Beauty 101: Your Hair Questions, Answered
LatestThis weekend, our Beauty 101 series is focusing on all aspects of hair care and styling. Yesterday, I posted your questions, and today, your fellow commenters have provided the answers:
Sadly, I’m not able to use every single answer that was submitted on the original post or via email, though I do appreciate everyone’s replies. I also urge everyone to read through yesterday’s post, where our commenters have listed hundreds of hair care tips and tricks. And now, a few helpful highlights (no pun intended):
On Straightening Hair:
From commenter viklane:
For properly straightening hair, the number one tip I can give is to put all of your hair into a ponytail and then remove inch-wide strands and straighten them one at a time — starting at the back and moving to the sides and then the front
Buy high quality tools. There is no short cut with this one. Get a good quality flat iron: Solia, Sedu, Chi, GHD are good brands. It’s a lot cheaper to find a good quality curling iron. Hot tools is awesome for a good price.
From Laura, via email:
I have hair that is curly, wavy, and straight at the same time. Since I can’t deal with the first two (hopefully I will after this post!), I have become an expert on doing the last.
After you shower, towel dry and put in some silicone based serum (John Freida is good and cheap). Then blow dry, using your fingers is fine, you aren’t aiming for perfect straightness here- just get it consistently close to dry throughout. To add body, blow dry upside down. Too start tackling really curly hair, use a large round brush and work in sections. Be gentle, though, as not to break the hair.
Next comes the flat iron- and I highly recommend you get a high-end one. It makes all the difference in the world to have a high quality flat iron! One that is thin, an inch to an inch and a half wide is the easiest to use. If you are concerned about damage, add some more product now that protects against heat damage. Now comes my secret to shine: I always iron my hair in front of an open window or a fan: it cools the hair shaft while it is straightened, leaving it shiny. Starting with the bottom, in 2 inch sections, flat iron the hair gently but be sure to move quick to avoid damage and iron creases. I brush the section of hair immediately after ironing, in front of the fan or window, to cool it off right away.
Do this until most of your hair is done except for the parts around your face. These parts can be hard to do without burning yourself, especially girls with curls (gurls?) that need to get close to the root. To do these sections, I bend over and tip my hair in front of my face so I don’t burn myself, and get really close to the root, working on much smaller pieces. Now you can style it additionally, i.e. to add body, use large round rollers for a few minutes to set some big waves, or curl the ends with a curling iron. Finish with a light shine spray.
On Adding Volume To Thin/Fine Hair:
From commenter Margot Keller:
I’ve got straight, somewhat thin, flat hair and being from Texas, I like it big, lol. Here’s my tips for getting some volume at the crown:
1) You’ll always have more volume the 2nd day after a wash; the product buildup helps stiffen the hair a bit, so don’t shampoo every day.
2) When your hair is wet & clean, let it air dry a few minutes; then spray a good volumizer like Aveda Volumizing Tonic or Bumble & Bumble Thickening Spray all over, taking care to get some at the roots.
3) Flip your hair upside down and blow most of the moisture out, until it’s just barely damp.
4) Blowdry the crown using a vent brush. Let the brush pick up a chunk of hair, point the dryer nozzle DOWN towards the roots, blast on hot for about 10 seconds, then either hit the cool button or take the dryer away long enough to cool the hair section.
5) Once you’ve done the roots, it can be tricky blowing the bottom half out to look smooth, because if you pull the brush down, you’ll pull the crown flat. I use a hot-air curling brush or a regular round brush (gently).
6) When you’re all dry, flip your hair over and using either a teasing comb or wide pick (my choice), tease the roots all over the top of your head.
7) Flip back over, smooth down any wayward strands and spray the shit out of the top with L’Oreal Elnett (available at Tar-jay…$$$ but worth it).
Secret weapon for adding volume to dirty hair: Ojon Rub-Out Dry Shampoo spray. Smells good, takes away the oilies and provides huge hair with minimal effort. Believe it or not, the above system only takes me 10 minutes flat.
1. Fine hair rocks the pixie cut. The longest I can feasibly grow it to is a shaggy bob – anything longer looks pants.
2. Spray in some dry shampoo before blow drying – it’s way less crispy than mousse, and way more effective than any volumising sprays/preps I’ve ever used. Often means I don’t have to use any styling product on top, so nothing to weigh down my hair.
From mikskeezy, via email:
I have fine/thin hair and I’ve found the best way to get it to behave and be bouncy-flouncy is some mousse, a round brush and a hairdryer. After a shower, wait until your hair is about half dry before adding mousse (or other volumizing agent). Then, pin most of it up except for the lowest layer, and proceed to blow dry hair with the round brush, being sure to pull the hair up (ie: parallel to your head, towards Jesus!) and then down towards your shoulders. Continue with various layers until you’re done! Learning to blow dry with a round brush is a bitch, but it’s saved my flat hair’s life. Volumizing conditioners and shampoos are not necessary; I’ve achieved these results with your run of the mill shampoos/conditioners. Also: LAYERS ARE YOUR FRIEND. The top layer of your hair needs to be a wee bit short so it not only will have volume on its own but it won’t weigh down the hair below it.
If the hair is also mega greasy like mine, be sure to only put conditioner on the lower 1/4-1/3 of your hair or else you’re going to weigh down the roots. I have to wash my hair every day and since I shower at night, by the end of the day my hair can be a little bit greasy. Using a dry shampoo (this one is my favourite so far; better than baby powder and smells delicious) is super helpful because all you have to do is put a little bit in your hands, gently massage into roots and voila! Goodbye oil. If your hair is really being ridiculous after the work day and you’re going out, just re-blow dry your hair using the steps above. It redistributes the oils and tends to help fix any style mishaps that might have arisen during the day.
On French Twists:
From commenter LadyTudorRose: