, resulting in fabulous curl definition. It also really helps with volume at the roots.
After a few minutes I stop touching it all together and just move the hair dryer around to get it to continue drying. I’m still alternating between upside down, left and right. I then flip my head up to normal and arrange any curls that look weird. I let it continue air-drying for the next hour or so, then scrunch out any crunch I may have. The result is frizz-free curls that last until I go to bed.
Overall this takes 45 minutes from start to finish, including showering, plunking and getting dressed, so the routine doesn’t take nearly as long as it seems. I just write a lot. :)