Blown away

Consider yourself very lucky if you have naturally thick and wavy hair. I know you’re asking "Why lucky?" when it takes you forever to manage it? Well, lately during most of my shoots, these are the types of hair I have been working on (not to mention, aside from my own). And guess what, 99 percent of those women wear their beautiful manes in a bun. Such a waste, right? We don’t even realize this but women with thin straight hair wish they had thick wavy hair. Don’t we always want what we don’t have and this is why women with thick hair have their hair rebonded? Now this is very sad. With rebonded hair, it would be hard and potentially very damaging to sport nice big waves or loose sexy curls. You’ll be wearing straight hair most of the time, which in time of course will bore you. Oh, did I mention that you can’t color your hair once you have it rebonded? If you do your hair strands will become brittle. Let me help you in managing your thick wavy locks.

First things first, the cut. If your hair is not properly styled or cut, it will be hard to manage it. This is probably why you always wear it in a bun. Believe it or not, your hair has to find the right stylist. When your hair doesn’t respond to the cut and how it’s blow dried, then it’s not being handled and understood well. When your hair falls exactly how you want it to, then you have found the right stylist. It’s a long road of trials and errors for the search of the stylist that your hair "listens" to and when you do find the "one," trust me, it’s going to be all worth it. As a guide, your stylist would have to understand your hair – how it falls, the thickness of the strands, the condition of your hair (dry, oily or damaged), the shape of your face, how you can handle your hair to maintain the look you want, etc. Discuss the style you want for your hair with the stylist to determine if the look can be achieved or not.

Another important factor to consider is the products you use. Make sure the shampoo and conditioner you use cater to your hair condition. If you have dry/color-treated hair, then use products that are meant to give condition and repair to your hair. I cannot stress enough the importance of using leave-on repair treatments on your hair. Moisturizing and repairing are crucial in helping your hair stay healthy. With dry hair, it is important to give your hair time to make the natural oils come out so washing every other day is advisable. Washing daily will strip the hair of its natural oils making it dryer and frizzier and harder to manage.

If you can’t avoid washing your hair every day, especially if your scalp sweats, then wash your hair at night before going to bed then blow dry before going to sleep. Your hair will be so much manageable in the morning (this is how I’ve managed doing my thick wavy hair). Thick wavy hair looks best the day after it’s been blow-dried.

This is the next most important part, blow-drying it. Aside from using the right shampoo and conditioner for dry hair and using the right leave-on conditioner before drying it, it’s how you blow dry the hair. So, use the leave-on first before you start blow drying it. The biggest mistake you’ll do is to put different kinds of products to your hair before drying it. Using the right products on your hair will give you the results you want. Less is more. Learning how to section your hair will make it easier and faster. Using a paddle brush and blow drying it all at once will just make your hair big and frizzy. It will not save you time, it will only frustrate you. So, section it. Make sure you get the right amount of thickness that will fit the brush just right so it dries well and straight. Make sure to repeat drying each section a few times and leave it nice and straight with the strands close together before moving on to the next. If the strands are flying out in different directions, then by the time you finish, your hair will be big and you’ll get frustrated even more. You’ll end up using so many products in an effort to tame it down. Also, it would be so much easier if you keep your hair length right below your shoulder blades so you can reach around it and manage it better. If you keep your hair length longer, then go to the salon to have it blow-dried well.

Maintain your hair and make sure to get a hair treatment and/or a trim at least once in two months. Have a hot oil or a cellophane treatment or any treatment to help make your hair healthy. Be thankful you have thick locks and you’re only finding ways to keep your hair healthy and manageable and not finding ways to make it thick. Be proud of your crowning glory, a beautiful thick mane.

Get the look: (Makeup)

1. Cleanse. Tone. Moisturize if needed.

2. Groom eyebrows.

3. Even out skin tone with concealer.

4. Set with loose powder.

5. Curl lashes.

6. Apply taupe colored eye shadow on the crease of the eyes.

7. Use peach colored blush.

8. Use nude lip color.

Get the blown away hair look:

1. Use shampoo and conditioner for dry hair.

2. Apply leave-on moisturizer (Sebastian’s potion 9) evenly.

3. Section hair.

4. Start blow drying each section starting from the section near the base of your neck.

5. Make sure to get the roots by securing it in the brush.

6. Last part of the section, take your index finger and place it on your hairline by your forehead. Section that part and take about three inches thick of hair and brush it going down (just like when you fix your bangs) then scoop it with your brush starting from the roots and position the blow dryer in top of the brush. With the brush on your left hand and the right hand holding the blow dryer, roll the brush slowly going down towards the direction of your face to straighten out the annoying waves.

7. Repeat step #6 until hair is straight.

8. Using your hands, lightly shake your hair and style.

9. If you want to use a hairspray, lightly spray Bed Head’s Masterpiece to give it both hold and shine.

To manage the morning after:

1. For straight style, use L’Oreal Paris’ tec hot style iron finish and apply on dry hair before ironing (it’s heat activated to make life easier).

2. If you want texture, spray on L’Oreal Paris’ hot style constructor before blow-drying hair (also heat activated to get desired results fast).