All About MY HAIR: A Sarah Howard Hair-istory

If you are an avid reader of this blog, then you are well aware of my deep-rooted obsession with my hair. When people ask me what I think is my best feature, I answer without pause, "my hair." Needless to say, I'm very proud of my mane.

But these locks take work to maintain. And many of you have asked what I do for hair maintenance, so I've decided to devote this entire post to MY hair. Self indulgent, I know.

Feel free to stop reading at any time... but, for those interested in a few tips, read on:

 

While I don't wash my hair every day, when I do wash, I always use a sulfate, paraben and petrochemical-free Shampoo and Condition. Most importantly, is sulfate-free. Click here to learn why sulfates are the worst thing for your strands.

Shampoos and Conditioners that I like: Enjoy Haircare, Pureology, Reken Nature's Rescue, L'Oreal EverPure.

I am also working on my own line of sulfate, paraben, and petrochemical-free products which will include an all-natural Shampoo and Conditioner and will launch in the coming months... more to come on that soon!

On a daily basis, I allow my hair to dry naturally. In the summer, I like to spritz Bumble and Bumble's Curl Conscious Reactivating Mist (see image above) to add some emphasis to my already wavy hair. I can reapply throughout the day, and even next day.

I also like a good oil. I feel that it controls frizzies and adds some bounce and separation to wavy hair. I use a variety of hair oils (whatever I have in my beauty cabinet) but favor Kerastase Nutritive Oleo-Relax Serum.

If I am hitting the town, I may throw in a few curls with a 1 1/2 inch curling iron (I rarely ever curl my entire head - I like the messy curl look - see images below) and then I'll finish the look with a few spritz's of hair spray. I am obsessed with L'Oreal's Elnet, but again, I use whatever is around.

 

I ONLY BRUSH MY HAIR AFTER I SHOWER WHEN MY HAIR IS WET. I DO NOT BRUSH MY HAIR WHEN IT IS DRY!!! I find that it pulls and breaks the hair.

Second and sometimes even third day hair looks better than just washed hair because it has natural oils. However, I loathe an oily front section, so I will pull the back area of my hair into a bun and keep my bangs out and JUST WASH MY BANGS WITH SHAMPOO. I then dry my bangs with the Vidal Sassoon Professional Styling Hair Dryer, Model VS540. It has 3 brush attachments. I use the thinnest comb attachment. It straightens the bang area a bit so that it doesn't go all puffy on me. This is a very cheap blow dryer but I LOVE it and have turned every single one of my friends on to it. It also straightens your entire head in minutes, it's like brushing your hair.

However, I hate straightening my own hair and prefer to go to a salon and have a professional do it for me. I do this about once a week. Sometimes, I feel a bit too prissy with straight hair (see below image). I like the look better for winter when you're meant to be all done up.

COLOR/ CUT/ TREATMENTS

On the east coast, I get my hair cut and colored at The Pierre Michel Salon (my father owns it, so I'm slightly biased). I switch up people often. For my cut, I like Mitch, Gilda and Terry. For my color, I like Reynald, Ludavic and, most recently, Ida. And I'm really into having natural roots and just coloring from about 3 inches from the roots down with extra light tips - it's called the "ombre" effect and is more of a natural, sunkissed look.

I do, however, love Marie Robinson for color as well. She's a genius.

On the west coast, I always go to Jen Atkin for cut and George Papinikolas for color at the Andy Lecompte Salon.

I ONLY DO BALIAGE FOR COLOR - NEVER FOILS! Foils frighten me - they are used for cooking, not for hair color.

A deep conditioning treatment is vital. I like to use a hair masque every few days. You can also get a salon treatment - like keratin - if your hair is considerably damaged. But make sure that it is color-safe.

For hair masques I like Pureology Essential Restorative Hair Masque, Davines Natural Tech Nourishing Hair Building Pak, L'Oreal EverPure Moisture Deep Restorative Masque

That's about it! Anymore questions, leave them in the comment section below...