What’s the best hair care advice you’ve received? Share!
It’s basic, but minimizing heat or using heat protectant when you do use heat. I didn’t grow up with any friends or family who were super into hair care, so I never knew these things!
Thanks to reader Jennifer for today’s question idea Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Don’t comb out wet curls.
My mom could and keep her curls, but when I did that it ruined mine and resulted in half-waves and my mom going “Did you comb your hair?!’ I didn’t learn this til college! Would have been nice to know sooner 🙂
Huge 2nd, I wish someone had told me sooner that I was just breaking up my curl definition.
Not shampooing every day is second most helpful.
I’ve also found adding non-foaming shampoos to my rotation (like every 2 of 3 washes or so with a conventional shampoo thrown in to eliminate the buildup that non-foaming ones leave) minimizes that shampooing day frizz problem.
Drying my hair with a cotton T instead of a towel and using a scrunchy or bobby pins if I I want to tie my hair while its wet. 🙂
1. Don’t wash your hair every day.
2. Avoid shampoo, conditioner, and styling products that have possible irritants like artificial fragrances, dyes, or SLS.
3. Avoid using heat or styling products unless you absolutely have to.
All things I learned from the “longhair” community on LiveJournal.
Using coconut oil as a hair mask 🙂 it works wonders!
I’ve always been the one *asked* for tips/advice… I don’t really do anything special, just exercise commonsense. The biggest one is saving the heat-styling for when it’s absolutely necessary-which also includes blow-drying. If you *must* use a blow-dryer regularly, use the lowest setting. Think about what heat does to your skin, which is alive & contains water; hair is essentially the same, but lacks the amount of moisture…
Don’t brush wet hair, use a wide-toothed comb.
If I’m going swimming, I either wet my hair beforehand in the shower or drench it in a deep conditioner/mask so that the saltwater or chlorinated pool water doesn’t get absorbed into the strands and damage my hair. This advice saved me during my teen years when I was all about dyeing my hair.
Only shampoo your scalp, not the tips. Inversely, keep conditioner on the tips and keep it away from your scalp.
Use a wide tooth comb instead of a brush. It’s gentler on your hair and doesn’t damage the hair as much.
I recent reversed my hair care by conditioning my hair first, then shampoo. I wash my hair at night — starting with dry hair, I slather my hair with the conditioner, almost like a hair mask, concentrating on the ends, and then some in the roots, not too much. Then I roll my hair up into a bun, then wash my face, brush my teeth, etc… then I shower and shampoo my hair out. Once I’m done, I towel dry my hair and use the widest tooth comb I can find to detangle. I air dry my hair. For reference, I hair straight hair down to the middle of my back. It use to be thick, but I think it’s thinning out with age, breakage, etc. Garnier came out with a anti-breakage line, so I’ll try that tonight and see how that goes. I have heard about using a cotton tshirt instead of a towel… Maybe I’ll get one of those microfiber turbans that’s for hair..
I have one of those turbans. It soaks up water like a champ!
The only downside I’ve found with the turbans is if you have long hair, the ends don’t get in there, but if you force them in, they end up more tangled… Otherwise, I *love* them!
Combing (wide tooth comb) my thick curly hair while in the shower with conditioner still in it. Then never touching it after it dries. It has lessened breakage, frizz and split ends.
The best advice that I received is to use all natural and/or organic products. It has done wonders for my natural hair!
For me, personally, it was: Don’t wash your hair more than a couple times a week. My hair had never looked this good in my life until I started taking this advice! My hair is extremely thick and wavy and the moment I realized it looked better the dirtier it got was life-changing. The only reason I wash it now is because it starts to *feel* pretty unpleasant after about five days or so of product buildup, even though it still *looks* great.
Try not to over brush your hair, especially if it’s curly like mine.
Definitely to just leave it alone. After I wash and condition my hair I let it air dry and then put it in a bun. I leave it alone for abut a week and then repeat the process. My hair is so long and healthy now
Snap! 🙂 Well, in the sense that I shampoo the roots every second day, let it air dry, then put it in a bun. My hair is butt length now, and only the very ends look a tiny bit dry (because I’m too lazy to treat/trim it). LOL, the ‘minimal intervention’ policy seems to be the best for us! 😀
DON’T BRUSH CURLY HAIR!!!
I go to two stylist one for color one for hair .. The hairstylist recommended a slight A line cut for my medium length hair and I said no. So the hair stylist has a day off at my next appt so the colorist cut my hair. And I was letting it grow out, but my hair was a mess so I just told her to cut it .. and she did a reverse A line .. and it is the BEST cut I’ve ever had .. lol.
Listen to your stylist .. 😉
Monica.
I don’t have much concerns or care tips for my hair mainly because for most of my life I keep my hair short. And I have thick and strong hair so no worries about hair loss or split ends.
But I do take Biotin or “hair, nail, skin” formula pills on a daily base for extra nutrition supplies coz I believe that’s the most efficient way to take total care of it.
Trimming hair at least every six weeks does wonders!! My hair always looks healthy. Trim, not cut.
I have very dry hair in a pixie cut. My stylist said not to wash my hair more than twice a week and rinse with cold water. My dry hair is wonderful now and I can style it in a bunch a cute ways. She says unless a person has extremely oily hair, overshampooing is something that causes lots of hair, scalp and styling problems.
Once a week washing + once a week heat styling and heat protectant. Dry shampoo! That L’Oreal Boost It spray. Diluting Pravana vivids with ALL THE CONDITIONER, EVER. And coconut oil treatments!
Don’t comb wet hair. Cover your hair from the sun. Also, protect your hair with a protectorant from flat irons, hot rollers, curling irons. And, if you go in a swimming pool make sure to rinse your hair with plain water if you’ve bleached your hair or have it colored with an ash shade. You might turn green otherwise.
I have curly hair and was told never to brush it. I only use a wide-toothed comb.
Deep condition weekly.
Always apply a heat protectant when using a blow dryer/straightener.
I use a microfiber towel to dry my hair because it helps reduce friction.
Don’t wash my hair every day, it strips the oils and dries out my curly hair.
Get trims every couple months to keep my hair healthy.
Don’t shampoo hair everyday and sleep on a silk pillow case. Both have done wonders for me! Also, Paul Mitchell dry wax on the ends of my hair has changed my life!
Two words. Tangle. Teezer.
For someone with masses and masses of really fine hair that knots soooooo easily, this nifty plastic hairbrush totally saves me tonnes of frustration and pain (and ripping out tangled snarls, eep!).
Oh, and I only need a tiny amount of conditioner, really and truly!
I do vintage hair styles, and often do wet sets with pin curls. The best advice I have been given is don’t shampoo your hair; use conditioner that is silicone free to “wash your hair:” You use a copious amount of conditioner (I use the rosemary and mint Suave conditioner) on the roots, and scrub like you would with shampoo, and the conditioner cleanses away the oil and product without stripping your hair. I also only wash my hair every four days and do up-do’s when my scalp is oilier. This keeps my hair colour vibrant, protects my hair, and promotes growth. Finally, I very rarely use heat on my hair, maybe once a month. Instead I do wet sets with pin curls and rollers for great body and curl!
The best advice I received was when you are brushing your hair after washing (and it has dried a bit), brush from the bottom up so that the knots/tangles are not pulled. It is easier to do this if you hang your head upside down. The second thing was to rotate your shampoos and conditioners. And thirdly, wash your hair every second or third day.
1. It’s OK not to shampoo the ends of your hair. This is particularly good now, as my air is butt length and I’d go through LITRES of shampoo if I did the whole length with fresh product, LOL!
2. If you have fine, stretchy hair (that’s also densely spaced), use a wide gap toothed comb, never a brush.
To use a clarifying shampoo the day before coloring your hair I always left my blonde hair super dirty because I knew I was going to get a blow out, it still amazes me how much better my color absorbs now that I follow that rule as well I use a quality deep conditioner after to seal in moisture. Also how shiny hair is if you do a cold rinse after you condition those are the rules my dry, wavy, coarse hair loves.
Using acv as a hair rinse!
use heat protectant spray, i always remember fergie said in an interview that some nights she would just douse her hair with oil like moroccan oil and put it into a bun before bed, and somewhere recently someone blogged about putting dry shampoo in your hair before bed and it has totally changed my mind on dry shampoo.
To wash your hair every day (that washing your hair every day is bad for it is a complete myth) but to rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse. And keep strong heat away from it.
I used to wash my hair (and blow dry + straighten! Yikes!) every single day! Needless to say my hair is now severely damaged with countless split ends. I had tried baptiste dry shampoo which everyone here in the UK loves, with flaky results – quite literally – so had given up on that, and with my scalp getting oily overnight, I was always really self-conscious of “greasy” hair. However, a few months back, my hairdresser suggested label.m Dry Shampoo (Brunette) and I can honestly say it’s been life changing for me! I now wash my hair 2/3 times a week, using this in between and my hair looks even better on day 3! I have also started learning how to put my hair up more creatively and that helps me stay away from washing for another day.
Quick question for everyone, what do you do when you exercise, say 5x week, but you only want to wash your hair 2 or 3x – do you put up with sweaty scalp syndrome or do you wash away?
Wash. There’s nothing worse than smelly hair!
Or just rinse with water
None, really… I had to figure it out for myself. I was asked to give advice, though.
Touch curly hair as little as possible, comb it when it is very wet, squeeze some water out put your product in fluff roots then do not touch it. If you feel like you need to scrunch it at all use the damp t-shirt you wrapped it with. DO NOT use your hands; the oil in your hands is what causes hair to frizz more than anything else
Wear a silk scarf/bonnet at night when you sleep. Also sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase. Cotton, in this instance, is not king.
GREAT QUESTION & REPLIES!
1. Use cooler water for colored hair
2. Rinse with cool water (cold if possible) to help seal cuticle
3. Use a great leave-in conditioner on the ends
4. TANGLE TEEZER was probably one of the best detangling combs I was recommended.
5. Keep your hair trimmed and healthy.
I’m still waiting for the best advice! It seems like nothing works particularly well for my hair type: fine/thin/straight/smooth (natural chestnut brown, to shoulder blades) – pretty much like baby hair! My mom kept it short when I was little because she didn’t want to deal with the tangles, so if I wasn’t wearing a skirt or dress, I ended up looking like a little boy, ha ha ha! I have been able to minimize fallout by washing it only 2-3 times/week, avoiding chemical processing such as coloring (thankfully at 43 I only have a few stray gray hairs!), and using a mild shampoo and conditioner only on the ends (all of this I sort of picked up on my own). But what I would like to know is how to get my hair shaft to, at least temporarily, increase in diameter without my hair looking dull in the process and without causing lasting damage as a result! I know, I know…quite the tall order!
Honestly, the best advice I’ve recruved is to spend the extra to take care of it because products last longer and do have much better quality. Less dupable than makeup.. Just “take good care of your skin, scalp, and eat well.. All is s part to the health in your hair.” Ok. 🙂