Request: Rhett’s Hair Tips!

I love my hair. It’s long, so I can do basically anything with it. The only problem with it is that it takes me at least 25 minutes to dry it, and then if I style it, another 45 minutes if I know what I’m doing. Here is how I do my hair for different events, and how I do it daily.

I absolutely LOVE Aveda products. I’ve used other very high end hair products but nothing kept my color intact, my hair shiny and healthy, and smelled like the Aveda products.

My hair is colored using Aveda products, at Salon Mode in Oshkosh, WI.

Daily:

I shampoo every day with Aveda Blue Malva Shampoo. It’s amazing for blonde hair – no brass! You can also use it on darker colors and it won’t strip your color or fade it. I buy the biggest bottle – 8.5 ounces or 1 litre, for $29.50. It lasts me around 8 months, and my hair is almost down to my butt when it’s straight. I use a quarter size drop. It suds up really well and covers your entire head, so there is no need to over use it. It’s a deep blueish purple color and smells amazing

After it’s rinsed out, I condition my hair with Aveda Pure Abundance Volumizing Conditioner. This is a thick conditioner but it spreads really well. I buy the big bottle, which is 500 ml, for $30.00. It lasts me 4 months. I let it sit in my hair for about 5 minutes before I rinse it out. It does create volume and lift.

Before I blow dry my hair, I put in Morrocanoil. I didn’t start using it until a few months ago, but now I can’t see myself without it. It creates a beautiful shine and a fluffy softness for my hair. I bought the little bottle at first since I didn’t know if I’d like it or not. It was $17.00. I use a nickle sized drop for my hair and it covers everything that it needs to. I can’t see myself ever not using it, it’s just that great.

The last thing I do to my hair before I dry it is put Aveda Phomollient Styling Foam in at my roots. If I’m curling my hair or styling it in any way besides straightening it, I’ll put the foam all over my hair. It’s a mousse and it has amazing hold. This is the stuff to use if you tease your hair at the roots. You don’t need to use a ton of hair spray to get the tease to stay, since the Phomollient has awesome hold.

I then blow dry my hair. I use a paddle brush and brush it as I dry it, and I brush my bangs into the style that I want them that day. Once it’s dry, I straighten it using a Remington Wet to Straight Flat Iron. Ladies, as long as your flat iron is ceramic, there is no reason to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on one. Mine was $25 and I have no damage from it, and I’ve been using it daily for years. My stylist, who is amazing, uses a flat iron from Sally Beauty Supply. It was very inexpensive and it works awesome. She’s used it on my hair several times.

When I straighten my hair, I brush it as I run the iron through it. If you go at a slow pace, you shouldn’t need to run the iron over a strand of hair more than twice. Going over and over and over again is what causes damage. The heat mixed with the speed breaks off your hair. My hair is naturally very wavy, so even when I blow dry it, there are still waves in it. I turn my flat iron to setting number 25 (it goes from 15-30) and I have my hair straight in about ten minutes.

When it’s straight, I use a little hair spray on my bangs to keep them where I want them. I don’t spray my hair after I’ve straightened it. The products that I put in it keep it straight, unless it rains. But having naturally wavy hair, any water is going to make it start to crinkle up into waves. I love Aveda Control Force hair spray. It keeps my hair exactly where I want it but it also can move around and it smells great.

If I run out of Control Force and don’t have time to go get another can right away, I keep a can of Aussie under my bathroom sink. It works almost as well as Control Force and it doesn’t have that strong smell that most hair sprays have.

I don’t use hair sprays in pump bottles. They are too wet and sticky for my hair and I’ve found that they don’t hold as well.

This is my natural hair. If I let it air dry, this is what it does.

My hair after it’s been blown dry and straightened. It’s all natural, no extensions.

Curling:

When I actually want to curl my hair, I use two different sized curling irons, and my flat iron. My curling irons are from when I was in middle school in the late 90’s, so I can’t even show them to you. My longest strands of hair, the ones at the base of my neck, are curled using a 1″ curling iron by Conair. I spray my hair before I curl it – not each piece that I curl, but the entire section as a whole. Too much hair spray will result in rock hard hair that looks like a disaster. You want your curls to stay in place but be bouncy at the same time. I’ll wrap the first piece in the curling iron and let it sit there for 15 seconds or so. I’ll let it go and then spray it again – lightly. I’ll continue on with that section. Once it’s all curled, I’ll spray it again, lightly, and shake my head around so the curls are moving while the spray dries on them. I’ll do the same with each section I curl, up until the last 1/4 of my head, the crown. I then switch to a 1/2″ curling iron and curl the rest of my hair. I spray the same as I did with the other sections.

Once it’s all curled, I flip my hair over and shake it, so the curls loosen a bit. I flip my head back over, fluff it, run my fingers through it, and then spray it one last time. Again, spray lightly.

Side Curls:

Once my hair is all curled, I push it all over to one side. I decide if that’s how I want it for the day. My hair has a mind of it’s own, and some days it just refuses to look good. If it’s being good, I tease the roots for some lift (you can do this with curls). I then push it back to the side. With the tease, there will be more lift at the crown, so you’ll have a lot more body. I then start bobby pinning behind my head. I do enough so that my hair stays shoved to the side. The side without the hair on it will have two strands hanging down – one will be from my bangs and the other will be from right in from of my ear. Once it’s in place, I spray the bobby pins so they don’t move, and then I spray the top and the curls. When using bobby pins, make sure they match your hair. They are supposed to be blend in with your hair, not stand out.

Side curls

I firmly believe that with hair products, you get what you pay for. It is absolutely worth it to me to spend that kind of money on products. However, each person is different. If it’s not in your budget, it’s not worth it to break the bank for your hair.

Tips:

– When you brush your hair, don’t yank on it.

– A paddle brush will ease your tangles out without pulling out more hair than necessary

– If you have a bad tangle and it hurts, grab your hair close to the root and then brush. Your hand will act like a shock absorber and it won’t hurt as much.

– If you are going to color your hair, I recommend going to a salon or buying the color from a retailer like Sally Beauty Supply. A lot of box colors are very damaging to hair.

– Having your hair professionally colored does not make you high maintenance, and using box color does not make you low maintenance. I get mine professionally colored, but I also work on cars, play in the mud, love to get dirty, go up north, and am not afraid of bugs. Not high maintenance traits at all.

– When in doubt, don’t cut or color.

– If you are daring, remember that hair grows back and color can be covered up.

– At the end of the day, you need to be happy with your hair. It’s on your head. You need to please only yourself.

– Don’t be afraid to try new styles, clip in extensions, wear a pony tail, or try a trend (this doesn’t apply to the when in doubt tip above).

– Yes, you can have bangs. I do, and I love them.

– Contrast is your friend. My hair is black and blonde… as in jet black and platinum blonde. It resembles as skunk.

– Tease your roots. You don’t need to have a beehive to have volume and lift.

– A rat tail comb will be your best friend once you get one.

– If you like a product or brand, stick to it.

– Keep your bobby pins in a pretty soap dish on your bathroom counter top. I do that, and they are super easy to access.

– If you are having a bad hair day, throw your hair up in a cute pony tail.

– Don’t wear your hair up every day, or even every other day. It’s very hard on your hair and causes breakage and for it to fall out. If you do wear it up ever day, opt for a low pony or a loose pony.

– An alternative to wearing it up – braid it.

 

Stay Sweet,

Rhett