My hair has been on a journey for the last few years! Or if I’m being honest, for a couple of decades. I’ve never really been precious about my hair in the past. When I was a teenager, I started at a new high school and decided to chop off my long hair into a pixie cut to set myself apart. I didn’t even warn my family, I just went to my friend who was a hairdresser and chopped it all off! It was liberating and exciting, and I ended up booking so many acting a modeling jobs primarily because I looked so different from the other girls my age with the new haircut! It was also exhilarating to do something unexpected, even for myself. I had that hair for four full years, and then slowly started growing it back out again. For the next decade, I dyed my hair every color under the sun: auburn, dark brown, bronde, and then REALLY blonde. It mostly was for acting jobs, but if somebody suggested a hair change, I never thought twice about it. My hair quality suffered in the process but I was too young at irreverent at the time to really understand the long-term affects on my hair.

Then, when I was pregnant with Major, I decided to cut my hair off into the “Lob” that was popular in 2015. Oh boy did I regret it. All of a sudden, for the first time in my life, I felt like my hair didn’t match my personality at all. It was hard to style, and it really affected my confidence. I immediately began to grow it out, but postpartum hair loss, mixed with damage from being blonde for so long, reduced my confidence even further. By the time I was postpartum with Mateo, I had bald spots at both of my temples, and the condition of my hair wasn’t great…despite trying hard to reverse that. I knew I needed to really address the condition of my hair. I even tried getting extensions for a period of time, but all that did was remind me more of what I wanted but didn’t have. My goal: less sparse spots in my hair, regrowth, length, and healthier overall.

That’s when I decided to really attack the issue from all angles and get serious! I dyed my hair back to an auburn color (which means no bleach processes, just a single process all over) about 18 months ago, and decided to really give hair health a go. What has resulted is my absolute healthiest hair ever. As I grow my hair out longer and longer for my wedding (I plan to do an old Hollywood hairstyle on myself, which can be found HERE), I’ve been getting lots of comments from sweet readers and followers telling me how healthy my hair looks! It feels like such a victory to me because it has NOT always looked this way.

I decided to put together a little post detailing all my changes and routines. I think you probably could get away with not doing ALL of this, but I’m not a scientist nor a hairdresser, and I don’t know exactly which of these things helped the most– so I figured it best to lay it all out there! If you want to follow along in its entirety please do! As you know, I’m a busy Mom with three kids so it’s not like this routine takes a ton of time. As always, let me know if you have any other questions or if I can clarify any of it for you! I’m happy to answer below in the comments, or you can always reach out to me on a feed post. (Please direct your questions to comments in a public forum, not DM, as I don’t always get to see those messages)

Without further ado, all my tips and tricks for getting my healthiest hair ever!

LESS WASHING

By far one of the best tips I have for healthy hair is to stop washing it so much! No matter how moisturizing your shampoo is, washing your hair strips it. Now I only wash my hair twice a week. In between, I use dry shampoo and will slick back my hair on the last day before wash day. If I sweat, I will use dry shampoo and a hair dryer to soak up the sweat/oil. I use a shower cap to keep my hair dry when I shower but don’t wash! If I REALLY need to rinse my hair, I just rinse with water, don’t shampoo, and apply conditioner to my mid-lengths and ends. Rinse out, and air dry!

KEEPING IT VIBRANT WITH AT-HOME TREATMENTS

Another huge level-up for me has been using at-home glosses, color depositing masks, and deep conditioners to keep my hair looking salon-level glossy. About every 10 days, I’ll do a gloss or color depositing mask. If you have colored hair, this is the best tip! If you don’t, even a clear gloss can really up the ante in terms of shiny hair. Definitely try it!

PRO TIP: After rinsing out the treatment, lock in shine by blasting the hair with cold water for 1 minute. This seals the shaft and makes your locks extra glossy.

HEALTHY SCALP = HEALTHY HAIR

A huge game changer for me in the past year has been realizing that the healthier my scalp is, the healthier my hair will be. I make sure to treat my scalp once a week, and I’ve found products that I LOVE. I even make Ian do this with me, and he loves it! I’m linking some different options of things I’ve tried and loved for scalp care. Everything I’m putting below is an excellent product, just depends on your personal preference (the ACV smell was a little much for me, so now I prefer the Anablue)

PROTECT WHILE STYLING

This is a no-brainer, but if you use heat on your hair to style, you have to be doing it in the most thoughtful way possible! Heat protectant in the hair is a must, but so is choosing more gentle tools, with better technology. Ian gifted me a Dyson Air Wrap for Christmas and my hair has never been happier. Way less damage and I have to style it less often, too! Here are my fave products for styling.

PROTECT AT NIGHT

No matter what, I always protect my hair at night while sleeping. This means silk scrunchies, silk/satin pillowcases, and if I’m doing heatless curls, a silk bonnet! It may seem like overkill but I noticed a huge difference in my hair when I started doing this.

SUPPLEMENTS WORK!

I’ve done partnerships with both Nutrafol and Vegamour, and the truth is that they both work! I continued both for about a year and saw great results. When I was basically bald in the front part of my head I am sure that they helped grow that back. I ended up using both at once (I figured why not), but I’m sure you can use just one for great results. Another tip is to get your Iron levels checked if you’re noticing excessive shedding. My naturopath told me that low iron levels can definitely make hair shed, and this is an easy fix!

Photographs by Julia Dags | Copyright © 2024 Happily Eva After, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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