Hey, friends! A couple of weeks ago I braved my deep-rooted phobia of the hairdresser - not an exaggeration - and got a trim. Terrifying. Truly. But I put my big girl pants on, dealt with it and I'm so happy I did. Healthy hair that ends at one length? With no splits? Or frizzy, frayed ends? How did I live before this? After posting a photo to Instagram - because if a beauty blogger gets a haircut and doesn't post a photo, did it really happen? - I received a couple of questions regarding how I treat, style and take care of my locks, and thus I thought the topic deserved its own blog post.



*Disclaimer* I'd like to apologise for the truly awful lighting in all of these photos - I've just bought myself a new set of lights and am learning how to use them about as easily as a one-legged giraffe trying to limbo. I wanted to put this post up regardless, so please bear with me!

Let's take this in sections, because few things in life please me the way categorising does. That and lists.

Maintenance
Alright, let's talk general housekeeping. Repeat after me: I need regular haircuts. If you'd told me a month ago that I'd be preaching pro-hairdresser, I would've laughed - but then again, I thought my split ends 'weren't that horrendous', so what did I know about anything? After a series of haircuts in which I asked for half an inch and they took 4, I swore off the things. Besides this last snip, I'd only had two cuts in the last six years, both administered by people I just knew and not licensed hairdressers. I've always wanted mermaid length hair - obviously a standardised unit of measurement - and set out to get it. I did get it, but 80% of it was dead and no where near salvagable; we can thank seventeen year old Sophia for that, who insisted on bleaching her hair TWICE in ONE day. She just REALLY wanted pink hair. Anyhow, this latest chop resulted in me losing three inches off of my thirty-one, and I don't miss them at all. My hair looks good for the first time in years. Get a haircut, now. Thank me later.


Treating
Now, when it comes to washing I have quite the little routine worked out. My hair likes this routine, its all about finding a process that your hair will respond to. Firstly, I only wash my hair once a week (on a Friday, to be specific). It's 99% because my hair is so damn dry that washing it any more than this strips it bare, and 1% because I'm really, really lazy. Yes, I always smell like dry shampoo, but is my hair drier than that slice of cake in the back of your fridge? The answer is no.

When it comes to deep cleaning, my absolute favourite is the Not Your Mother's Way To Grow Shampoo. Not only does it smell like a heavenly angel personally blessing your nose, but it makes your hair feel so offensively delightful I can barely stand it. I don't know what's in this stuff, I don't know how it works, but I'm not questioning it. The conditioner, picture below, is also rad. I bought this stuff in America for next to nothing, but if you're in Australia it'll cost you a few more pennies You can buy it here if you so desire (do it).

Because I don't wash my hair often, I choose to substitute conditioner for a hair mask to make sure my tresses are getting all the nourishment they need. My tried and true choice is the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque. Again, this smells lovely and it does wonders for the hair. Leave this in for seven minutes - shave your legs, exfoliate, pretend you're in a music video - and give it a rinse and BAM, gorgeous hair. This stuff is on the pricier side, so if you're lucky enough to have a best friend who is also obsessed with it, you can pitch in together when they have BOGO deals at Coles.


Once I'm out of the shower, I like to run either Argan Oil or a leave-in conditioner through my ends - because I will never go back to split ends, like, ever. My favourite leave-in is also from the Way To Grow range by Not Your Mothers and carries the same majestic scent.


Every few weeks (read: whenever I can be bothered), I pop some coconut oil on my ends about thirty minutes before I'm due to shower, and then follow the above routine as normal. This puts heaps of good stuff in your strands, and you'll definitely notice the difference; the only negative is that it's a real pain to rinse out, which is why I apply before shampoo and not after.

Styling
My golden rule for styling my hair is to use heat only where required. I have naturally unruly, very curly hair so heat is definitely needed, but I try to abstain wherever possible. I never blow dry my hair, for instance - I'm fairly sure I don't even own a blow drier. They only make my hair poofy and frizzy, which is not a good look on me. I also only straighten my hair once a week (on the day I wash it, Friday is a busy day for me). Before I use my flat iron, I make sure I use a heat protective agent; Tresemme Heat Tamer Protective Spray is my go-to, it leaves no sticky residue which is a huge plus.

My secret to perfectly kept hair all week is to sleep with it in braids - you wake up with perfect, natural looking waves while having done literally nothing at all. This method will change your life. I just add some dry shampoo (Batiste is my favourite) and a texturising spray (Toni and Guy is the bomb) and I'm ready to go. Sometimes my hair is looking a tad limp by day four, and so I add a spritz of sea salt spray to give it a little oomph. This is literally all I do to my hair, guys. I spend (waste) far too much time on my make up to do anything else.

I hope this helped some of you looking for some newbies to use in your tresses! What are your holy grail hair care products, I'm nosey and would love to know!

Enjoy!
Sophia