How to Correct Dry Damaged Hair

• Wash less often!  I have historically washed my hair almost everyday.  Of course every stylist I have ever shared this with has given me a lecture on why I shouldn’t, how bad it is for my hair, and countered my argument for needing to with an explanation that once you don’t wash so often and strip the natural moisture your scalp will produce less oil and adapt, allowing you to go longer in between washings (which I am finally finding to be very true!  After a couple of days of not washing my hair seems to look better rather than worse).  I work out a lot.  My hair gets literally soaking wet with sweat.  It has never seemed reasonable to not wash.  I am finally limiting to my washings to two or three a week.  I don’t wash on days I don’t work out and even sometimes when I do (lift but not intense cardio that gets me dripping, soaking wet), and don’t require the fresh hair look, I skip cleansing and opt to just scrub my scalp with a lightweight conditioner and rinse it through my ends.   Sometimes as needed, I use a bit of brunette colored dry shampoo or curl refresh spray to freshen up the look.  

• Use Less Heat and Styling!  In the past I felt the need to blow out my hair using smoothing balm and oils and anything else I could find to help get a smooth, straight look.  This requires a lot of time to blow it completely dry and means using a brush over and over to smooth it out…you know how the stylist does it just after your cut and color when it looks amazing and sexy and you know you will never get it to look like that again no matter how hard you try?!  Maybe it is my age, or finally realizing that if my hair has natural curl it wants to be that way.  If I want it to be healthy then I need to respect its needs and let the curl go free.  My husband calls this my wild hair.  He says he likes it, in fact prefers it this way (or maybe just hates the sound of the hair dryer so much he tells me this?).  In reality, he tells me that it looks much healthier and better when it is curly than when I try to force it straight.  I am committing to less drying time (by a lot!) and skipping any other heat styling.  I just dry the very front, my bangs and hair around my face, blow my roots a little to lift them up and dry the rest just enough to lose the just stepped out of the shower look (that is not my best look.  Some people can pull it off.  I can not.)

• Skip the Extra Styling Products and Hairspray!  My previous styling tactic was to spray a bunch of light hold, workable hairspray to hold my waves and create my style.  My new routine has me skipping this step and leaving it more natural.  I find that I really don’t need to hairspray to hold the curls when I let my hair dry more on its own and it naturally curls it has enough body and style that it holds itself for the most part.  If I do need a touch of spray to hold a few strands in place or a nice curl framing my face that I don’t want to fall I use it sparingly rather than all over.  These products, even the high end brands that have some great quality natural ingredients in them, still have alcohol as the number one or two ingredient.  This is very drying and damaging to our hair.  I discovered Oribe Impermeable Anti-Humidity Spray and have loved it.  It fights frizz and humidity (I live in Florida!) and both keeps smooth sleek look good and holds curls amazing.  That and their Superfine Hairspray are my two favorite workable, light hold sprays that hold very well without the hairspray look at all.  I have them in my cabinet and will use them lightly as needed, but not everyday as I was doing.

• Use Less Damaging Styling Products Opting for More Natural versus Chemical!  Rather than creating my style, whether sleek and smooth or curly, with heat and layers of products and holding the style with layers of spray, I am opting for change.  These products are typically heavy in silicones, alcohols and other harsh ingredients that cause damage over time.  As mentioned above, rather than creating curls with layers of spray and product and holding them with hairspray, I am opting for a leave in conditioner spray and one layer of a “healthier” balm or cream to create and hold the curls.  The product combined with a little bit of heat from hairdryer and my hands to twirl creates a curl that will hold.  My hair is what it is.  Even if your hair is straight or ultra curly I believe the same process can apply.  Less product, a better product, less heat, more natural.  For this purpose I have tried more products than I can list, but my absolute favorite (the one I always come back to when I stray) is R+Co High Dive Shine + Moisture Creme.   This product does have some of the naughty list (silicone), but “R+Co formulas are 100% vegan, gluten, cruelty-free; made without sulfates, parabens, petrolatum, or mineral oil; and are Leaping Bunny certified” and the company claims they “strategically utilize high performance silicones in many of our products to achieve just the right amount of slip and feel, leaving hair moisturized and protected. The silicones we use are of a higher quality. Lower grade silicones act as ‘fillers’ which can build up, leaving hair weighed down and overloaded.”  This product is actually designed to be more of a smoothing product but it works quite well for light curl hold and smoothing at the same time.  They do make a ton of products for various styles, including a curl creme that I have not yet tried.  

My Results

• The Loreal Metal Detox brought dramatic improvement to the texture and look of my hair with the first use.  My hair felt sealed, smoother, silkier and most importantly looked healthier.  I am using this line once a week and each time I do I get the same result, as well as feeling like my hair health is improving overall after a month of use.  
• Dizziak’s Hydration Wash and Deep Conditioner definitely is worth the hype that it is getting in the UK.  My hair feels instantly nourished and healthier.  It looks shinier, smoother, and has less frizz and flyaways without being weighed down at all.  I believe this line will be perfect for any texture of hair just as it was designed to be.  I wash and squeeze as much water out of my hair as possible before putting on the conditioner (I use all over from scalp through ends) and let it sit for five minutes or so before rinsing.  It is very thick and luxurious but does not feel heavy or greasy at all on my hair.
• Phyto products are always wonderful.  They do not give the immediate dramatic results that some of the more chemical full products do, but they always leave my hair feeling and looking healthier overall.  The Phtyodensia and Phytovolume products I am trying do exactly as they claim to. My hair has more volume and texture, holds curl well, is moisturized, soft, shiny and very manageable.  Overall, I feel these products are improving the health of my hair without the nasty chemicals.  Just like when I eat a healthy salad or drink a smoothy full of nutrition and feel my body fueled and healthy, I feel like my hair is experiencing the same nutrition from the natural plant focused Phyto products.  There are many more I would like to try, especially the deep moisture masks (I received a sample with my order but haven’t tried yet).
• R +Co High Dive Shine+Moisture Creme has always been a favorite, and while it does have some silicone in it for that extra smoothing effect, I do not feel it is coating my hair with an unhealthy layer.  This smooths, lightly holds, doesn’t seem to cause damage and is much better than coating with a sticky drying spray to style.  I would like to try some of their other styling products and see if the curl specific products do better for the curl look.  This one serves both styles well, smooth and straight or curly so I have stuck with it.

In conclusion, I know using three different product lines seems like a lot…a lot to purchase and keep track of.  I find it pretty simple as I just rotate through them, using them each once a week, skipping the Detox if I only need twice a week.  If I could add just one of these lines into my routine I would probably choose the Dizziak, but I feel like the combination of a clarifying line (and there are many to choose from), a deep moisture line with a little bit of protein, and using more clean and natural ingredients and ditching some of the harsh ones we are addicted to can balance our hair health and provide the results we are looking for.  This is working for me.

My hair feels and looks much more nourished and healthy.  Using less styling products overall with less dry time seems to be making a huge difference in the look and feel of my hair.  I will continue this because it is working, but may switch up and try some other products as I continue my path towards more clean brands and add in more moisturizing products with less protein.

*I should mention that I have been using Kerastase for years and have absolutely loved it and been very loyal to this brand.  A stylist (my favorite ever but I moved far far away from her) introduced this brand to me years ago when I was pregnant with my first son.  I have used off and on since, always coming back to the specific products that gave me the immediate results I wanted.  Three things here: 1- Kerastase does not fit my goal of seeking more clean products as they do use silicones and some of the other bad list ingredients 2- the line I used the most is a repairing one that has more protein rather than moisture (which is what I was specifically looking to avoid on this mission) and 3- as I age the texture and quality of my hair is changing a lot.  When I was 30 and pregnant my hair was thick and amazing so products that smoothed and gave me that sleek look were great, but now that my hair is finer, curlier and thinner I need to go with a more natural look that requires more moisture and less product).  So all in all, Kerastase is wonderful for some hair and I will probably still use it again, but rotating it once a month or so (for the protein/repair without build up) rather than my go to must have daily line.  Similar, I also love Oribe.  They have great products that are also mostly free of the harshest ingredients and provide instant desired results.