Tuesday, January 12, 2016

My Ultimate Lazy Girl Haircare Routine

I have said it before and I'll say it again: I have no f*cks to give when it comes to my hair. I'm the anti-thesis of a 'hair person': I have little interest in how my hair looks, and no interest in taking care of it. A couple years back, when I worked in a salon, I tried to make more of an effort, and I thought my hair looked quite nice, but I quickly grew bored of my elaborate routine and now I'm aiming for what I'd call 'minimal intervention'. Wanna see?

First of all, let me explain my hair to you. My hair is straight and fine but there's a reasonable amount of it. Currently, it's all virgin hair (meaning, not chemically-processed: no hair color, no bleach, no perms) and it tends to get quite oily at the roots but dry at the ends, which is why I had most of the length chopped off about a month ago to resemble a 'lob'. To put it simply, naturally my hair requires very little maintenance - sure, I have some issues with lack of volume or split ends occasionally, but I can't really complain; are you guys already hating on me?

That is not to say that I think my hair is fab. Actually, most of the time I think it looks a bit crap - I would have loved to have some beachy waves or voluminous curls, but even an hour long session with a curling iron won't give me any results: my hair simply doesn't hold a style. I used to rebel against that quite a bit and buy a whole arsenal of products and tools in hopes of achieving the perfect do, but to be honest, I really don't care anymore. My hair is what it is. I accept that. My simplistic routine aims to keep it clean, healthy, and as fuss-free as possible. Here it is:
1. I wash my hair every 2-3 days with a sulfate-free shampoo; I'm currently using Maple Holistics Degrease Moisture Control Shampoo* ($16.95 for 10 oz, available on Amazon.com here), and I really like the invigorating herbal scent and how clean it gets my hair without stripping. The reason I opt for a sulfate-free cleanser is that SLS/SLES tend to irritate my scalp and break me out around the hairline. In my opinion, sulfate-free shampoos aren't as damaging for the hair and they keep it more balanced, so it's worth using one even if your hair isn't colored. That being said, not all sulfate-free shampoos are created equal - some formulations just won't lather no matter what you do. My top tip is to lather and rinse twice: first pre-cleanse with a small amount of shampoo just to get things moving (it won't really foam up very well this first time, but that's fine), rinse, and then lather again with slightly more - your sulfate-free shampoo should give you a really nice lather that second time.

2. I condition with just about anything I can find in the shower; right now it's this Nivea Intense Repair Conditioner one of our house guests left behind. Due to my hair type, I don't need to be very particular about the conditioner I'm using, so this one will do; I just need a bit of help to make detangling easier and keep the ends of my hair looking healthy and shiny. In fact, I have some older bottles of hair styling lotions I'd like to try using up as conditioner once the Nivea runs out.

3. Dry shampoo - my absolute favorite is the Batiste ($6-8 for 6.73 fl oz), any scent will do. Because my hair gets oily at the roots quite fast and as a consequence, looks very flat, dry shampoo is a god send. Batiste seems to be the best combination of inexpensive and effective for me - it soaks up the oil, gives a bit of texture, and doesn't leave a white residue in my hair.

Extras, or sometimes I need a bit of something-something:
1. Leave-in spray detangler/ conditioner. When my hair gets drier (usually as it grows out), I need an extra leave-in conditioner to cut down on the detangling time. I've tried a few options, including different oils or lotions/ creams, but I find sprays more suited to my fine hair type. The Enjoy Conditioning Spray ($20.95 for 10.1 oz) is a firm favorite - very effective at detangling but still lightweight, plus one bottle lasts me ages.

2. Texturizing/ sea salt spray. To give my hair a bit more body, especially at the roots, I like to use a sea salt spray - some of the regular volumizing root lift sprays leave my hair feeling a bit sticky. And while these texturizing sprays don't really enhance the natural texture in my hair (well, since I have none), they give it a bit of a grip, so it's not as baby down soft (= plain annoying). The Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray ($19.95 for 5.1 oz) is probably my favorite out of the ones I've tried so far.

3. Hair spray. I have lots of baby hair and I detest little strands of hair flying into my face, so hair spray is a must when I'm trying to look a bit more polished. I've tried a lot of salon brands of hairspray, and while I think you can find comparable options to a lot of them at the drugstore, I would splurge again for the MoroccanOil Luminous Hairspray Strong ($24 for 10 oz). It's a dry hairspray that smells great, has just the right amount of hold, and gives my hair a little extra shine. On the rare occasion when I curl my hair, I can also use it as a heat protectant.

As for tools, most of the time I let my hair air dry - I only reach for my basic Conair hair dryer when I'm pressed for time, or when I want to give myself a blow out for a special occasion. For a simple blow out, I style my hair using a round ceramic hair brush from Olivia Garden - it gives my hair more volume and shine, as well as accentuates the cut of my hair a lot better. For after-shower detangling and all other brushing, both me and my husband use the Wet Brush.
Freshly washed and air dried hair set with MorrocanOil Hairspray. This photo also captures the natural color of my hair quite well - not quite brown, not quite red.
Am I alone in not giving two hoots about my hair? I think it's quite amusing that I can spend upwards of half an hour applying a full face of make-up, and then look at my hair, brush it through with my fingers, shrug and get on with my life. What do you guys do with your hair? Are there any indispensable products in your haircare routines that I should look into?

Disclaimer: Item marked with an asterix (*) is a press sample I received from the brand's PR for review consideration. All links are non-affiliate. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the products featured were purchased with my own monies or provided as free press samples. Thank you for reading!

8 comments:

  1. I don't really care about my hair either. It's henna colored to be a little redder than it's natural color, but that actually pretty low-maintenance (I only color it 3-4 times a year!). I was it one or twice a week, and dry shampoo it in between,very few days I put a bit of oil in the length to keep it tangle free. I don't even bother to style it really, its always in a bun, braid, or ponytail.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How do you like your henna, Mary? My sister in law had some henna on early last year and after that, she wanted to switch to a traditional hair color, and her hair turned green... That was major drama, I tell you :) When I had longer hair I loved putting oil on my ends too, but now my hair looks greasy if I'm not careful with the oils.

      Delete
  2. It sounds like we have really similar hair types, and I also really can't be bothered with styling it. Mine is prone to feel dry and look dull if I don't use the right shampoo and conditioner, though. I have that Degrease shampoo too, but I find it a little harsh, so I don't use it more than once a week or my hair will get dried out. I am picky about conditioner for the same reason. I also use something to avoid tangling when it's wet, because otherwise I get a bunch of little broken off pieces at the top that I hate. I agree that Batiste is the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm, I'll observe my hair a bit closer with the Degrease - my hair isn't particularly dry at the moment but I'm having a bit of an itchy scalp. Batiste FTW!

      Delete
  3. Oh we are hair twin! LOL yep that pretty much resume my hair situation except I can go from a pixie to a should with layers hair style in 2 years ... I just get bored to not be able to do anything with it and go to the hair dresser and tell them to do whatever they want with my hair and always come back with a pixie! dont get me wrong the pixie really suit me well but then again I won't go every month to the hair dresser to keep the pixie 'fresh' so I finish to grow back my hair. and yes the wash and dry is my routine too. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My hair grows very quickly too and I get bored with it quite frequently, so I've also had a pixie cut a few times in the past - if you go back to my older posts you can see that :) I agree though that shorter hair cuts are high maintenance - I use to love having longer straight cut bangs but having to have it trimmed every couple weeks... Such a pain.

      Delete
  4. i find hair things a very big novelty b/c like you, i don't really care too much about my hair aside from keeping it clean. my bob is so easy to maintain, i don't even need to comb it in the morning. getting it cut is the only hassle of the hairstyle. i sometimes wish i had longer hair so i could do more with it, but i also realize...i don't give a crap lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know, I've had long hair and the reality is that even though you do have the option to play with it more, you usually just throw it in a ponytail and call it quits. Playing with hair just isn't very fun for me at all, especially when all my efforts disappear within a couple hours.

      Delete