My 2020 Haircare Routine + How I Got My Hair Back to Healthy

 I can’t recall a time when I was this happy with my hair–it’s taken years, patience and finding the right team to tame the mane to get my hair where it is today: natural looking, healthy, smooth and effortless to style.

The Cut

Since my hair is so long, thick and textured, I’ve always struggled with finding the right hair stylist to expertly cut this hair. I think a lot of people are nervous and would just give me a light trim or get a little scissor happy and cut and thin it too much.

And now, thanks to Jason Nash at Douglas J Okemos, I have hair that doesn’t feel heavy, but still feels voluminous in the right ways and lays perfectly whether I’m wearing it down or up.

I highly recommend calling salons and asking for recommendations for individuals who have experience cutting your particular hair and be willing to spend the money. Jason is married to Beth who colors my hair and I’ve always known of him and knew he was incredibly skilled, and for some reason I felt intimidated to book him because he’s so amazing which is WEIRD because he’s the best and he’s always the most kind and wonderful person, who wouldn’t want that level of talent and skill working on your hair and awesome to boot?

The Color

Beth Nash at Douglas J Okemos has been my colorist for most of the last 13-14 years and has seen my hair through some shit (and for the record, she’s always been the one to fix my hair like when it was a bad balayage job when I lived in Chicago or after dying parts of my hair black in college.)

For the longest time, I could bleach every strand of my hair and have a little more fun with color like pink or lavender, but my hair started to fall out in clumps and just wasn’t working for me anymore. I took a few years off from bleach and had some sad hair, but it’s bounced back with time and Beth has been able to get gently get me comfortable with lightening my hair. She balayages my hair along with baby highlights, something that grows out nicely and naturally without a need to go back every couple months. I’m a much more low maintenance person when it comes to coloring my hair and Beth takes that into consideration when coloring my hair. She wants to see multiple photos of hair color I like (I pull up a few from Pinterest!) and we’ll have a mini consultation before she does anything and I’m at the point where I tell her to do what she wants since I trust her eye, skill and talent so much.

I highly recommend you bring actual photos along with your description of what you want. I can’t tell you how many times I hear people upset that a color or even cut wasn’t right, but a photo wasn’t shared to make sure everyone is on the same page! So know what you want, have photos saved to share and if it’s a huge change, be prepared to make multiple appointments and spend more time and money to get exactly what you want without compromising the integrity of your hair.

The Treatment

I’ve been getting Brazilian Blowout treatments on my hair for three years now and what a difference it makes in managing my hair day to day.

Brazilian Blowouts can smooth out curls, waves and frizz–and can be customized too how smooth you want your hair–so if you like the curl or wave, you can keep it and just eliminate the frizz! Since I have thick, dense and wavy hair, I ask for it to be super straight and smooth so that when I style it on my own, it blow dries straighter and without frizz, and I can then curl on my own. It’s important to clearly communicate what you want from the treatment so you can get the results you’re looking for.

If you’re in the Lansing area (or a little farther), I highly recommend Chelsea at Holiday Parlor. She’s meticulous and experienced with this treatment. If you mention by name, you can get 20% off with her through end of March if you’re interested! And this is by far the cutest salon in town!

I’d also like to note that I let my hair partially air dry and used no straightening iron or curling to it–because of the treatment (and my amazing hair cut), my hair dries quickly and lays wonderfully with minimal effort.

Haircare Products

For cleansing, I usually alternate between a few products. My hair gets too used to a shampoo and so I usually double wash my hair, rotating through three different shampoos including Unite 7 Seconds shampoo, Davinas Nounou shampoo and Palmers’ conditioning shampoo.

For conditioning, I love Davines Nounou conditioner, but I always first apply Brazilian Blowout açaí deep conditioning masque and topping off with a little additional conditioner. With the Brazilian Blowout, my hair reacts so well to this mask and have been using it as long as I’ve been getting the treatments.

For detangling, I always use Unite 7 Seconds leave in conditioner. And I love a serum or oil like Alterna Haircare CAVIAR anti frizz dry oil spray and the super affordable OGX Argan Oil of Morocco oil.

Hair Styling Tools

The heating tools I use include BaBylissPRO ceramic blow dryer, Hot Tools curling iron (1 in 1/4 barrel) and Chi straightening iron.

To brush my hair, I love the Yves Durif vented hairbrush and you can use it as you dry your hair (I’m not good with a round brush!)

And if you need help with haircare products and tools, I highly recommend checking out Tara Hair. Learned some good things about how to blow-dry my hair and how to curl my hair!  Tee from H&M | jeans by Madewell | bag by Chanel | shoes by Golden Goose

Photography by Susan Hamilton