If you read my article from last week, you would know that my hair hasn’t always been deemed “healthy.” My hair began obtaining split ends after I cut a lot of my hair during my junior year of high school. Since then, I’ve been learning how to care for my hair in order to make it not only grow long and strong, but to keep it healthy when it’s long.
Washing your hair can cause a heaping amount of damage to your hair. Just like you want to know what’s in your favorite fast food burger (even though the secret sauce is a secret), you also want to know what is going into your hair. Certain ingredients such as parabans and sulfates can cause irreversible damage to your hair and cause breakage. But, before we lather, rinse and repeat, we need to start out with the pre-shower products. Pre-shower products will add health and shine into your hair before you wash it.
Pre-shampoo
Why is it necessary? Pre-shampoo products like hair masks and hair oils can help to add nutrients back into your hair before you even wash it. When you wash you hair a lot, nutrients and the hairs natural oils can get stripped away, causing dry and drab hair. Pre-shampoo products help by giving your hair a boost in volume, too.
Moisture Intense Oil Crème Pre-Shampoo Treatment
Price: $$
Kerastase Masque Force Architecte
Price: $$$
Kristin Ess Strand Strengthening Reconstructive Moisture Mask
Price: $
Shampoo and Conditioners
Since having tape-in hair extensions in high school and not being able to use hair products with sulfate in them (because they eat away at the extension glue), I’ve become aware that sulfates aren’t only bad for extensions, but they’re bad for your hair as well. My favorite shampoos and conditioners range from expensive to somewhat inexpensive because using an expensive shampoo/conditioner three to four times a week does not fit my budget. I also like to switch up which shampoos and conditioners based on how I’m styling my hair after that wash.
Price: $$
Lush American Cream Conditioner
Price: $$
Alterna Moisture Intense Oil Crème Shampoo
Price: $$
Alterna Moisture Intense Oil Crème Conditioner
Price: $$
Hair Oils
Hair oil is great to use, especially if you consider your hair to be dry or coarse. Hair oil helps to add moisture back into your hair leaving it shiny and moisturized. My favorite hair oils are listed below along with how expensive I consider them.
Price: $$$
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Its a 10 Miracle Leave In Conditioner plus Keratin
Price: $
CAVIAR Anti-Aging Omega+ Anti-Frizz Dry Oil Mist
Price: $$
Heat Protectant
Heat protectants are essential for your hair if you use heat products. Heat protectants do exactly what the name says: they protect your hair from heat tools such as straighteners, curling irons or blow dryers. Heat protectants save the integrity of your hair by letting you use heat without the cost of split ends. Below are a few of my favorite heat protectants raging from expensive to inexpensive.
Caviar Repair Multi-Vitamin Heat Protection Spray
Price: $$
TRESemme® Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Leave In Spray
Price: $
Styling Products
Styling products help your hair keep their hold once styled. If you like to straighten or blow dry your hair, styling products can help your hair hold its body for days, leaving you with less hair-washing days (bless!). Below are a few of my favorite styling products ranging from expensive to inexpensive.
Phyto PHYTOKÉRATINE EXTRÊME Exceptional Cream
Price: $$
Growth serums
If you read my article from last week, you would know that for two and half years I’ve been trying to grow my hair. A few months ago I finally looked into hair growth serums. Against all my doubts, I can truly say I found something that actually did its job and wasn’t a “miracle grow” scam like I thought it would be.
Caviar Repair Lengthening Hair & Scalp Elixir
Price: $$
Hair Tools
One hair tool that I must mention is Wet Brush. This brush is great for brushing your hair straight out of the shower because it has flexible bristles that move with your hair instead of pulling out your hair when its wet like other brush’s would do.
Price: $
These products will help your hair grow out and keep it healthy and strong. Give your hair some love and try some of these amazing products!
Pictures: Collages made at Polyvore.com