5 CARDINAL HAIR RULES: What a Girl Struggling with Medusa-Type Locks Can Share

     There is not one moment that can outshine the defeat and despair I feel when I wake up in the morning and see my giant, triangle shaped, mess of tangled hair staring back at me. Being half Indian and half French, I have the strangest mixture of wavy, puffy, frizzy hair that can expand as far out as my shoulders when left untamed.

The daunting vision that I know awaits me before I rise and face the mirror in the morning is one of the most dreaded parts of my day, and a feeling I know is shared by many women (perhaps not as extreme as mine!). Years of battling tough tresses has forced me to deal with plenty of rough situations, and helped me come up with the top 5 tricks that have helped me stay away from sticky strand situations:
 
1.      Invest in a good brush.
Using a crappy, plastic, hair ripping brush from a drugstore is a hidden threat to your precious hair. Investing in a good, salon-sold, all-natural boar bristle brush can really save your hair from unnecessary frizz, breakage, and unwanted wear-and-tear.

2.      Change your part once in awhile.
Flipping your part from the right side to the left can be a refreshing change. The switch is a healthy one; leaving your part sitting too long in one place can result in sunburn.

3.      DON’T SLEEP ON WET HAIR!
This is probably the most useful and favorite beauty lesson I have ever learned. Your pillowcase is your hair’s worst enemy if you’ve just gotten out of the shower; the fabric sucks out all water and moisture from your hair if wet (or even damp), resulting in extra frizz and damage in the morning. Let your hair air-dry for an adequate time before hitting the sack, you’ll thank yourself later!

4.      Always use a heat protector serum/spray/cream if using hot tools. Not sometimes. Not occasionally. But always.
I straighten my hair essentially everyday, wincing every morning as I watch the steam rise up from the ceramic plates and smell the light scent of burning hair. Straightening my hair is necessary to get my tresses to look like hair at all, hence my strong affection for protecting serum (it has literally saved my hair from becoming broken and damaged from hot tools).

5.      Get a trim.
I hate getting my hair cut, or even trimmed (length has always been something I strive for, and someone taking scissors to my hair freaks me out). However, if you can’t remember when the last time you got a haircut was, go straight to the Salon. You’re doing yourself a disservice by letting your split ends take over, and will eventually have to get more cut off if you wait too long to get your hair cut!
 

Hair you care for correctly will be healthy and beautiful no matter what texture, shape, or color. If you can shy away from harsh products or hot tools for a day or two, do! I may be a pot calling the kettle black here, considering 99% of the time I feel it necessary to style (read: burn/damage) my hair every morning. However, if you are a hot tool addict like me, own that one day that you don’t style your hair with damaging products. For every day you avoid a straightener, curling iron, or blow dryer, your hair is a little bit healthier. And if you’re following these cardinal rules, your locks should be happy, healthy, and, if you’re me, somewhat tame!