My Game Plan for Great Hair
(Banner images via Instagram)
If you’ve bumped into me in person anytime in the last month or so, you’ll know - because I’ve been talking about it incessantly - that my two goals this summer are:
1.) Get good at tennis
2.) Get great hair
The hair goal is a hefty one. Readers of this blog might remember my post from a few years ago “Confession: I Hate My Natural Hair” which today remains one of my most-read and commented pieces. I’ve been wrestling with my not-quite-wavy, not-quite-straight hair since I was in middle school, and while the issues I have with it have changed through the years, my frustration has not. It just isn’t…Great Hair, and I’ve never actually had the audacity to want great hair because I never thought I could have it. Well, right now, I’m manifesting it, and taking some steps to get it.
HOW DO I DEFINE "GREAT HAIR” (And who, IMHO, has it.)
Let’s start by defining “Great Hair.” The answer to this is going to be different for everyone, and for me, it has changed a lot over the years. But currently, for me*, “great hair” is thick, bouncy, shiny, healthy-looking hair. It’s as simple as that - wavy, straight, curly, doesn’t matter. When I think of celebrities with hair that I’d want, I think of Gisele Bundchen, Penelope Cruz, Jung Hoyeon, Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, Daphne Oz, Ciara, Bianca Brandolini D’Adda, and of course, Negin Mirsalehi, who has hair so good, she started Gisou, a haircare brand based on honey from her family’s bees. Check them out below - you’ll noticed that what almost all of them have in common is extremely rich, long, thick, heavy (in a good way) hair with a slight wave and balayage.
*Please note that these are MY standards of Great Hair - yours might be different, and I encourage you to pick out a few hair heroes of your own that embody what you deem to be the holy grail of hair.
Reminder to take these with a big old grain of salt because many of these celebs are likely using hair extensions in these photos, so just view with a skeptical, yet admiring, eye. I did try to find the most authentic of their photos, i.e. not red carpet snaps or stills from an ad campaign.
Another thing to note is that - and I cannot stress this enough - these women are all celebs, and therefore, presumably, rich. That means they have access to healthy, organic food, the best products and treatments on or off the market, including prescriptions, regular hair care and blowouts, and on top of that, they don’t have to face some of the same stresses us civilians have thanks to their bank accounts and crews of assistants, child care, glam squads, and more. So again, grain of salt, but we’re still inspired.
MY HAIR ROUTINE NOW:
I’d currently label my hair as sometimes good, but a lot of times kind of dull and frayed-looking, and it’s not for lack of trying. I get regular highlights, regular cuts, use decent shampoos (I’ve been using dae Signature Shampoo and Signature Conditioner for a while, I recently switched to Pipette shampoo (it’s EWG Verified which is the top rating for clean beauty, but it’s made for kids and may be a little too gentle - jury is still out, but I am likely going to switch). Once a week or so , I use this awesome scalp mask from a Korean Beauty company called Rated Green. It claims to be vegan, organic, cold pressed, and 99% natural, but it’s not on EWG.com/Skindeep so I can’t confirm how clean it is. I’ve been buying the Hibiscus Moisturizing Scalp Pack with Honey at Anthropologie, but it seems to be mostly discontinued, with a few left on Amazon.
I currently wash my hair just about every three days, and I let it air dry until it’s mostly dry. I then hit it with a blowdryer at high heat for a few minutes with a huge, round brush. I give it a few passes with a flat iron after that. I find this gives it more body than just waiting until it’s completely dry and using my flat iron. I use either Dae Prickly Pear Oil or Trader Joes Shea Butter and Coconut Oil Serum (Read my review of the latter here) .My entire heat drying process, once it’s mostly air-dried, takes under 15 minutes, which is pretty great.
WHAT I’M SWITCHING UP:
1.) The first and possibly biggest change for me is that I’m swapping out my shower head for the Jolie Filtered Shower Head. It filters out everything bad (chlorine, heavy metals & other contaminants to improve your skin, hair and wellbeing, and guarantees “your best skin and hair” or a full refund within 60 days if not. It’s a little pricey, but with the refund policy, plus the confidence of that guarantee, I think it’s extremely promising. Plus, the shower heads are sleek and chic, which is an added bonus! Disclosure: Jolie sent me the showerhead to review, but as always, I review all products, purchased and gifted, equally and honestly.
2.) Adding Marine Collagen to my diet. My nutritionist has been recommending this to me for years. Collagen supplements can help regenerate hair (and skin) follicles, leading to hair that looks fuller, longer, and healthier (read: shinier). I chose Vital Proteins Marine Collagen, which I grabbed from Whole Foods. I’ve also seen it at Target at a similar price. I don’t eat meat but do eat seafood, so that’s why I am going for the pricier Marine Collagen versus the standard Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Unflavored Powder, which comes from beef.
3.) Getting cuts more regularly. This is a no brainer. I sometimes push it to 4 or 5 months. I’m committing to every 3 months. I just got a cut this week, so that takes me to July. I should hopefully have made lots of progress by then, too!
4.) Sleeping on a satin pillowcase. I love the Kitsch one, and the Slip one. I have both and alternate when one is in the wash, and I like both almost equally, but if I had to choose one I’d probably pick Kitsch - it’s cheaper and synthetic, but it is oh so smooth and somehow always cool.
Bonus:
5.) One thing I’d like to do is get a Dyson Airwrap. I am just afraid of investing that much into a hair drier because I don’t think that I’ll be able to master it and I don’t have the time to spend on the learning curve. Reviews are mixed, some swear by it and some say it is so much effort to use that it’s completely not worth it.
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FRIENDS:
Ever since I started talking to literally everyone about this, I’ve gotten some great recs. Here are a few:
A friend of a friend from France suggested rinsing with vinegar. Any vinegar will do, and she says she even uses regular, cheap ol’ distilled vinegar that comes in a huge jug. It removes build-up and leaves hair shiny. She did have beautiful thick reddish hair so I have to believe her.
Another friend, Kelly, who has absolutely stunning blonde hair suggested shampoo and conditioner from Miriam Quevado, a twenty year old brand out of Barcelona, Spain. Kelly picks hers up from Rescue Spa here in Philly, but the brand is available on all our favorite luxury sites, including Neiman Marcus, Anthropologie, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and more.
My hairstylist at Moko Organic Hair Studio here in Philadelphia suggested an overnight mask of Apricot Oil. I mentioned that I’ll sometimes do a coconut oil mask when I’m on vacation, and let the heat of the sun melt it into my hair, but she let me know that coconut molecules are simply too large to fully penetrate hair cuticles. apricot oil molecules are much smaller, and therefore more effective. She gave me a bottle of organic apricot oil that she scented with orange oil to test out. She said to coat my hair in the oil, cover it with a shower cap, and sleep with it in overnight to let it fully penetrate.
Monique also suggested putting SPF on my hair when I’m in the sun. Realistically, I am not going to do that, because my hair takes too long to wash, dry and style (again, I usually let my hair air dry which can take 30-60min) and I don’t always have time to do that, but SunBum and Aveda all have hair-specific sprays that I would test out. It actually makes a lot of sense - I spend a lot on hair cuts and highlights, so why not protect that!
THE TIMELINE:
I’m giving this 60 days, merely because that’s what Jolie offers for their guarantee period so that seems like a good enough amount of time to gauge if the filter and marine collagen are working. I’ve already been using the pillowcases on and off and can confirm I have much sleeker hair that lasts a day longer between washes when I use the silk and satin pillowcases. I’ll try the apricot mask a couple times a month in that time frame and let you know how it goes!
After 60 days, I’m going to start adding in some of the hair products. I’ll most likely opt for a Miriam Quevado shampoo and conditioner, and I’ll check in again with you all in another 2-3 months, and if I like them, I’ll post a full product review as well.
So, check back on this blog and on social media at @TheRealMrsVesey periodically and then again in July. I’ll come back here and link to the final conclusion, which will be a separate post.
