Tips and Tricks From Sophie
Do you want luxurious hair? Are you looking for hair that is truly healthy and oozing “living my best life” vibes? Some of the most important things pertaining to hair health are in your routine. There may be some little things that are hurting your hair that you didn’t even know. Let me elaborate on “hurting your hair”. When I say, “hurting your hair” I mean creating split ends. Split ends are the antagonist of your hair’s fairytale.
What are split ends and why are they the antagonist?
A split end is the end of hair fibre becoming frayed or splitting up the strand.
Our hair is mostly protein or “keratin”. If we do not remove split ends then the split will travel up the hair shaft and eventually destroy the hair strands it’s connected to. You can risk your hair looking thinner at the ends, scraggly, and dull.
Our hair should be something that empowers us, not something we feel we need to hide.
It is important to know how we can get split ends before we learn how we can prevent them.
Split ends can be a result of heat damage, poor nutrition, intense weather conditions, chemical damage, and simply from going too long since getting a haircut!
Maintenance ~tame that mane~
The best thing to do is to regularly get trims from your stylist. If you have longer hair or are trying to grow out your hair I recommend visiting our Portland Salon every 8-12 weeks for a cleanup!
Drop the kitchen scissors (figuratively… but also literally)
Please don’t pick at or cut your own split ends (!!!). At the best salon in Portland, we are professionally licensed in hair and have professional tools as our sidekicks! If you cut your hair with regular kitchen scissors it is very likely that you will cause more splits for your hair; the scissor blade will never be sharp enough. Hair stylists’ shears are made specifically for hair!
Now – it’s the little things
Remember all of these little tips are to help you in your hair journey. Ultimately it is up to you to follow your intuition and find what works best for you! Everyone is unique, along with their hair!
Heat style on Occasion
One of my favorite tricks is to style my hair at the beginning of the week and make that ish LAST. With the right heat protectant your hair will be singing! Embrace your natural style! Believe me, it’s beautiful!
Go Longer between Washing Your Hair
I know you’ve heard it, but it’s an amazing way to keep your hair soft and supple! Utilize your dry shampoo and revive your hair to your heart’s content! Depending on your hair type I usually advise washing once every 4 to 5 days.
Your Pillowcase
Look, I didn’t want to invade your space by telling you what bedsheets to invest in, but this is actually a great way to protect your hair and skin! Bamboo or silk pillowcases are where it’s AT. They provide a smooth surface which equals less friction, i.e., less breakage. Also, they are hypo-allergenic and antibacterial materials. Your skin will thank you for that one.
Brushing Habits
This one’s a biggy. STOP RIPPING AT YOUR HAIR. There is a better way, I promise. If you are prone to extremely tangly hair there are some key things you can do.
- Brush through your hair starting at your ends and working your way up to the scalp (I call it the “ends-to-scalp” method). Do this before you wash your hair.
- Shampoo and Condition. Some people like to apply the conditioner and while it sits they use a wide tooth comb to gently detangle. Remember the “ends-to-scalp” method.
- GENTLY wring out hair with just your towel, (even better) a clean old cotton t-shirt, or (best) a microfiber towel.
- After removing the excess water, apply a leave-in, I tend to go for 10-in-1 Serie Expert, but there are so many great options to choose from.
- Then comb through your hair with a Wet Brush. I and so many others at Annastasia Salon will SWEAR by these. They work so fast and are very gentle on your fragile wet hair. If you do not have one of these you can also use a wide tooth comb (remember the “ends-to-scalp” method).
If you don’t have tangle prone hair, skip steps 1 & 2
Treat Yourself – Treatments & Masks
Snag yourself a hair mask from the salon so you can rejuvenate your hair once every couple weeks! Just ask your stylist what they think would suit you best! We also provide salon treatments at our top salon. Our Kerastase Fusio Dose is an obsession of mine. It allows us to mix a custom cocktail of two formulas for your hair. Another stylist favorite is our Powermix Treatment!
Who, I mean WHAT is Hugging Your Hair?
If you like to have your hair out of your face *me* then you probably use a hair tie or clip, right? Sometimes we can have so much tension concentrated on specific points of our hair that it begins to weaken and break. I really love the Invisibobble hair tie; it holds better than any other hair tie I’ve tried, it distributes tension evenly, and you can get a nice high ponytail with ease (which is a total winner for me). Stop by at our top salon in Portland and snag one! The case of the basic missing hair tie seems to be nonexistent when I’m using the Invisibobble.
Add these tips and tricks to your arsenal and your hair will thank you later!
Wishing you hair health! – Sophie @sophieschair
