By Leili, Hair Care Contributor

Leili is a 19-year old New Yorker who is obsessed with beauty, chocolate, and celebrity of the trashiest kind. Her drawers look like the stockroom of a hair salon! She’s currently enrolled in her second year of college but still trying to decide on her major. When she’s not worrying about that, she’s either at home with a good book, baking scrumptious goodies for her family, or exploring new restaurants with her friends. Check out her blog, Materialistic Musings!

The Products That Changed the Life of my Hair

I’m not someone who takes the term “life-changer” lightly, which is why my post references so few things. There are certainly products I love (with a particular emphasis on hair oils and deep conditioning treatments) but for me to claim that something has changed my life, it has to be truly spectacular like what you’ll see here. But don’t take my word for it—try them out for yourself!

Just to recap, my hair is long, extremely oily at the roots, dry at the ends, and reasonably thick and wavy though I don’t have much of it!

Check out four life-changing hair products for long, thick hair! 

I’m pretty certain that everyone loves a fabulous blowout, but many people struggle with achieving it at home. I’m terribly uncoordinated, so trying to wrangle my half-dried hair with a blow dryer and a round brush at 6AM doesn’t usually end up well. The genius behind Hair Dryers with Brush Head Attachment (roughly $30, depending what you buy) is that they take all the fuss and confusion of working with both hands out of a blow dry. I struggle with a lot of flatness at the crown of my hea, and getting volume there with a round brush is my biggest hair challenge that I can’t seem to overcome.

With one of these, however, the maneuvering becomes incredibly simple.  With a little mousse through my roots, I can actually get that lift at my crown that I so desperately crave. They do come in round heads, which are better for curling the ends, but obviously don’t straighten as well. (They are absolutely genius, though, for those of you with reasonably maneuverable hair who wear bobs!) I only saw these in Asia up until recently, and while I was terribly disappointed with a Conair I tried, I’m still testing readily available brush-head blow dryers (though the Asian ones are still my favorite) to find a local favorite.

Brushing your hair (with boar bristles)! Hair stylists have been telling me to brush my hair for years, and it was advice that I promptly and perpetually ignored. As someone with wavy hair, it didn’t make any sense to brush and break up the natural texture of my tresses into a poofy mess. When I did absolutely have to brush my hair, I only did it from the ear-down, which, as any hair stylist will tell you, basically defeats the purpose and reason behind hair brushing. Brushing helps to stimulate your scalp and distribute the natural oils that collect at the roots all through your hair, thus promoting its health. While the Mason Pearson may be the revered hair brush of experts and people with hundreds of dollars to spare, I selected the much cheaper Denman Grooming Brush with Natural Bristles and Nylon Pins ($15.99) with a mix of nylon and boar bristles. The latter of the bristles are actually the best for this sort of job, but they’re not stiff enough to go all the way through my thick hair, which is where the nylon comes in.

I keep a separate, super cheap Conair brush on hand for going through my hair before curling or straightening, but the Denman one is kept specifically for healthy brushing. Instead of raking it through my hair during the day, though, I wait until I’m about to shower or get my hair wet. This is kind of gross, but as an every other day shampoo girl, by the time I’m ready to wash my hair, it’s already plenty greasy, which is optimal time for brushing! Running my Denman through pre-shampoo hair makes me look like I’ve gone and oiled my whole head, but you can actually feel how much oil spreads into your dry locks. Clearly, all those hair experts know what they’re talking about!

While the short-term results of brushing are great (less shedding around the house and in the shower, and conditioner is a cinch to run through your hair), it’s the long-term results that are truly life-changing. In the year or so that I’ve been brushing my hair this way, I’ve noticed a huge difference in the overall health and look of my hair. My tips and notoriously dry under layers have more moisture to them, and my locks are shinier and feel much stronger. Normally, the winter season requires me to use a deep conditioning mask every week as my hair gets very dry, but as long as I keep brushing, all those treatments become less necessary (I still use them, of course, but far less frequently). That $15 brush just might be the best thing I’ve bought all year!

I used to throw hot rollers under the “grandma” category of beauty, along with the perpetual need for bobby pins and using lipstick as blush. But ever since I started using them a few months ago, I now roll my hair more than any other elderly woman in my family.  As much as I love curling my hair, I am never happy with how the pieces around my face come out. They’re perfect curls, as are the rest of my styled mane, but they don’t sit properly against the head and the overall effect is unnatural—I don’t think I’ve ever curled my hair without pinning the front pieces back. After hearing so many good things about the volume hot rollers create, I picked up this small set of five Hot rollers—Babyliss Pro Ceramic 5 Jumbo Roller Hairsetter ($24.99).

Some people like to buy a bigger set and roll their whole head, but I find that a curling iron gives me more longevity so I just use the five for the pieces that frame my face. The first time I tried them didn’t exactly go well, with lots of finger-burning, sweating, and swearing, but I somehow got them up and clipped, and 20 minutes later, took them out to find exactly what I was looking for. These jumbo rollers tend to provide more of a dense, rich wave than an exact curl, and the effect is incredibly flattering and natural. It’s not quite Victoria Secret’s model hair, but they provide plenty of volume and work great on both the layered and lengthy sides of my hair. My roller-waves last all day, and into part of the next, but they don’t quite hold up the way curling-iron curls do. Everyone’s hair is different but that’s still something to keep in mind. The best sign that this hairdo totally works? The rollers-in-the-front, curling-iron-everywhere-else look garners compliments every time.

I know I talked a lot about Batiste Dry Shampoo in Fresh ($7.99) in my previous “Must Have Hair Products” post, but no list of life-changers is complete without my beloved Batiste. This tends to set the standard for a life-changer for me, as dry shampoo has not only changed my hair, it’s actually changed my lifestyle. Nothing allows me to preserve blowouts, the health of my scalp and as many hours of sleep as possible like this product. Between the time it saves, volume it creates, and exorbitant amount of grease it can absorb, I’d swear this product was tailor made for me. I showed Blush in my last post, calling it my favorite scent, but I’ve since discovered their new one in Fresh, and it has quickly become my new favorite. It’s the perfect blend of floral, citrus and clean laundry that completely blows Blush out of the water. (I actually think Fresh smells a lot like the Hello Kitty perfume available at Sephora, if you’ve ever sniffed that.) I haven’t yet seen Fresh available in the miniature size, but I’m looking—I won’t even let my purse go without dry shampoo!

By Leili, Hair Care Contributor

Leili is a 19-year old New Yorker who is obsessed with beauty, chocolate, and celebrity of the trashiest kind. Her drawers look like the stockroom of a hair salon! She’s currently enrolled in her second year of college but still trying to decide on her major. When she’s not worrying about that, she’s either at home with a good book, baking scrumptious goodies for her family, or exploring new restaurants with her friends. Check out her blog, Materialistic Musings!

Photo by kelsey_lovefusionphoto

How-to Restore Post-Holiday Hair

While the festive party season brings happy memories, gifts given and received, it also leaves us with a few less-than-desirable things, like thunder thighs and damaged hair! Most people hit the gym or start a diet to help them get back to their pre-holiday lifestyles, and there’s no reason that shouldn’t hold true for your hair as well. Here are my favorite products and tips to help you get lovely, lustrous and healthy locks:

Get a haircut.   Though it seems obvious, it’s really important to get a regular haircut.  For those afraid of hairdressers: there is simply no better cure for dry, damaged hair like a haircut—it’s really something that no other supposed miracle product can fake. The start of the new year is a great time to try out a new hairstyle, but if you’re not willing to take the plunge, simply ask for a trim. I know a lot of people try to grow out their hair and hate to lose any length, but those locks really won’t be healthy until you’ve had the damaged ends snipped off. There’s really no better feeling like bouncing out of the salon with the lightness of a fresh cut styled in a fabulous blow out!

If you’re not going to the salon, or even if you are, hair masks and deep conditioning treatments are something to think about for restoring moisture. While there are numerous hair masks on the market today, Davines Nou Nou Nourishing Repairing Mask ($25.20) is one of my favorites. The Italian brand can be a little hard to find, and it’s not the most pleasant-smelling (think sharp, mustard greens), but it works like nothing else. For a more intense treatment, I like to apply this to damp hair in the shower, clip it up, and then sleep with it in overnight with a towel draped over my pillow. It might be slightly uncomfortable to do but nothing gives my hair such moisture and shine.

Swap your leave-in product for an oil.  The consistency of each would lead you to believe that the cream is more hydrating, but I’ve found the oils to be much more moisturizing. These have really become popular in the last few years, and there are tons available at all different price points. My favorite, however, is the Maybach of hair oils:  Shu Uemura Essence Absolue ($65). Of course, you do not need to spend the money on this particular one, as most hair oils deliver that terrific dose of intense moisture, shine, and anti-frizz power. They’re also terrific for using as a treatment–just run a few more pumps of the product into dry hair and let it sit for a while before washing it out (I recommend shampooing twice—these oils are no joke). If you are going to use an oil in this way, however, I would suggest using a higher quality one as I’ve found that the ones available at drugstores don’t work well for this purpose.

A product designed for your ends. They’re absolutely essential for those looking to revive or prolong the health of their tips. They are the most vulnerable to dryness and damage, so they’re definitely worth looking after. If they’ve split already, you’ve gone past the point of no return, so go and get them trimmed off! But for preventative measures, I like the Bed Head Ego Boost ($15.50), but there are a lot of similar ones out there on the market. They even make some that are supposed to hide the look of split ends, but we’re going for health here, not the appearance of it.

By Leili, Hair Care Contributor

Leili is a 19-year old New Yorker who is obsessed with beauty, chocolate, and celebrity of the trashiest kind. Her drawers look like the stockroom of a hair salon! She’s currently enrolled in her second year of college but still trying to decide on her major. When she’s not worrying about that, she’s either at home with a good book, baking scrumptious goodies for her family, or exploring new restaurants with her friends. Check out her blog, Materialistic Musings!

Leili’s Must-Have Hair Products for Oily Hair

Asking me to pick my must-have hair items is a bit like Sophie’s Choice for product junkies like me, but I finally succeeded in narrowing my list down to my absolute Holy Grail products. Just about everything here is tried and true—things that I have been repurchasing for ages and have stood the test of time. In some small way, they’re almost taken for granted because I use them so consistently that I no longer get excited over the results, but without them, my hair would be a mess of epic proportions.

Batiste Blush Dry Shampoo ($7.99) | I, like so many people, have come to be extremely reliant on dry shampoo—no wonder this stuff’s been around since the ‘70s. I don’t think I’ve gone a week without spraying a bit into my roots since I’ve started using this product. As someone with almost unbelievably oily hair, I use a quick blast of this between shampoos to freshen up, or to add some volume when my crown looks particularly flat. These days, with midterms basically robbing me of any showering time, I rely on dry shampoo more than usual so people won’t know I’m not exactly clean. (And let’s fact it, showering is really something you do for other people!) I’ve tried (and am still trying) all sorts of dry shampoos, but this is the one I always come back to. The only other one that might match the Batiste is the famous Klorane with Oat Milk. But although Klorane’s powder is slightly, slightly finer, I prefer how the Batiste ones are scented—Blush is the prettiest almost perfume-like floral. Besides, considering how often I use dry shampoo, Batiste is $10 cheaper.

Alterna Anti-Aging Caviar Working Hair Spray ($28.00) | As much as I love perfectly styled hair, I have bizarre issues with how it feels and hate the stiffness any product with real hold creates. I’ve tried a lot of hairsprays and while I liked the L’Oreal Elnett for a while, even that was crunchy and didn’t quite “disappear at the stroke of a brush.”  A hair stylist used this on me a couple of years ago to set my curly prom up-do, and two days later my curls looked only mildly rumpled and were smooth and soft to the touch. Not only is a can of this absolutely huge, the product itself is a lovely dry mist that never leaves your hair feeling sticky or clumped together—I’ve never used anything like it. The aerosol spray in particular has also been really thoughtfully designed because you get a nice wide range of spray that comes out in a very fine mist. (This might be a bit of a problem for anyone wanting to spray a narrow area, but works fantastically for larger sections or over the entire ‘do). It is very definitely a workable, flexible spray perfect for maintaining a style worn over a few days or just for anyone who doesn’t like stiff hair. Best of all, this hairspray is paraben, gluten, synthetic color, DEA, TEA, mineral oil, PABA, paraffin and animal testing free! What’s not to love?

Check out more of Leili’s must-haves! 

Bumble and Bumble Straight Blow Dry ($28.00) | Bumble and Bumble launched this product along with their “straight” shampoo and conditioner, and although I haven’t used this as long as the other items, it’s earned itself a firmly established place in my everyday hair routine. My natural hair is wavy and frizzy, so I like to blow dry it with a round brush to smooth out the kinks but still leave some movement and a bit of wave. I’ve tried a lot of blow drying and styling creams, but nothing turned my frizzy mess into smooth locks as quickly as this does. This also cut down on my drying time overall, not only getting the styling done faster, but it helped to get rid of the moisture in my hair very quickly. Usually it takes me almost half an hour to do my DIY blowout, section by section, but when I use this it barely takes 20 minutes. But what really earned this product a spot on my list is how well it holds the straight style. By day two of my blowout, normally the waves and frizzes start popping up, but something in this product maintains the look remarkably well—as though it’s laced with hairspray or whatever chemical John Frieda 3-Day Straight uses. This cream would be especially helpful to people with very curly hair looking to smooth it as much as they can with a hair dryer before the deadly flat irons come out. And for people with finer or straighter hair, with this and a paddle brush, it’s a cinch to get hair that looks like you’ve straightened it without even having to plug in the GHD!

Bed Head Ego Boost Split End Mender ($15.50) | The ends of your hair are always the driest and most damaged, and for anyone trying to grow their mane out, it’s very important that they stay healthy. I’ve been using this product for over 3 years now and have yet to find anything that could take its place. Not quite hydrating enough to be a leave-in conditioner, this mender is a sort of gel that locks in moisture for my ends. I actually think the name of this product is quite misleading as it doesn’t actually mend split ends, but it does add a great dose of moisture to those fragile tips. This is actually my preventative hair product to help prolong the health of my hair and avoid split ends, more than anything else. Comparatively, Herbal Essences Long Term Relationship is heavy and tacky feeling and Joico K-Pak’s Split End Mender is really to help split hairs look healthy without actually making them so. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to take better care of your hair, a few pumps of this out of the shower really adds a look of health to those parched ends and can even help delay trims at the salon!

Redken All Soft Conditioner ($15.99) | Ever since I discovered this conditioner, I’ve done disgraceful things to keep a tub of it in my shower at all times, even in my very poorest of poor college student days. I’ve never seen a conditioner as gloriously thick as this one is—the product comes out a paste and could honestly rival some deep conditioning masks. It feels absolutely sinfully luxurious and such a treat for dry or damaged locks every time I slather it on. Just like its name would suggest, it leaves my hair unbelievably soft and incredibly shiny, giving my usually lackluster mane this fantastic look of health. This is absolutely one of those use-it-and-you-won’t-be-able-to-stop-touching-your-hair products, and short of people with fine hair, there isn’t anyone I wouldn’t recommend this to. I’ve never liked the chemical, slightly noxious smell, but hair care products could smell worse (Ojon!), and for the results I get, I would put up with a far worse scent.

Now you might have noticed that my short list of must-haves doesn’t contain a deep treatment mask, leave-in oils/creams or volumizing mousses. I test these types of products out all the time and have handfuls of each category that I certainly like and use, but none of them in particular stands out and therefore cannot qualify as a must-have. Of course, if anyone would like me to, I’d be happy to write a post on the masks, oils/creams or mousses that I like but can’t really rank or discern significant differences between.