Top Ten Tips for Taking Great Care of Your Hair at Home

In the salon, we try to teach our clients how to care for their hair and how to recreate their salon style at home. There are lots of tips and tricks to learn along the way, and it can be difficult to remember all of them. Here's a list of my top ten tips for taking great care of your hair.

1 . Stop shampooing your hair! Every day, that is. Unless you get really dirty, or your hair is exceptionally greasy, you probably don't need to shampoo every day. If you shampoo too often, you strip the natural oils from your hair, leaving it dull and dry.

2. Start using conditioner. Conditioner closes the cuticle and locks in moisture, nutrients, and shine. It also helps your hair color last longer. Choose the right conditioner for your hair type so that it doesn't get too heavy or weighed down.

3. Shop at the salon. Your stylist will LOVE you for purchasing salon products from her (she gets commission, after all) but so will your hair. You may save some bucks by buying at budget stores, but you'll get watered down products with lower grade ingredients. Invest in the real thing for best results.

4. Please please please. Don't. Use. Box. Color. Yup, you read it right. Your stylist may be polite about you coloring your own hair, but she will do a much better job, and with hair color that is better for your hair and for you. And psst...she probably won't tell you about the spots you missed in the back.

5. Dry your hair a bit before applying your hair products. When your hair is sopping wet, it dilutes the products so they don't work as efficiently and you'll end up using much more than you actually need. Take the time to blow dry your hair for a bit, and then apply your mousse, gel, etc.

6. Aim down. When giving yourself a blowout, aim the hairdryer down the hair-shaft, from the roots towards the end. Blow drying in the wrong direction will rough up the cuticle and make hair seem frizzy and fuzzy.

7. Don't pile on the products. Using too much product is worse than using not enough. It just weighs your hair down and makes it icky, sticky, and gross.

8. Don't hold the hairspray can too close to your head. For best results, hold the can six to eight inches away from your hair. Or more, if the can says so. Always listen to the can.

9. Get your stylists help in choosing a haircut and style that suits your face shape, lifestyle, and hair type. She may even tell you why you shouldn't cut your ears out or how bangs that cover your forehead make you look younger.

10. Get trims every four to six weeks. Because it helps you look your best. This will prevent your hair style from looking too overgrown, out of shape, and hard to style. And because your stylist will love you for visiting so often!